7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

President Nathan S

Roll Call: 

Nathan S, Nathan T(arrival 10 minutes after start of meeting), Kelsey, Heather, Mike, Derek. Quorum achieved. 

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Kelsey, Seconded by Mike, unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Sponsorships

As 2024 wraps up I will start to contact all of our existing sponsors about re-upping for 2025 to try and get a large chunk of sponsorships done right away before 2025 even starts. Once I have reached out to them I will begin work on my master list of businesses to contact. I could definitely use some help with contacting these businesses for the coming year, I will talk with Allan and the Fundraising Committee about this. There are well over 100 businesses on my list currently and I know there are others to add for 2025. Our goal for sponsorships should be around 9,000 again.

Grants

I am starting to research grants for the 2025 season. Our Arts Council grant runs through summer of 2025. I want to be aggressive again for next season, but we will see what is available. I did apply for the Jim Hess grant through Black Hills Area Community Foundation a couple of weeks ago. This grant goes to organizations in the Northern Hills and we submitted for $10,000. I will update the board once I know if we win it or not.

GOAT

GOAT went very well although attendance was not quite what I was hoping for. We sold 68 tickets but last year we sold over 90. I’m not sure it was because of it being a Thursday or something else. Even though we didn’t sell quite as many tickets as I would have liked, the show itself went great and we received a lot of compliments from attendees and volunteers from other shows, there were about 40 people from the other theaters. Our show went very well, the cast and crew were great and we received a lot of compliments about the script.

In total we spent $724.56 between costs of the show, Rec rental, hospitality and goodie bags, and etc. The cost was more than originally hoped for because we ended up having to print scripts from elsewhere and that cost quite a bit. We made $760 in ticket sales and $118 for the bake sale. That gives us a profit of $153.44. Again, was hoping for a bit more in profit, but all in all it went very well and I think it was an overall success.

Sound

The large back speaker was fixed and is in the theater. The rec set up the system for a program they had last weekend, but I was unable to help. I will be going in this week to reconnect everything and set it up in the most optimal way possible. We will use the two large speakers for the front of house to help augment the Bose speakers that are going out. We will use our two speakers for back of house, these can be removed easily if we need them for anything ourselves. I am also going to be working on getting the old sound board working so we no longer have to use our board. This is also important for the Christmas show, because our board does not have enough inputs for individual mics. If the old sound board ends up not working I will research another solution. It sounds as though the larger sound/video quote for the Rec Center has been submitted to the City Council. Once I know anything on this, I will update the board.

CRM

I will talk with Sharon and will join the next volunteer committee meeting to talk over with them what they are looking for in a CRM and then will try out some free trials of different softwares to pick the one that will help us the most.

15 Season Items

We have many ideas for 15 Season programming, materials, events, etc. and I am beginning work on them. I will be reaching out on an individual basis on specific items I need help with. We have many big ideas for next season and it will take a lot of work to make it all happen but my hope is that we bring in new volunteers and excite some who haven’t participated in a while to help us in 2025 and into the future.

Annual Gala

I almost have my committee set for the gala and will be meeting in the next few weeks to get everything in motion. This will be a quick turnaround but I think it is very possible but we will need many volunteers to make it happen, including ones from the board. I have a lot of hope for this idea and I think if it is a success it could become an annual tradition.

Giving Tuesday

GivingTuesday is coming up in November and I am going to get stuff ready to go soon so we can start promoting it. Last year we raised $340 from it, I am hoping to be around the same range. I will also enter us in some national and SD drawings with this programing, if we win we will get some extra exposure. I will be talking to people to get some quotes for the social media campaign.

Intern

I have been thinking a lot about everything that required my attention with BFACT and as we grow it is becoming a struggle to get everything done. With that in mind I am proposing we hire an intern for the 2025 Season. I have already spoken with Bella at BHSU just to gauge interest and I think she would leap at the opportunity and be an invaluable asset. If the board agrees to this I would work with BHSU to set it up with them to make sure whoever it is receives credit through the college. Their jobs would be helping me with the 2025 Season and all the associated programming around it which will free me up to handle more of the administrative side of my job. I would only feel comfortable hiring an intern if we could pay them. I know not all organizations do, but I think it is important for us to set a standard for this. Will come up with what a contract will look like with approx hours required and begin the process of reaching out to BHSU.

Officer Reports: 

• President
  • It is time to start working on the Executive Director reviews and contract for next year. New contract to be signed by January 1st 2025.
• Vice President
  • Nothing to report
• Secretary
  • Nothing to report 
• Treasurer
  • Current balance of bank account: $20,347.37
• Creative Committee
  • Christmas Show
    • Auditions were a big success for the Christmas show this year, there were over 80 people that auditioned. The cast list is up and the first practice is tonight. There is a lot of excitement around this show and I think people are going to be very impressed.
    • I have a proposed budget for this show that I would like approved. Some of these numbers are a bit of estimates because Sharon is still tracking down more concrete numbers on rental space at the dance studio and any other costs associated with that.
    • Proposed Budget
      • Licensing (Already Paid): 1545
      • Scripts (Already Paid): 999
      • Shipping/Handling (Already Paid): 125
      • Rec Center Rental: 780
      • Printing: 50
      • Misc: 200
      • Advertising: 50
      • Costumes/Props: 200
      • Set Building: 400
      • Contractors/Rental Space: 500
      • Total: 4849
    • Motion to approve the budget of $2180 that has not already been paid for: Mike, Seconded by Nathan T, unanimous passage. 
  • Next Season
    • We have been waiting to set the 2025 season until I was able to lock down the other theaters for GOAT next year but unfortunately I have not been able to get concrete dates yet and the other theaters have already set their schedules so we will be meeting very soon to lock in our dates for everything we know and just see if we can fit GOAT in. Our proposed season includes: Is He Dead?, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (or some other equivalent musical), It’s a Wonderful Life: Radio Drama, Short play showcase and GOAT 2025. Once we have dates we will start locking down directors, as of right now I will be directing Is He Dead? But that is the only concrete director yet but we have several other names in mind for the other shows.
• Public Relations
  • Followers and engagements are up across social media. Continuing newsletters. Planning to promote auction and show in November and annual meeting in December. 
• Volunteer Committee
  • Nothing to report, absent. ED plans to meet to discuss volunteer appreciation event. 
• Fundraising Committee
  • Absent. Passed along report of ongoing efforts to collect donations for the silent auction. Committee meeting pending to finalize details. 
• Strategic planning Committee
  • Met with Anna to set up a retreat for a full day session to begin the planning process. It would be requested that board members not part of the planning committee attend the lunch hour to share ideas with the committee. Potential dates include Dec 21st, Jan 4th, and Jan 11th. Requesting the following budget to hire Anna/Open Space Creative as facilitator:
    • $750 facilitator fee + materials (estimated to be <$100)
    • $250 (approx) for lunch for board members, committee, and facilitators
    • Estimated approx budget of $1100
  • Motion to app proposed budget: Nathan T, seconded by Mike, unanimous passage

