virginia master gardener association bod meeting, december...

VMGA December 12, 2015

Virginia Master Gardener Association

BOD Meeting, December 12, 2015

Williamsburg, VA

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM by Christy Brennan, Hanover, and President. She asked all

first time attendees to stand up, and welcomed them to their first VMGA meeting. She called upon

Marilyn Riddle, JCC/Williamsburg Unit Rep, who welcomed the group to Williamsburg and introduced

those MGs who were in attendance helping with food, lunch, and check-in. She introduced Deborah

Griesinger, unit president-elect, and Kate Robbins, ANR Agent. They each spoke briefly about the 280

Master Gardeners in their unit and their activities.

Christy thanked all MGs from JCC/Williamsburg for hosting the meeting. Then she asked each one

present to introduce themselves and the unit represented.

Christy introduced special guest, Jo Ursini Krantz, an attorney with a great deal of experience in federal

government contracting. Her volunteer work has been with nonprofits. She spoke regarding nonprofits.

This was followed by a lively Q&A session.

Secretary’s Report

Joan Richards, Green Spring, Secretary, announced all had received a copy of the October minutes

through email so we will dispense with the reading the minutes. There were no corrections or additions

and Pat Reilly moved to accept the minutes as written. Motion was seconded and passed.

Treasurer’s Report

Pat Reilly, Prince William, Treasurer, read the Treasurer’s Report. The report is attached to these

minutes.

Standing Committee Reports

Communication

Members: David Banks, Tom Bolt, Kathryn Debnar, Jan Worthy, Henry Hurricane Thompson and

Chair Frank Reilly.

1. Since the October regularly scheduled meeting there have been 2019 unique visitors to

VMGA.net and they visited more than 11,864 pages.

2. Since the October regularly scheduled meeting, the web page has been updated on 42 separate

occasions.

3. Most all of our visitors come through the front page of our site. Our favorite visitors come from

the US but next is Ukraine, followed closely by Romania.

4. Remember that we can help you host your site for awhile, under certain conditions.

5. We need more Calendar entries. The Calendar is routinely one of the top three most visited

pages on the website. Listing your activity can definitely help drive participants to your event.

6. Jan Worthy, our Newsletter editor, can use submissions. She published the 10 page,

November/December Edition of VMGA Report which was distributed by Tom Bolt. I would like

another volunteer to help streamline the reading of our VMGA Report. Qualifications include:

proficiency with MS Word or another word processor; the ability to read, and abstract a pithy


statement about each article in the VMGA News; and to convert that into a short lead and a link

to the complete article.

7. Our newest committee member, Hurricane Thompson, is currently scouring the webpages

dealing with VMGA and membership. There are a few dead links there, and we want him to

make certain that what we have makes sense. If you ever notice something wrong with or a way

to improve a page, please send me the address of the page with the wording you question cut and

pasted into the email. Let us know how it could be different or better.

Respectfully Submitted,

Frank Reilly, Prince William, Chair,

Membership

As of December 12th we have: 561 members

Of those: 398 are ACTIVE

5 are AUXILIARY

158 are LIFE

I ask the Representatives to encourage folks to send their renewals before May 31st. Any Master

Gardeners that wish to be new members of VMGA should do so after January 1st so their Membership

will be good till May of 2017. I also ask the Representatives to advise me of any changes in status of

any of their VMGA members. Again thank you for supporting our VMGA.

Deb Straw, Hill City, Chair

Fund Raising

Merchandise sales update as reported by team lead, Jody Purches, Appomattox

The year-to-date revenue from sales stands at $3,172.06. The cost of those goods sold is

$2,128.30, resulting in a profit of $1,043.76 as donation to the VT Foundation for VMGA’s State

Coordinator Endowment. We recently purchased additional inventory bringing the value of this

asset to $3,529.25.

The inventory that was added consists of long-sleeved t-shirts and pocket hoodies, which are

now available for sale. Lanyards are not yet here, but we are still planning on having them for

sale soon.

Endowment update as reported by team lead Pat Reilly, Prince William

The balance of cash and pledge payments is $259,294, for a market value of $312,250.

Outstanding pledges total $3,600, and deferred commitments are $233,386. Funds were

withdrawn from the interest account to help pay for the online modules so the balance of interest

earned is $21,637.

