July 2022 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and Activity Reports
Virtually present at meeting
Ernie Rodriguez - President
David Beugelmans - Vice President
Peggy Flaxman - Executive Director
Tom Howe - VA Advocacy Director
Neil Blake – Treasurer
Rob Lowe – Membership Director
Kathy Mihm - Communications Director
Clay Deming – Activities Director
Not Present
Dave Magill - MD Advocacy Director
- Financial Updates (Neil)
o Net general increase $10.7K
- $18.4k revenues
- $10k estimate for memberships
- $6.7k MoCo Epic receipts
- $1.1k Network for good
o $7.8k expenses
- $6.7k ED cost
o Net restricted decrease $21.0k
- $2.9k Revenues
- $1.3k Lake Fairfax
- $0.9k River's Edge
o $23.9k Expenses
- $17k Lake Fairfax (new jump trails)
- $4.1k MoCo (work on bridge extension)
- $1.1k Bacon Ridge
- Member/Participant Recognition (“loyalty program” from June meeting) (Peggy)
o Came up at last month’s meeting. Said she would look into this and get back to us.
o Don’t have data that goes back far enough. Can go 5 years back, but we don’t know who has been a member from the beginning.
o Ernie
- I may be able to figure this out using old files.
o Rob
- Also, some of the data using current information is skewed by monthly members.
o Peggy
- The reason why she started look into this is that it would be valuable at the summer picnic if different people had name tags that said how long they have been members.
- It would be awesome to be able to do this and indicate on MoCo Epic how many times people have done it, etc.
- Can get 2014 MoCo Epic data.
- Recognizing people for sheer quantity of involvement is useful. People who just keep showing up.
- Not expensive if we can just get the data.
o Ernie
- There is a database of pre-2014 data that we need to look through.
- Ernie and Peggy will look into it to see what is available.
o David B
- Had idea of trying to recognize the original “founding” members from 1992.
- This may be an easier list to create/identify
o Peggy
- Regarding bags for members, have reached out to companies but none have responded
- Do like the idea of member benefits. We need to do this to create an incentive for people to become members.
- Will reach out various sources to see if we can get a discount on some bags.
- First Aid for liaisons/ride leaders (Peggy)
o We talked about this previously. This has come up. It may be a good idea to offer ride leaders and liaisons a first aid course.
o Got in touch with someone at the Red Cross about doing a MORE sponsored first aid course. Have some prices. Questions is would we cover the full fee or some of it. It’s $1600 for 12 participants.
o Ernie
- We should make sure they have some skin in the game and offer scholarships if needed.
- People need to want to do it. If they don’t, there are going to be no shows.
o Peggy
- We can maybe cover ½ cost ($60).
- Also need to find a location where to run it.
- Will each out to liaisons to see if there is interest and go from there.
o Clay
- Another possibility is wilderness first aid
- Peggy: I looked into this and it is very expensive
o Ernie
- We should develop a database of who is actually trained.
o Peggy
- What I’m trying to do is get more people comfortable with first aid.
- Strategic Plan: Is this for internal use or should we share (Peggy)
o Made some edits. Is this something we are using internally? If so, we should review. Or is this something we want to share with membership.
o Ernie
- I think this should be public because it creates value
o General agreement that we should put in on website.
- Supporting Partners (Involvement in Little Bellas?) (Peggy)
o One of the groups we’ve been trying to work with is Black People Ride Bikes out of Baltimore. One of the leaders has a paid position with Little Bellas.
o Little Bellas is a riding program for young women.
o We have all these partners, but we have nothing concrete that we are doing with anyone. What are we doing to show support.
o Now she is asking people to volunteer for Little Bellas.
o Ernie
- Elaine Hess put forward the idea of Little Bellas 5 or 6 years ago, but nothing happened.
- In this case, we can say please give us your message and we will advertise on your social media ride leaders for you on our platform.
- Somebody who wants to volunteer
- We shouldn’t make the bar too high. Also need to remember it is a two-way street where partner groups also support us.
- Relationships start with recognition and then we will raise the bar if possible.
- Reality
- One thing we are struggling with at Wakefield. There is a diversified group at Wakefield.
- Have gone out of our way to involve them, and they have been receptive and have gotten more involved.
o Tom
- Did outreach for different groups at Wakefield
o Rob
- Turned into membership.
- Ultimately this is a riding club, or at least it was, and other stuff. That’s part of it too. We pulled them into rides.
o Dave B
- MORE is a platform for volunteers to ride and do trailwork. We can “partner” with other groups by providing these core services to them.
o Clay
- As far as events are concerned, reached out to TFY.
- Phoenix Bikes was struggling to do a kids ride, so reached out to them about a sMOREs ride.
- Transferring bank account from Sandy Spring Bank to First Citizens Bank (Ernie)
o Peggy had put out an email for sponsors and Todd Levine came to us and said that we are moving banks. New bank is on board with supporting charities. Can we move the account over?
o This is more than a normal sponsor. This is a longstanding relationship in which Todd has been supporting us for years.
o We had moved from Wells Fargo to Sandy Spring because they had been a sponsor of the event from the start.
o First question to Neil: Do we have permission to move our bank account to First Citizens Bank.
- Ernie: Anyone with a purchasing card will need to be reissued a purchasing card.
- Any vendor with a direct debit will need to be switched over. Shopify will be impacted. Need to speak to Martin.
- There are tons of things linked up to bank accounts.
- The interest rate at Sandy Spring is not good, hopefully he can do better.
- There is normally a corporate resolution to transition bank accounts. We would need a board motion to support corporate resolution.
o Ernie
- This could be a good exercise to check to see what we are paying for.
o David B
- Concerned with the logistics of switching multiple vendors and making sure there are no mistakes.
o Peggy
- This is a good opportunity to see what’s going on with each card.
- What is going on Martin’s card doesn’t necessarily make sense. Shouldn’t some MORE expenses go onto a more core MORE card.
o Ernie
- The two biggest things on Martin’s store, Printify and Printiful get charged to his card. This should be moved.
o Neil
- We need to see a simple comparison of fees and interest rates between the two banks so we can make an informed decision.
- We also need to understand account benefits like electronic payments, which we didn’t have at Sandy Spring.
- Also need to know what do they require to be signed, and by who?
- Agreement that Ernie and Peggy would proceed with the above three steps and bring this up at the next board meeting for a vote.
- Status of using Donor Perfect and DonorPerfect Constant Contact account (Ernie)
o Last board meeting we decided to close MORE’s individual Constant Contact account.
o Should end on July 17. Have already started using Constant Contact out of Donor Perfect.
o Peggy
- Peggy has gone back two years. Starting to develop a process so that we are consistent. Peggy has done this year and 2021.
- Membership Updates (Rob)
o June wasn’t a bad month membershipwise. We saw a hit because IMBA didn’t run a membership drive that month.
o For year to date, up almost $5000 even though we were a little short this month vs. last month
o Also think folks went on vacation in June and they were busy doing summer stuff.
o We are right now in last 12 months, our paying members only dropped by 1.
o We are no track for around $100,000 of intake based off projections using last year
o Auto renewing members are up.
o Joins we are head of where we were last year by 21.
o We are not getting members to retain in a timely fashion. There is a lot of competition for people’s attention this year and people’s expenses are increasing.
o Peggy
- Have been going through lapsed membership lift. If you know people, you should look on there and remind them. Lapsed memberships are huge. If we could reduce that, we will hit the 2020 membership number.
- Communications (Kathy)
o Sent annual report to printer. Ernie should get the shipment in a couple days.
o Kathy will circulate a printed version and get it on website.
- Events
o Summer Picnic (Clay)
- This is less than 2 weeks away. We are light on volunteers this year. Have been struggling to fill all the rides. Have ride leader for every ride. There is a lot of competition for time this summer. Think there will be 100 or 150 people who will show up.
- Will have rides in the morning and will have lunch. Specialized is going to come with e-bikes.
- REI provided 4 items to give out. Should be a good time.
o 30th Anniversary Gala (Clay)
- Narrowed down to Saturday November 12 in Potomac.
- A reasonably priced ticket will be over $100 and less than $150. There will be options for donations. Should be a nice meal with dinner or drinks.
- What is going to try to do is to get video clips from people asking for their opinion about MORE and their response. Want to get someone’s reaction about how they feel about MORE and what MORE should do for the next 30 years. Want a movie with people talking.
- Venue would be Rockwood Manor.
o Biketown Movie Night (Clay)
- This will be August 8. They are proving the movie for free to IMBA chapters.
- Will have it at City State on Monday and they are going to donate space. This was really important because didn’t want to go into a hole on a venue.
- Will do a Q&A with the audience after.
- Will put tickets on MORE store.
- Freehub is going to send over $1000 worth of SWAG.
- Ernie
- We need to make clear that the $20 is a ticket to see the movie.
o MoCo Epic Update (Peggy)
- We are a little behind where we were last year. Calendars are probably fuller than in the past. But we are following the same trajectory as las year.
- Trails
o Virginia (Tom)
- Locust Shade – doing final work before summer picnic
- Fountainhead – was able to buy materials from donations left at park. The coolest thing is that coming in August they are going to a pilot a yearly pass that will be about $50/year that will allow you to night right for two hours after the gates close.
- Wakefield – Money coming in.
o Maryland (Dave)
- Summary of IMBA board meeting; Ride Centers, Trail Champions, Trails are Common Ground, etc. (Ernie)
o Meeting was in Chism, Minnesota. One of the three bike towns featured in the movie bike town.
o First on in person in 2.5 years. Talked about board development, recruiting new members, working on inclusion, what are current priorities are, come up with a report card. There was a review of office turns and dates when people roll off.
o IMBA has more in the bank now and is doing well.
o There has been very little progress in the international committee. There are some issues with scalability to other areas.
o They did work on a pyramid for development capacity and building more capacity for large donors and big asks.
o Ride Centers
- Disappointed in that it was a discussion. Asked whether this was a business they wanted to be in. There was a lot of support.
- Message was clear that it is important. Looking for other approaches to ride centers.
Activity Reports
- President – Ernest (Ernie) Rodriguez
o Cancelled MORE's Constant Contact account as discussed at our last board meeting
o Follow-up on signage project for Fountainhead Regional Park with Chris Pauley and Smart Outdoors
o Help finalize 2021 Annual Report with Kathy
o Provide individual Golden Volunteer training sessions
o Order and mail swag to major donors
o Wakefield trimming and mowing
o Help out and volunteer as MORE for Wednesdays at Wakefield race series
o Send out thank you notes and emails to donors
o Presentation to American Trails "Building Communities in Support of Sustainable, Natural Surface, Multi-use, Public Trails"
o Attended American Trails webinars for Federal Transportation Flexible Funding program
o Working with Peggy and Korey Hopkins on MORE trail hype video
o Attend Prince William County Trails Coalition meeting
o Attend American Trails "Recommended Liability Insurance" webinar
o Participate in Active Fairfax Technical Advisory Committee meeting for user Engagement
o Discuss partnership and support opportunities with New Market council member, transfer to Dave Magill
o Loch Raven strategy pre-meet with Jaron Shaul and Dave Magill
o Participate in Active Fairfax Advisory Committee for Programming
o Review MORE Store content and strategy with David Beugelmans and Peggy
o Attend VA/DC monthly liaison meeting and networking session
o Attend IMBA board meeting in Chisholm MN
- Executive Director – Peggy Flaxman
Ongoing
- DonorPerfect Entry
- Mail/Bank Admin
- Social Media
- Weekly Communications
|
Jun-05 |
Jun-12 |
Jun-19 |
Jun-26 |
|
|
Sent |
2322 |
2326 |
2267 |
2305 |
|
Opened |
1580 |
1568 |
1506 |
1510 |
|
Clicks |
83 |
136 |
141 |
72 |
|
Unsubscribes |
4 |
14 |
7 |
9 |
Other
- Wednesdays at Wakefield Water Station
- DCXC Race @ Schaeffer
- Wakefield sMORE’s (need shop coverage)
- USFS NZ Rec Strategy Meeting
- Active Fairfax Programs Technical Advisory Group
- IMBA Local Mtg
- MORE Store Updates
- River’s Edge Jersey Order Support
- Summer Picnic Support
- GS Gold Award (Rosaryville) Support
- Google for Non-Profits Setup (free Google Ads)
- Biketown Event Support
- Go Nuts (new sponsor)
- USA Cycling MTB Nuts follow up (no payment received for October 2021 event)
- Completed Strategic Plan
- 2022 in 2022 Membership Drive/Monthly Raffle
- Distributed MORE materials (shop cards, MoCo Epic Poster & Stickers) to NOVA shops
- Beginning “listening tour” of MICL Teams
- Shared including ride leader materials internally (Clay + Kathy)
- MoCo Epic
- Registration (167 riders)
- Membership (18)
- Income ($13,248)
- Vice President – David Beugelmans
o Call re: store refresh; create new items
- MD Advocacy Director – Dave Magill
- Slow progress continues on
o Pax 1 bridge
o Pax 2 permits
o Rivers edge permits
o Sidewalk under Clopper Road
- DNR put in permanent pit toilet at Schaeffer trailhead
- New connector trail at Emmitsburg finished in time for the June 26 race
- Schaeffer race by DCMTB successful, trails mostly trimmed as a result
- VA Advocacy Director – Tom Howe
o Held Monthly VA/DC Liaisons Meeting
o Ad hoc Wakefield Trail Work
o Volunteered at Wednesday at Wakefield Races
o Coordinated with Trails Committee for a Vote for Approval for using the Tommy O’Sullivan for matching funds for the Lake Fairfax Bike Skills Zone GTF Project Request
o Confirmed / added new liaison for GCCCT Central
o Coordinating introductions for new liaisons for MT Vernon District Park with FCPA Management
- Membership Director – Rob Lowe
o Membership Processing for June
o Thank You's and Reminder Emails
o Wakefield Ad-Hoc Trailwork
o Lead Rides at Wakefield
- Communications Director – Kathy Mihm
o Annual Report - sent to printer for production
o Coordinated and arranged rides for ride leaders
o Prepared kiosk map for Kent Island
o Led MTB skills clinic at Hashawha event
- Treasurer – Neil Blake
Net general increase $10.7K
$18.4k revenues
$10k estimate for memberships
$6.7k MoCo Epic receipts
$1.1k Network for good
$7.8k expenses
$6.7k ED cost
Net restricted decrease $21.0k
$2.9k Revenues
$1.3k Lake Fairfax
$0.9k River's Edge
$23.9k Expenses
$17k Lake Fairfax (new jump trails)
$4.1k MoCo (work on bridge extension)
$1.1k Bacon Ridge
- Activities Director – Clay Deming
o Manage ride leader of the month
o Generate official rides list
o Organize Summer picnic
o Organize 30th
o Organize Biketown Movie
o Help with rides, QR codes, meetup, golden, calendar.
o Send socks and swag to Mike K.
o Hand out a few ride leader jerseys