St. Pat's Alumni Association

March 23, 2009 Minutes

Present:
Marc Ouellet, Bill Paynter, George Brown, Angelo Gavillucci, Vivian Keefe, Mary Donaghy, Fr. Tom Cassidy, O.M.I., Richard Horrigan, John Belocchi

Regrets:
Paul Ouellet, Karen King, Vince Harris

Guest: Don Grant

Bill Paynter introduced Don Grant to the Board and gave a quick biography of his personal and professional accomplishments. Don is an Honorary Member of the Board of the Alumni Association, and he attended the meeting in order to share his expertise and ideas in the area of fundraising.

Summary:
- the world of fundraising has changed with the election of President Obama in the U.S.;

- the 'old system' is still important, however;

- when approaching donors, have a fundraising goal i.e. how much money to be raised for bursaries;

- events are not the best way to raise funds; however, a sports event can be used to get people back to St. Pat's H.S. and then they can be approached for donation(s);

- it is important to involve everyone – ALL grads (recent and 'ancient');

- people like to direct their donation to something specific;

- Don encouraged the Board to think broadly and to target everyone who ever attended the school as possible supporters;

- Don offered to make a $1,000 donation to the association and will assist in drafting a fundraising letter to Alumni for targeted mail-out.

- He also offered to make follow-up phone calls to the potential donors.

Discussion ensued. Marc thanked Don on behalf of the Board for his generous financial donation and for sharing his time and expertise to help the Alumni Association increase its donor base. Marc clarified that in our Charter, 80% of funds raised have to be dedicated toward our primary goal of supporting student programs. For example, as more funds are deposited to the Friends of St. Pat's charitable account, we could increase the number of Bursaries awarded to students.

Marc suggested a few members of the Board meet with Don again in late April/early May to write the fundraising letter that Don will mail out.

Call to Order: Meeting was called to order at 8:00 pm with a quorum present.

Prayer: Fr. Tom led us in an opening prayer.

Approval of Minutes of Previous Board Meeting:

Point of clarification:
Bill Paynter clarified that in regards to the donation of $1,000 to the Student Uniform Fund, we made a transfer of funds from the Alumni Association account to the Friends of St. Pat's account in order to make the donation for school uniforms.

Motion: That the Minutes of the January 12, 2009 Board Meeting be approved.

Moved by: George Brown

Seconded by: Mary Donaghy

Carried

Nomination of New Members to Board:

Motion: That Richard Horrigan be nominated as a member of the Board of St. Pat's Alumni Association.

Moved by: Bill Paynter

Seconded by: Angelo Gavillucci

Carried

Motion: That John Belocchi be nominated as a member of the Board of St. Pat's Alumni Association.

Moved by: Bill Paynter

Seconded by: George Brown

Carried

Bill Paynter pointed out that Richard and John's names and coordinates should be added to the Board of Directors list, and email distribution lists.

A) OLD BUSINESS

High School's plans requiring Alumni support:
Principal Mary Donaghy thanked the Board for the $1,000 donation to the Student Uniform Fund. Mary reported she could show us the new sports team banners in the gym that were missing but have recently been purchased:

$450.03 spent for banners for the years 1961-73

$372.90 spent for 2007-2008

$1,389.90 spent on "Tradition & Pride" banners

It was suggested the Alumni Association could re-imburse the school for some or all of the funds spent on purchasing missing team banners.

Fundraising:
Motion: That a Fundraising Committee be set up to discuss and write the solicitation letter to be sent out by Don Grant. The committee will meet in April or May and will have a draft letter to present to the Board at the June meeting. George Brown volunteered to be part of that committee. Marc indicated that he would be part of the committee and possibly Vince Harris.

Moved by: George Brown

Seconded by: Richard Horrigan

Carried

Newsletter:
Marc thanked Vivian for pulling together the January 2009 issue of The Patrician.

Website:
Marc reported that updates to the Website are being done as reported by Vince. However, he will request an update from Vince by email and an update, if applicable, regarding plans for the 80th anniversary reunion.

80th Anniversary Reunion:
The tentative date(s) for the reunion were re-stated as May 2010. Some ideas were suggested about using a sports event on the Friday night or Saturday to draw alumni back to the school.

B) FINANCE REPORT:

Fiscal year is September 1st to August 31st.

Marc Ouellet presented his financial report. After expenses related to the website, newsletter and the $1,000 donation to the Student Uniform Fund were paid out, Year-to-date account balances are as follows:

1. Friends of St. Pat's account: $82.54

2. The Alumni Account: $1531.88 – this is after payments were received for business card advertisements placed in the newsletter.

Marc confirmed that we will be able to meet our commitment to provide two $500 donations to the school, and we will have $500 left over. We did receive some new donations after the newsletter was distributed but they were mostly from those supporters who receive a hard copy in the mail.

Bill Paynter suggested that Angelo and Marc get together and review old mailing lists, and we could send them a Fundraising letter and/or a recent newsletter issue. There are 2,600 names from 2004 on the list and it is property of the Board.

Motion: That the Finance Report be adopted.

Moved by: Angelo Gavillucci

Seconded by: Fr. Tom Cassidy

Carried

C) NEW/OTHER BUSINESS:

Correspondence:
Fr. Tom passed out copies of a letter he wrote to Paul Dewar which he enclosed with the January 2009 issue of the newsletter drawing attention to the memorial article on his mother, Marion. Fr. Tom reported disappointment at receiving no acknowledgement from Mr. Dewar. George Brown suggested he would follow-up with Paul.

Doran Trophy Nominations:
Fr. Tom and Marc Ouellet reported that they narrowed down the nomination list to two candidates; therefore, they hope to have this year and next year's recipient selected:

For 2009, the unanimous choice by the Committee is Joe Mullally, a previous Principal of St. Pat's H.S. who made a tremendous contribution to the students and school. Also, many of the current students and teachers at the graduation ceremony will know Joe.

For 2010, the Committee selected John Ruddy, a staunch supporter of the school and the Alumni Association for many years.

Motion: That Joe Mullally be selected to receive the Doran Trophy for 2009.

Moved by: Marc Ouellet

Seconded by: Fr. Tom Cassidy

Carried

Next Steps: Mary is to provide contact information for Joe Mullally to Fr. Tom who will contact Joe and ask him if he'll accept the Doran Trophy. As current Principal, Mary will invite John Doran or his brother to the Graduation ceremony in June 2009 to present the Trophy to this year's recipient.

Other Business:
George Brown suggested it be put on the next meeting's Agenda to discuss some possible high-profile St. Pat's graduates who could be invited to speak to the students during Education Week on the subject of 'Servant Leadership'.

Important Dates / Events – Board members are welcome to attend:

April 29 – 6:30 to 8:30 am - Cancer Fundraising Breakfast at St. Pat's

June 25 – 9:30 am - Graduation Ceremony 2009 at Notre Dame Basilica

It was requested that Mary send Board members reminders, by email, of other events being held at the school so that interested members can attend.

Next Meeting:
Monday, June 8, 2009 - 7:00 p.m. – Patty's Pub, Bank Street

Adjournment:
Motion: That the meeting be adjourned.

Moved by: John Belocchi

Seconded by: Richard Horrigan

Carried

A Happy and Blessed Easter to all!?

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