Betty Villers has passed along a fund raising effort conducted by the North Carolina Master

Gardeners. The online shopping site, Amazon, has a charitable activity where buyers log in on

“Amazon Smile.” One half of one percent of eligible purchases is then donated to the registered,

tax exempt non-profit. VMGA would need to provide basic information to Amazon to register

and then send out the link to members so that they enter the shopping site through Amazon

Smile.


The Endowment team is looking for interested volunteers to serve initially in an advisory

capacity, then to implement strategies. The group would meet with Ben Grove, Associate

Development Director for CALS training and brainstorming a fund raising strategy. Please

contact Fund Raising Chair Tina Chaleki or Endowment team lead Pat Reilly if you know of

anyone who could contribute to this effort.

Silent Auction update

Several innovations will be implemented at the next Silent Auction in June 2016. Because of the

changed dates and “compressed” schedule of College 2016, the auction will open Saturday and

close at the end of the afternoon break on Sunday. The auction team would begin close out at the

end of the last lecture on Sunday at 4:30pm. Dinner will be provided so the team has time to

prepare for close out. The VMGA Annual Meeting will begin at 6:30pm. The evening

reception, entertainment and auction item purchase and pick up will begin at 7:30 and continue

until 9pm.

An idea from the NC Master Gardeners, passed along by Betty Villers is to set a price for which

someone can buy an item without going through the bidding process. The price for “buy now”

will be set high, but will allow someone to not risk missing out on an item.

With a smaller window to prepare for the auction once at College, the team will set out items in

the state they are received and not combined to enhance sales. The auction team will solicit

specific items from donors who have been so helpful in the past. More emphasis will be placed

on items for which a donor will pay in the range of $20-$35. There will be a place for items that

are best offered for sale or for a donation rather than bidding. It is hoped that these efforts will

make the most of the different College schedule this year.

Tina Chaleki, Louisa, Chair

Special Committees

Nominations and Election

Members are Mary Ann Kincaid, Virginia Beach, Marilyn Riddle, JCC/Williamsburg, and Betty Villers,

Virginia Beach.

The Nominations and Elections Committee presents the slate of officers for 2016-2018.

President - Angela Cingale, JCC/Williamsburg

Vice President - Joe Kelly, Northern VA

Secretary - Wanda Gerard, Suffolk

Treasurer - Diane Kean, Northern Neck

Betty Villers, Virginia Beach, Chair

Christy asked whether there were any names to be added from the floor. There were none. Discussion

followed on when and how the voting will take place.

VCE Report


1. Change in dates of MG College – College will begin on Friday, June 24 with check in. Keynote and

Concurrent sessions will be on Saturday and Sunday, and tours and workshops on Monday. The VMGA

night, with the VMGA annual meeting, silent auction and reception will be Sunday night. Saturday

night will be the milestone ceremony. We will be trying something different with the schedule this year:

Keynote/concurrent/concurrent/Keynote for Saturday and Sunday. We will only have one catered event

this year and it will be on Sunday night. It is our intent to take group to Floyd Country pending

transportation and other logistics.

2. Work on modules – Discuss the soils and botany modules that will be ready by the end of January.

Two more modules will be complete by late spring 2016. There will also be associated lab exercise with

these modules. Part of the support that has made these modules possible is from the Coordinator

Endowment.

3. Handbook update – The revision process is complete and we plan to start shipping books before the

Holiday break. If you have your orders in by December 15, your training handbooks should arrive in

time for the first class during the first week of January. Classes with later start dates will still need 10-

14 days of lead time right now, so let us know as soon as you can how many Handbooks you need. The

price of the Handbook will stay the same for now, at $85.00 per book plus shipping. We will reevaluate

this price structure later this year. The Handbook price has not changed in 5+ years, and has only had

two increases in the past 12 years. We do not wish to increase the cost any more than necessary, and if

there are coming changes, we will provide adequate notice. We are going to be developing a PDF

version with active links and images in the coming months, and hope to have that ready by late

winter/early spring 2016. Once those are completed, the price structure for new trainees will change to

$85.00 for the Handbook in either a digital version or a hard copy format. If someone would like both

versions, the price will reflect a significant discount of $125.00 for both. We will make copies of the

updated Handbook available to existing EMGs for the discounted price of $50.00. This price is as low

as we are able to go while still covering the costs of printing and development. This price will hold for

either the print version or the PDF version, once it is completed. We will ask that orders be consolidated

at the Unit level and placed once per month if possible. We will still need to utilize the same

billing/invoicing process as we utilize with the Handbooks for new trainees. We will be taking

comments /edits /corrections for the new Handbook from January 10 to May 1, 2016. These changes

will then be made during May 2016, and this will allow us to correct any typo errors or other small

changes that may have slipped through the proofreading process (there are a lot of pages in there to

read!).