Old Business:

1. Insurance: Kelsey did some research based on the non profit she works for and discovered that we should consider liability insurance and also directors and officers fiduciary liability insurance. Nathan T will conduct further research for the next meeting. 

New Business:

1. Annual meeting- tabled for priority discussion at November meeting

Next meeting:

November 18th, 2024 @ Graps

Adjournment:

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

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman

7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

President Nathan S

Roll Call: 

Nathan S, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather, Sharon, Mike, Derek, Al was present for first 20 minutes only. 

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Sharon, seconded by Mike, unanimous passage

Old Business:

1. Strategic Planning committee appointments: Jody and Sheila have agreed to sit on committee. President Nathan S appoints Kelsey, Mike, Derek, and himself to seat committee as well. Tentative October meeting

New Business:

1. Insurance for fundraising committee: Nathan T will research liability insurance. 

Executive Director Report:

CRM

I have been doing more research into Zeffy and it looks like it has some contact storage and such, it is more focused on fundraising. The good thing about that, is it has lots of tools about tracking donations and such with individual people. I would like to meet with the Volunteer committee and get from them what they think would be helpful in a CRM and then make a final determination and move forward with one.

Grants

I am going to move forward soon with 2025 Grants. I will start with Midco, Walmart, the Dreyfuss Foundation and look into the Clarkson Foundation. I will also look into a larger donation from FIB through their giving organization. We won’t be eligible for SD Community Foundation or Arts Council next year so I will have to go out more to look for grants we can get.

Stage

The Rec ended up painting the stage but there seems to be two different types of paint on the stage. They are aware of the issue but want to give a week drying time to any painting on the stage so they won’t be doing that in the near future. It’s not ideal, but I don’t think it will be a huge issue for GOAT.

Sound

I spoke with Jody and she has put into her budget request for next year all of the sound/video equipment. We will see how that goes. Also, we are not sure if the back speaker can get fixed in Belle so we might need to look further out to get it fixed. My hope is to have it working before GOAT. I am also pushing to get a new iPad in place or to see if the old sound board can be utilized soon so we have the ability to do more mics, especially for the Christmas Show.

Concert Series

There is a Concert Series on Oct 4. We will need a person there at 3pm to help and then be there for the show at 7 to run lights. Is anyone available, otherwise I will handle it. If possible it would be great to get someone else there for the performance itself. I can help with setup at 3pm.

Officer Reports: 

• President
  • Nothing to report
• Vice President
  • Nothing to report
• Secretary
  • Nothing to report
• Treasurer
  • Current bank balance of $23,195.15
• Creative Committee
  • GOAT
    • Things are progressing well on GOAT. The show has been cast and they are practicing now and it seems to be going well. We are in the process of scheduling times for the other theaters to come to Belle to practice and for us to go to theirs. Our night will be October 10 and tickets will go on sale tomorrow. We will need some people to help take tickets, run bake sale and possibly usher, I will need help tracking down those people. Also, we will be doing some gift bags for people like last year, I could use a hand with that as well. *last second expense of $150 for print scripts
  • Next Season
    • I am struggling getting all of the other theaters set for a date for GOAT 2025, not sure if October will work now. If I cannot get everyone committed to a date by the end of next week I am going to schedule a CC meeting and we will get our dates set and try and figure out when to slip GOAT in, we can’t wait forever to set the season.
• Public Relations
  • Posters are going out for GOAT. Will share call for carolers for vintage Christmas for the city. Collecting info for upcoming newsletter. 
• Volunteer Committee
  • Planning October meeting. 
• Fundraising Committee
  • Working on getting gift baskets and collecting donations for the silent action. Planning a few items online only and the rest in person only. 
• 15 Year Committee
  • Goals: to celebrate, fundraise, and establish
  • 1500 donation goal outside of other fundraising
  • Have someone at each show to talk to people specifically about 15 year
  • Social media campaign headed by Anna/Derek
  • Specific merch headed by Anna/Derek
  • Documentary: initial cost: 7,000, 2,000 from us, 5,000 from grant headed by Anna
  • Short film to be completed by main show, shorter version for advertising
  • Display at the rec center and museum
  • Annual fundraiser medieval times style. Will have its own committee to plan. Nathan S appoints Derek as chair
  • July 4th float and cookout-class reunion theme
  • City declaration of performing arts day. Hopefully to coincide with the first show. Heidi Parker will investigate.  
  • Day of Service

Next meeting:

10/28/24 @ 7pm

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Mike, seconded by Kelsey, unanimous passage. 

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman