9:00 AM
Crossroads Diner

Call To Order:

President Nathan S

Roll Call:

Nathan S, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather, Mike. Derek called in to present reports only

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Nathan T, seconded by Kelsey, unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Official Gala financials will be ready next month, unfortunately, only about 40 tickets sold. Planning to hit sponsorships hard in the next month or two. We will not know until June if we are getting the arts council grant. The rec is still getting quotes on the sound upgrades for the theater. They are going to have to rent a soundboard for the high school musical and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They are also using our sound equipment for all of the stuff. The 15 year website page is going up on our website within the next week. Currently working with intern Bella to build our timeline for our history page. We will be adding a QR code to purchase tickets on future advertising materials. 

Officer Reports: 

• President
  • Currently working with the Strategic planning committee and will be soon sending out a survey for the board to complete to help guide committee’s planning. FAB wants to work with us so we will be doing a booth with them on May 4th to promote Charlie. Mike and Nathan S will prepare Who’s on First for the event. 
• Vice President
  • Insurance quotes for non profit director and officer liability insurance:
    • 500k in coverage for $595/ year or 1 million in coverage for $744/year
    • Motion to adopt 500k insurance: Mike, seconded by: Kelsey. Unanimous passage
• Secretary
  • Nothing to report 
• Treasurer
  • Current bank balance of 12,914.96
• Creative Committee
  • GOAT is currently underway. We are working on ads for GOAT and will work on Atomic Lobster posters for posterity. Original music director for Charlie may have fallen through. Will check with regulations but may be able to pay a small stipend, $500? Will meet with Nathan S to work on this and also sign ED contract. 
• Public Relations
  • Facebook engagement is up 18% in views and clicks. Will get with Derek on getting an article in The Pioneer and will get the newsletter out.
• Volunteer Committee
  • Absent, Nathan S will get with Katie on setting up the committee.
• Fundraising Committee
  • Absent

Old Business:

1. Scholarship judging: Nathan S will recuse himself as he still knows many kids that may apply. Other 6 board members will use ranked choice voting to determine the winner. Derek will strip identifying info. 

New Business:

1. July 4th committee: need to find a chair to arrange reunion bbq and 15 year float. Derek and Nathan S will reach out to potential volunteers
2. Summer JAM: BFACT did a 3 day program 2 years ago and the children seemed to really enjoy it. There was no JAM last year but they are bringing it back this year and want us to do programming again. We wish to participate again and will get with them to schedule. 

Next meeting:

April 17th, 2025 7:00 PM Grap’s Backroom

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Mike, Seconded by Kelsey. Unanimous passage.

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman

7:00 PM 
Grap’s Burgers & Brews

Call To Order:

President Nathan S

Roll Call: 

Nathan S, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather, Katie, Mike, Al, Derek

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Mike, Second: Nathan T, unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Sponsorships

I have begun contact our old sponsors from previous years and many have elected to come back again. Only one has chosen not to. Two have decreased their level and many just haven’t decided yet. Then I will begin contacting other businesses. I am afraid though that this year will probably be lower on business sponsorships than last year’s high water mark. There seems to be some general trepidation that is causing people to be unsure about putting out much money. Allan will be helping me with the list. Hopefully will be through it by early March.

Grants

We have had some good news so far in grants though. We have received a grant in the amount of $5,000 from the Barbara F. FUNd at the Black Hills Area Community Foundation. This came about because of our discussions with BH Area Community Foundation. This is to be used for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and our New Play Showcase I was looking to do in October. We are to spend $4,000 on Charlie and $1,000 on the New Play Showcase. Since the New Play Showcase should cost very little money and I was talking with Bella overseeing that project, would the board be OK with using that $1,000 to keep paying Bella through the end of October, her contract ends in September? This allows her to put in a lot of effort and make the showcase something amazing.

We have also received a grant for $3,500 from the Clarkson Foundation here in Belle Fourche and that should be hitting our account soon. We also still have about $2,000 to pull out of our Arts Council Grant before July. I am working on some other grants now, including BHE which we have gotten the last several years. Bella is also doing research on new grants for us to apply to as well.

