For Public Distribution 5/27/10 American Association of the Deaf-Blind, Inc. Fall Meeting of the Board of Directors November 21 - 22, 2009 Teleconference Pursuant to due notice, the Board of Directors of the American Association of the Deaf-Blind, Inc. met via Videophone on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22, 2009. The meeting was called to order at 12:41 pm EST on Saturday, November 21, 2009 with President Dan Arabie the chair and the following members present: Dan Arabie, President Tim Jackson, Vice President Debby Lieberman, Secretary Mike Reese, Treasurer Karyn Campbell, Board Member Mark Gasaway, Board Member Lynn Jansen, Board Member Maricar Marquez, Board Member Jill Robe-Gaus, Board Member Tom Sprinkle, Board Member Emily Vera, Board Member Dorothy Walt, Board Member Jamie Pope, Executive Director The following visitor was also present: Randy Pope President Dan Arabie opened the meeting thanking CallVRS for providing interpreting services and their generous sponsorship of the AADB board meeting. Minutes of the May 2009 meeting were approved in June 2009. EVP motions made since May were reviewed. (See EVP Motions below.) President: No report. Vice President: No report. Secretary: Ms. Lieberman reported one EVP motion was made since her appointment as secretary. Mr. Gasaway reported that there were an additional five EVP motions made since the spring board meeting, four of those were made while he was temporary Secretary. (See EVP Motions A-F below.) Treasurer: Mike Reese gave a combined Treasurer's/Finance Committee Report as follows: 1. The committee went over the 2nd quarter budget reports and has received the 3rd quarter budget reports from Ms. Pope. 2. Mr. Reese worked with Ms. Pope to develop the 2009 re-set budget, the 2010 proposed budget, and a proposal on how to handle a CD maturing in December. Ms. Pope provided rationale of some new line items in the budget. This information was shared with the Finance Committee. 4. Each of the budget reports and communications has also been forwarded to the board for their review.   Committee Reports Ad Hoc Committee: Mark Gasaway, Chair Committee members are Mr. Gasaway, Lynn Jansen, Jill Gaus, Maricar Marquez, Dan Arabie, Tim Jackson, Randy Pope, Anindya Bhattacharyya (Bapin), Jeff Bohrman, Paul Molloy and Mary Hale. The committee researched several potential sites and chose the Drawbridge Inn in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. (See EVP F below) A proposed budget has been sent to the Board. Ms. Pope will make a site visit as soon as possible. It was emphasized that information related to the symposium is confidential at this time. Advocacy Committee: Karyn Campbell, Chair Committee members are Ms. Campbell, Randy Pope and Rene Pellerin.  Ms. Campbell submitted her report previously by email. (See below in Supporting Documents) Ms. Campbell informed the Board that the number of sponsors of H.R. 3101, the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, is up from 15, as reported, to 19. Ms. Walt brought up an urgent matter relating to the health care bill now in the US Senate. She encouraged the Advocacy Committee and AADB office to work on adding language in the section on PCA’s (Personal Care Attendants) to include SSP’s. Ms. Pope said that she and Ms. Spiers are looking into it. Bylaws Committee: Tim Jackson, Chair Committee members are Mr. Jackson, Dan Arabie, Maricar Marquez, Paul Molloy, and Randy Pope. The committee’s time line for Bylaws changes is: Committee completes its proposed revisions by Dec. 31st, 2010. Board votes on proposed revisions at its Spring 2011 meeting. General Membership votes on proposed changes at the 2011 symposium in June. Ms. Walt requested the date for completion of committee work by Sept. 30th, 2010 to allow time for questions and discussion. Mr. Jackson will take Ms. Walt’s request back to the committee. Executive Committee: Dan Arabie, Chair Committee members are Mr. Arabie, Tim Jackson, Debby Lieberman, Mike Reese and Jamie Pope. There was no report. Finance Committee: Mike Reese, Chair Committee members are Mr. Reese, Jill Gaus, Lynn Jansen, Dorothy Walt, and Jeff Bohrman. (See Treasurer’s Report above) Fundraising Committee: Jill Gaus, Chair Committee members are Ms Gaus, Aimee Bader, Mike Reese, Elizabeth Spiers, Chad Metcalf, Randall Pope and Marilyn Trader. (See below Fundraising Action Plan in New Business) Hispanic/Latino Committee: Emily Vera, Chair Committee members are Ms Vera, Randy Pope, Debby Lieberman and Elizabeth Spiers. Ms. Vera expects to add 2 or 3 others. Ms. Vera will email her completed report soon. Policy Committee: Lynn Jansen, Chair Committee members are Mark Gasaway, Tim Jackson, Debby Lieberman, Kelli Stein and Mike Reese. The committee is working on revision of Policy and Procedure Manual. The goal is to have revisions completed by the spring Board meeting, then to keep it up-to-date on an ongoing basis. The Policy Committee will work with Bylaws committee to be sure there are no conflicts. Mr. Sprinkle asked to be involved in revision of the Awards section. Executive Director Report, Jamie Pope Ms. Pope reported the following: 1. Monthly donations through our sustaining donor program are up from $375 per month to $500 per month.  We launched the House File campaign to bring in new subscribers for AADB Today e-newsletter and build up our online donations. An incentive to encourage people to refer their contacts or make a donation is the lifetime membership giveaway. To date 74 people have entered and we expect that number will increase when we send out reminders the next week. 2. A Twitter account was set up yesterday (November 20, 2009). The address is Twitter.com/AADB_deafblind. Mr. Pope is managing the account. 3. As of today, the number of people subscribing to AADB Today is 2,740. 4. The office is working on the 2008 Annual Report. When the draft is completed, Ms. Pope will send it to the board for review and approval before Mr. Metcalf, Outreach Coordinator, does the layout and is made available to the public. Ms. Pope noted that this will be our second Annual Report. The 2009 report will be published next year. 5. The fundraising dinner was a successful event, attended by 80 people. We took in about $7,000 and after expenses there is about $3,000 profit. Exact numbers will be available at a later date. In addition to financial success it enabled AADB to build and strengthen relationships with individuals, government agencies, national organizations, corporations, and universities. Ms. Pope would like to make this an annual event. Mr. Metcalf will be working on it. Old Business There was no Old Business. New Business Business Cards There was a brief discussion, initiated by Ms. Vera, on providing business cards for Board members. Discussion was tabled. 2009 Budget Changes to the 2009 budget were approved. (See Motion 1 below.) Fundraising Action Plan Mr. Pope and Ms Gaus answered questions on the Action Plan submitted by the Fundraising Committee. They described it as an ongoing document that will be amended as ideas come up and take shape. Items in the plan include research into and development of: Online Giving Direct Mailing Fundraising Campaigns Fundraising Events Direct contact with the public via exhibits At this time the focus is on on-line marketing and direct mailing. Phone calls are used as follow-up only. We want to give donors options on how we contact them. In answers to Board members’ questions Mr. Pope told the Board: The Fundraising Committee and Advocacy Committee will work together to encourage donors to support our legislative efforts. Acceptance of the Action Plan includes a vote to not renew AADB’s contract with UDS (United Deaf Services). AADB would hire a fundraising consultant through a bid process. A consultant and direct mailing company could cost $7,000 per month. We received the database from UDS that contains 75,000 names of donors who gave to AADB via UDS. AADB would work with the consultant to manage the database. The Board unanimously agreed to accept the Action Plan. (See Motion 2 below.) Certificate of Deposit AADB has a $100,000 CD that will mature next month. The Finance Committee recommends AADB have access to those funds. (See Motion 3 below). Budget 2010 Full: The Board voted on the 2010 budget proposal previously submitted by the Finance Committee. (See Motion 4 below.) Tech/Ed Materials Proposal Tabled due to lack of time. DB Definition Tabled due to lack of time. Ms. Lieberman is keeping a list of suggested definitions. MOTIONS 1. Mike Reese (Mark Gasaway) moved that the 2009 Budget be amended as follows: 1. UDS expenses $725,000 2. Bank Service Fees $200 3. Fundraising project $5,000 Vote: Passed with 10 in favor, 1 against. 2. Ms. Gaus (Jansen) moved that the AADB board approve the Action Plan recommended by the Fund Raising Committee. Vote: Passed unanimously with 11 in favor. 3. Mr. Reese (Jansen) moved that the AADB distribute funds from its $100,000 CD when it matures in December 2009 by placing $50,000 into AADB’s checking account and $50,000 into AADB’s savings account. Vote: Passed unanimously with 11 in favor. 4. Ms. Walt (Jackson) moved that the AADB Board accept the budget for the year 2010. Vote: Passed with 10 in favor and 2 abstentions. EVP Motions A. August 4, 2009. Dan Arabie (Tim Jackson) moved that Mike Reese be appointed Treasurer. Vote: Passed B. September 11, 2009. Timothy Jackson (Emily Vera) moved that the phrase, "one month", as stated under Dues Policies on page 6 of the Board Policy Manual, to be amended or change to "Ninety (90) days". Amendment: Dorothy Walt (Mike Reese) amended the period of time for lapse membership from ninety (90) days to three (3) months; takes place be effective retroactive to January 1, 2009. Vote: Passed with 9 in favor, 1 against. C. September 13, 2009. Dan Arabie (Timothy Jackson) moved to appoint Debby Lieberman (New Mexico) being next AADB Secretary. Vote: Passed with 8 in favor, and 1 absent. D. September 19, 2009. Mark Gasaway (Dorothy Walt) moved that the AADB Board accept Darran Zenger as a co-moderator on the AADB-L listserv. Vote: Passed with 9 in favor. E. September 30, 2009. Mark Gasaway (Mike Reese) moved that the AADB Board of Directors approve three (3) new committees: Networking/Recruitment, Youth and Young Adults Leadership, and Volunteer Program. Amendment: Maricar Marquez (Emily Vera) amended Mark Gasaway's motion that the AADB Board of Directors approve the following committees: Ad-hoc, Advocacy, Awards, By-laws, Executive, Finance, Fundraising, Hispanic-Latino, Networking and Recruitment, Policy, Volunteer Program, and Youth and Young Adult Leadership." Vote: Passed with 8 in favor, 0 against. F. October 25, 2009. Lynn Jansen (Mike Reese) moved that the AADB Board of Directors approve a proposal to host an AADB Symposium at the Drawbridge Inn in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky (Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati, Ohio) on the selected dates of June 17-24, 2011. Vote: Passed with 8 in favor, 1 against, 1 abstention. The meeting was adjourned 5:00 PM, November 21, 2009 Respectfully Submitted, Debby Lieberman AADB Secretary