4. Healthy VA Lawns (HVL) training update – This training was hosted in Charlottesville, VA on

November 18. We had 34 attendees including agents, local coordinators, and EMG volunteers. During

this training we discussed the development of the Healthy Virginia Lawns program. This program has

brought 9 lawn care/urban nutrient management programs together from across the state and created

forms, guides, and advertising materials to be used statewide by programs who are interested. This one-

day training also covered implementing the HVL program and covered the new advertising material

which included two promotional videos: one for internal purposes with EMGs, and one for the general

public. There were shown and comments were accepted for two weeks following the training. Any

revisions to print or video resources should be out by mid-winter for use in Spring 2016.


5. Share stories – use example from Crystal Tyler-Mackey and the one from Tina Chaleki (Facebook

already). We encourage EMG units to share stories they here about the importance and impact of their

local programming.

6. Coordinator training has been postponed until February 23. More details will come out soon.

7. Background screening – New enrollment/re-enrollment forms are available on website. These forms

have been vetted by the state VCE office and VT Legal Counsel. Everyone’s expected to use them

moving forward from Jan 1. The background screening process should be wrapping up and all

returning/continuing volunteers should be screened; if any units are just getting started let Jeremy know

of extenuating circumstances. The new re-enrollment forms take into consideration the screening

process as does the initial enrollment form.

8. Who signs contracts? VCE or Local MG Associations? It depends on the event and whether or not it

is a partnership between the local office and the local association or if the association is solely

responsible for the event.

Dave Close, EMG State Coordinator

Dave had a few copies of the VCE Annual Report available to whoever wanted one.

New Business

Christy announced the February meeting will be hosted by Northern Neck in the Transportation

Building in Heathsville.

For the Good of the Order

Rand Milan, Newport News, asked a question on mapping with trees. He has been unable locate a map

that shows trees on a property. Several reps made suggestions. Sam Allaire, Loudoun, asked if units

could piggy back on liability insurance with VMGA when signing contracts. The answer was no, that

VMGA would not initiate group insurance but would review any proposals from local units. Deb Straw,

Hill City, mentioned business liability and suggested he contact an independent insurance agent who

handles business insurance-liability.

Christy thanked James City-County/Williamsburg for hosting the December meeting at a time when

everyone is so busy. She also thanked Betty Villers, MaryAnn Kincaid and Marilyn Riddle for their

work on the Nominations and Election Committee.

President’s Question 501(c)3

Christy thanked those reps who offered questions before the meeting regarding the 501(c)3 status. She

offered the questions to Jo Krantz to facilitate her talk pertinent to units.

The meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM with Christy thanking everyone for attending the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan Richards, Green Spring

VMGA Secretary


Attendance at the VMGA Bimonthly Board Meeting, December 12, 2015 Williamsburg, VA

Alexandra/Arlington Joe Kelly

Amherst, Campbell, city of

Lynchburg

Deb Straw, Dianne Childress

Appomattox Jody Purches

Augusta, Rockingham, cities of

Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro

Robyn Puffenbarger

Bedford Pat Waring

Chesapeake Kandy Keith

Chesterfield Lynn Foote

Cumberland, Prince Edward,

Buckingham

Fairfax George Graine

Franklin Nelda Purcell

Gloucester Hurricane Thompson

Green Spring Cyndi Bishop, Joan Richards

Hanover Christy Brennan

Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry Betty Jo Hendrix

James City County, Williamsburg Amy Higgins, Kendra Swann, Dee Arbegast, Marilyn

Riddle, Liz Favre, Kathy Bush, Wilma Sharp, Cathy

Johnson, Ann Nielson, Deborah Griesinger, Jo Krantz,

Frances Knight, Jeanne Millin

Loudoun Sam Allaire

Louisa Jerry Giaccai

NewportNews Rand Milan

Norfolk Harriet Frost, Tom Bolt, Michele Fuller, Linda Aklgrim

Northumberland, Lancaster,

Richmond, Westmoreland, Essex

Diane Kean

Prince William Frank Reilly

Rockbridge, Bath Lynn Jones

Suffolk Wanda Gerard

Virginia Beach Betty Villers

VCE Dave Close

Western Tidewater Carolyn Baugher, Lynn Hamm


Virginia Master Gardener Association Board of Directors Meeting, December 12, 2015

Financial Reports

Statement of Financial Position (as of December 11, 2015)

Assets Total to Date

Cash - gross sales of merchandise 3,172.06$

Cash - all other sources 2,756.14$

Cash total 5,928.20$

PayPal Balance 293.49$

Petty Cash Fund 40.00$

CD #1 Balance 14,509.82$

CD #2 Balance 5,028.40$

Fundraising Inventory 3,529.25$

Total Assets 29,329.16$

Liabilities

Unearned Income – Future Dues 2,936.58$

Board Designated

Coordinator Endowment Funds Payable 1,043.76$

MG College Scholarships 1,788.56$

MG College Sponsorship 500.00$

Coordinators Manuals 500.00$

Membership Recruitment Displays 200.00$

Total Liabilities 6,268.90$

Net Assets

Unrestricted (Current FY Dues, Merchandise Sales) 5,567.63$

Temporarily Restricted (Reserve CDs, Future Dues,

Board Designated scholarships, sponsorships) 17,492.63$

Total Net Assets 23,060.26$

Total Liabilities and Net Assets 29,329.16$


Statement of Financial Activities

REVENUE FY15 Actual FY16 Budget FY 16 YTD % of budget

Temporarily Restricted

MG College Scholarship Donations 902.57$ n/a 588.56$ n/a

MG College Scholarship Donations FY16 588.56$

MG College Scholarship Donations FY17 -$

State Coordinator Endowment Donations 97.60$ n/a -$ n/a

Fundraising (Merchandise Gross Sales) 3,724.96$ 3,600.00$ 3,172.06$ 88%

Membership Dues FY17-24 1,389.36$ 550.00$ 856.17$ 156%

Total Temporarily Restricted 6,114.49$ 4,150.00$ 4,616.79$

Unrestricted

Membership Dues Current FY 3,729.05$ 4,000.00$ 2,395.57$ 60%

Interest Income 21.27$ n/a 12.29$

Programs (Education Events) 1,252.33$ 3,000.00$ 1,738.71$ 58%

Total Unrestricted 5,002.65$ 7,000.00$ 4,146.57$

Total Income 11,117.14$ 11,150.00$ 8,763.36$ 79%


EXPENSES Unrestricted FY15 Actual FY16 Budget FY 16 YTD % of budget

Administration President 274.30$ 250.00$ -$ 0%

Vice President -$ 25.00$ -$ 0%

Secretary 25.44$ 50.00$ 10.76$ 22%

Treasurer 35.32$ 100.00$ -$ 0%

Professional and Legal Fees 441.00$ 25.00$ -$ 0%

Membership 627.69$ 100.00$ 105.15$ 105%

Nominations and Elections -$ 50.00$ -$ 0%

Subtotal Expenses-Admin 1,403.75$ 600.00$ 115.91$ 19%

Fund Raising Fundraising (Merchandise purchase, shipping) 2,771.92$ 2,100.00$ 1,980.47$ 94%

State Coordinator Endowment (incl. auction) 1,181.02$ 1,200.00$ 129.86$ 11%

Subtotal Expenses-Fundraising 3,952.94$ 3,300.00$ 2,110.33$ 64%

Programs State Fair 565.85$ 500.00$ 409.91$ 82%

Education 1,952.47$ 3,000.00$ 3,072.35$ 102%

MG College Scholarships 2,500.00$ 1,200.00$ -$ 0%

MG College Sponsorship 500.00$ 500.00$ -$ 0%

Merchandise Profits to VT Foundation 1,327.91$ 1,200.00$ -$ 0%

Printing MG Coordinators' Manuals 115.13$ 500.00$ -$ 0%

VMGA Recruitment Kits - 5 n/a 200.00$ -$ 0%

Communications 142.80$ 150.00$ 142.80$ 95%

Coordinator Endowment (pass-thru) 97.60$ -$ 100.00$

Subtotal Expenses-Programs 7,201.76$ 7,250.00$ 3,725.06$ 51%

Total Expenses 12,558.45$ 11,150.00$ 5,951.30$ 53%

Unbudgeted donation to State Coordinator Endowment 7,993.43$

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