Intern

Bella has been working out great so far. She is helping with the Strategic Planning Committee as well as the Gala committee. She is also doing odd projects here and there as needed. She is going to be helping me get the website updated with all older shows for the 15th Season stuff.

Officer Reports: 

• President
  • Nothing to report
• Vice President
  • Nothing to report
• Secretary
  • Nothing to report
• Treasurer
  • Current balance 15330.69
• Creative Committee
  • GOAT
    • Auditions are set for GOAT for February 25 and 26. Emma Tinsley will be directing and she is deciding if she wants an Assistant or not. I will have a budget at next month’s meeting for this show.
  • Other
    • Licensing has been paid for all other season show’s this year already and most scripts have already arrived.
• Public Relations
  • Currently working on posters for Goat and 90’s prom. Posters for auditions already going up 
• Volunteer Committee
  • Nothing to report
• Fundraising Committee
  • Nothing to report
• 15 Year Committee
  • 90’s prom planning underway.
  • Proclamation
    • I have messaged Mayor Randy Schmidt about getting a Performing Arts Day on June 28 to correspond with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This wouldn’t just be about us but definitely would include us. If it works maybe we could have some cool event during the day at the Rec or the park before the show. I will let the board know what response I get.
  • Display
    • Anna is going to be helping me design a free-standing display for our 15th Season that can stay out in the Rec. Once designed I will need help building it, if anyone on the BOD is interested in leading the charge on this let me know or I was thinking of talking to Terry or Jonathan Tinsley.
  • Website
    • I am currently working on designing and building a page about our 15th Season. This will include a timeline and more information about BFACT and how people can give. Bella will also be helping me flesh out the Shows section with all of our previous shows.
  • Social Media
    • Anna is going to be helping me with social media graphics to use for the 15th Season as well as a big donation graphic we will premiere at GOAT.
  • July 4
    • We have talked about doing a big float and reunion BBQ over the 4th to celebrate our 15th Season. We should get on this soon. I think maybe we should create a small committee for this and get somebody in charge of organizing it so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
  • Film
    • Anna is working on the documentary and is planning on having a short version ready to play before Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We had spoken last year about paying a little bit more for this project since it is such a large undertaking. I was thinking another $1,000. If the BOD is ok with that, I think we lock that in and pay that no matter what. We do have the possibility of getting some more money for some 15th Season stuff through an Arts Council grant as well. They don’t have their regular program grants this year like we got last year so a lot of what we do won’t qualify but when I spoke to them they were interested our 15th Season plans. Now this grant is matching funds, so we have to match everything. So we could ask for $1,000 for the film, so that plus ours means $2,000 to Anna for her work. I was also thinking of putting in money for some ancillary materials for this as well as the float and BBQ. The big catch is, the work has to be done after July 1, so we can’t ask for anything that has been done before that. Is the BOD ok if I look into this grant for this project?
      • Motion to app additional $1000 for documentary to be paid after July 1:
        Al, Second: Nathan T, unanimous passage. 
• Gala Committee
  • Everything is moving full steam ahead on the Gala. Promotion is in full swing and we have purchased a lot of decorations and items for the VIPs. We still need help on promotions, any chance you get to talk up the event and push people to pre-buy tickets the better. Please share and talk it up on Facebook and other social media. We are also looking to solidify our volunteer list for day of. Who can be there, and from when to when? All volunteers will get in for free and you won’t be working all day, you will get to enjoy the event as well.
  • I am asking for a budget of $1,300 for this whole event. I don’t think we will spend that much but I want to make sure we are covered.
    • Motion to app $1300 budget: Mike, second: Katie, unanimous passage
• Strategic planning committee
  • Great introductory meeting to set goals and expectations

Old Business:

1. NA

New Business:

• Scholarships: no official rubric will be set up and it will be up to the judges to determine how much participation means to them. However, students will know be asked to list their participation in school and community shows so that members may have a better idea of how active the students have been in the arts. First prompt question will be eliminated. Students may turn in applications through March 31st; winners will be officially stated at April meeting.
  • Motion to approve additional $200 for senior thespian awards (decided by BFHS): Mike, Second: Nathan T, unanimous passage
• Member at large appointments – table

Next Meeting:

March 22nd 2025 9:AM Crossroads Diner

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Heather, Second: Mike, unanimous passage

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman