Participants: Geri Baumblatt, Helene Clayton-Jeter, Judy Danielson, John Grohol, Matthew Holt, Sarah Krüg, Janice McCallum, Jan Oldenburg, Burt Rosen, Danny Sands, Amber Soucy, Joe Ternullo, and guest, Lynda Mitchell
Welcome and Intros Danny Sands
With two new members joining the board, all board members introduced themselves. Danny welcomed everyone.
November minutes approved by unanimous vote (December meeting was combined with the Executive Committee Meeting)
Treasurer’s Report (Financial and Membership) John Grohol
At present, we have 463 active members and have $118K in the bank. One of our major expenses is the monthly fee for Higher Logic, the software we use for Connect. In total, we have approximately $2,100/month for services including Higher Logic. Revenue comes mostly from membership fees.
Membership hasn’t really changed year-to-year; it has remained between 450-500 for several years. We don’t have details into who doesn’t renew and who signs up as new members. But, we know we have a retention problem.
S4PM’s financial situation improved in 2017 after we held our first conference, which brought in increased sponsorships revenue.
Matthew Holt asked whether the travel fund is included in the total. John said it is recorded separately, but is included in the total.
Leadership Needs for 2019 Danny and Burt
We still need a president-elect and 2 members-at-large to round out our Executive Committee, which is a subset of the Board. We’re behind schedule for these 3 positions.
In response to a comment from Judy, Danny points out that the President-elect position is really a 3-year term, since the person becomes President the following year, then past-President.
Danny clarified that the role of member-at-large will reflect the individuals in the role. We need to better define the role and expectations.
If anyone has a potential candidate for any of these positions, please let Danny know.
Governance/Bylaws Lynda Mitchell
There is a new folder on our Team Drive called Governance. All board members and Governance Committee members have access. Lynda Mitchell is chair of the committee, which also includes Sue Woods, Jan Oldenburg, Janice McCallum, Melanie Achdjian, and Danny van Leeuwen.
Lynda described the goal of the Governance Committee: to create a framework for governance that is consistent with S4PM’s needs going forward. The initial project plan document is available to review and will be voted on for approval by the full board in the February meeting.
Lynda reported that the most important thing to do at the outset will be to review federal compliance issues related to running a non-profit 501C3. E.g., IRS regulations and best practices, whistle-blower policy, record retention policy and conflict of interest (COI) policies.
The next step will involve reviewing the articles of incorporation and bylaws and determine if we need to update them. This step will take some time. Also, she emphasized that we should have a legal review of the bylaws.
Lynda will present the committee’s summary report & recommendations at the next board meeting.
Assumptions & constraints: to complete the project plan, we will need timely board approval and progress will depend on the availability of committee members.
Jan commented that the project will include job descriptions & orientation guidelines for board members.
Judy raised the topic of voting procedures. Lynda suggested that we need to clarify what needs a board vote vs. what a committee can approve internally.
Danny asks about whether we can implement some changes before final report. Lynda responded that, yes, there will be interim review with recommendations for changes and the project plan spreadsheet will have dates for interim reviews.
Retreat update Burt
Burt briefly reviewed the goals of the retreat: we want to have good conversations, but primarily we want to get to outcomes. There’s general agreement that we take on too much and we need to focus on activities/initiatives that someone will take ownership of.
Jan asked how we will decide priorities. Burt stressed that we should have maximum of 5 objectives, such as “grow membership to N”, “increase exposure on mass media to promote our cause”, etc.
Learning Exchange Sarah
The last webinar in our initial series will be held on Jan 29 at 1pm ET. It will feature Dr. Victor Montori & Amy Breslan. We don’t know yet how many people have registered.
Amber reported that information about the webinar has been posted on all social media outlets: Facebook event, our LinkedIn group, & the S4PM LinkedIn page.
Town Halls Danny
We don’t have any members-at-large at present, so we don’t have anyone to lead a town hall. These online discussions are pretty easy to run, but we need someone to take it on.
Adjourn — Next board meeting: Feb 26, 2019 at 4 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Janice McCallum SPM Board Secretary
