Building Future
To stay or not to stay, will remain a complex question for our sangha into the near future. Our current lease ends October 2020 and the Board agrees to continue exploring as many Dharma Hall options as possible for a future home. Ken was not able to make contact with a commercial realtor and Bob Rose will now follow up with another Realtor this month. The Board generally discussed several dynamic questions: do we know what kind of property we are looking for? how might our current location be workable for our needs now and into the future? what do we know about the financial dynamics of our neighborhood and what it might mean for us as tenants or owners? what process is best to solicit input and engage the sangha concerning the choices ahead? No decisions made except that Bob Rose will ask an experienced commercial real estate associate of his for input on how to find out more about the value of the land and the building we currently occupy as tenants and how to factor this into our thinking and planning.
Fund Drive
Chris reported that the 2018 Annual Appeal totaled $3,435. $2,695 were on line donations and $740 were checks and cash. Because the Appeal was paperless, administrative costs were zero this year. The Board discussed the importance of making it as easy as possible to give a donation or pay membership fees.
Volunteers
Chris, as the Volunteer Coordinator has now filled in the work group templates that are listed on line. Work group leaders may need to clean out old pages with outdated information and defunct links. Each work group is unique and work on simplifying and cleaning out still needs to be done. The Board agreed that this is not a priority and can wait until January when Chris has more time to devote to it.
Board Turnover
Resolution on filling the Treasurer position and future vacancies is on hold until the October meeting.
New Scholarship Fund for RCZC
The Board agreed to re-establish a scholarship fund that will be called the Red Cedar Zen Community Education Scholarship Fund. Tuli submitted a description of the fund and criteria for the application. The fund provides financial assistance for applicable workshops and retreats based on Board approval. The scholarship will cover up to half of program tuition fee or $500 maximum. Candidates must be contributing members of RCZC and participants are expected to demonstrate to the Sangha any educational/external workshops/information learned at the workshop. For example, a sangha member would like to attend a workshop specific to sangha leadership. After the workshop she would share what she learns and possibly suggest new practices or methods that could benefit our community.
Scholarship forms must be completed one week prior to Board meeting to be considered, or consideration will be given the month thereafter.
Brokerage Account
Ken spoke with the local TD Ameritrade office about opening a brokerage account so that RCZC may receive gifts in the form of stocks. Ken will verify if RCZC will have to deposit money into the account in order to activate it and how we will handle signers on the account.
Respectfully submitted, Bernadette Prinster