March 26, 2024 Minutes

7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

Nathan S

Roll Call:

Nathan S, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather (via call), Sharon, Mike, AL, Derek

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Sharon, 2nd: Nathan T, unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Sponsorships

Business sponsorships are pretty much finished up for 2024, but if anything comes in we will still accept it. We ended up better than last year and my prediction of $8,000. We ended up with $9,250 for the season. We only had two sponsors not return from last season, one was Black Hills Diner that is no longer in business. We ended up with several new sponsors which is great. We are still waiting on $1,000 checks from Farmhouse and BHFCU and $500 from Monument. I will keep following up to get those in. We ended the season with 3 Assistant Director ($1,000) Sponsors, 9 Actor ($500) Sponsors, and 7 Patron ($250) Sponsors. We also have four in-kind sponsors.

Grants

I am currently working on getting three more grants done in the next month or so. That would be for Wells Fargo, First Interstate Bank and Walmart. We have currently completed and submitted grant applications to SD Arts Council, Wharf Fund and the SD Community Foundation. Each of these grants were for $5,000. Once these three new grants are finished I will be on the look out for other grants that we can apply to for this year and next. We won’t hear about any grants for a couple of months. Black Hills Energy approved us for $1000 grant, not yet received.

BH Area Community Foundation

I met with Eric Zimmer, Director of Philanthropy from Black Hills Area Community Foundation. I am bringing their packet of information with me for the board to look at. The organization will keep us in mind as they receive funds that can be dispersed. They also have grant applications we might be able to apply to. Beyond that, they help nonprofits with many different logistical issues. Eric said he would come talk with the board if we want, might be worth seeing if he can come to the next board meeting.

Rec Center Wellness Fair

The Rec Center Wellness Fair will be coming up on April 13 starting at 8am. I will set up our table the night before at 5pm. We will have our banner and poster, plus other ancillary items. I will not be able to attend the actual event like I had hoped, there is a birthing class I will be at all day in Rapid. I will need a person or two to man the table, it should only be for a few hours.

Break a Leg

The show went fantastic! We had a great turnout, 85 tickets sold on Friday with 4 comps, and 112 on Saturday with 5 comps. In total we made $2,225 in ticket sales. Additionally we made $262.88 in bake sale money for both nights. The total show expenses came in at $1,283.46. As long as we get our deposit back, I won’t know for another couple of weeks if we will be, we will only have spent $1,033.46. So if we get our deposit back, we will make $1,191.54 in ticket sales on the show. Beyond the great turnout, the shows themselves went really great. I want to say thank you to the directors, Nathan, Sharon and Stephanie for directing a really fantastic evening of theater. We had three new actors for this show and some people who are fairly new to BFACT so that was great. All in all, it was a great way to start the season.

Sound

We had an issue with one of the back speakers. The Rec is looking to see if it can be repaired and in the meantime we are using one of our speakers in place of it. I am also waiting on quotes so I can send them on to the Rec about new speakers in the theater itself.

Ancillary Materials and Merch

We purchased a standup banner and it came in time to use for Break a Leg, and I think it turned out great! I will be working on another standup banner about volunteering and will hopefully have that in time for the next show. We will also be ordering some rack cards that can be used at various events throughout the year. I will also be working on some new merch and hopefully will have some ready for the summer.

Paternity Leave

Anna is due on May 22 and my plan is to take off around 6 weeks of paternity leave. I will still be somewhat available but I really want to limit my activity during that time. I will handle the marketing for Murder on the Orient Express though. I will ask various board members to help with different things while I am out.

Officer Reports:

President
- Met with Sharon on volunteer committee.
Vice President
- Nothing to report
Secretary
- Nothing to report
Treasurer
- Bank balance $14,499.74
Creative Committee
- Murder on the Orient Express
  - Everything is read to go for our next show. We have our schedule approved and auditions will be on May 6 and 7 at 6:30 – 8:30pm in the Dakota Room. The director will leave open May 8 for callbacks and for anyone who can’t audition on the other days. I am working with her to get a budget and what she will need for help, tech director, costumer, etc. I will be talking with Mike about some fun promotional ideas for the show as well as Allan about a possible fundraiser we can do in conjunction with the show.
- Workshops
  - With the success of the Writers Workshop we are planning an advanced Writers Workshop and Showcase this coming fall. I am also working with Allie about an Actor’s Workshop possibly this Summer and we will also have a Directors Bootcamp either by the end of 2024 or the start of 2025.
- Improv
  - In discussion with the Creative Committee we have decided to push Improv back to 2025. Allie and Anna will be working to spearhead this program and we will have more information in the coming months.
- Next Season Plans
  - We have started planning for 2025 but nothing is set in stone as of yet. If the Board has any recommendations or thoughts, please let me know. We are hoping to do Is He Dead? As part of the fifteen year anniversary. We are also looking at GOAT and possibly a smaller scale musical. We have also had talks about possibly an short one-act festival featuring local authors that could be spun off in 2026 to a more regional level event.
Public Relations
- Not yet formed
Volunteer Committee
- Met last Friday. Derek, Nathan S, and Sharon present. Proposed duty: staffing shows. Working on standardized expectations for volunteers. Working on continuing to gather data on volunteers and working on exit interviews for directors. Considering moving newsletters to PR Committee. Working on promoting opportunities outside of acting and keeping volunteers involved between shows. Hoping to create sorted lists based on volunteer interests.
Grant & Fundraising Committee
- Discusses needs with Derek, Nathan T, and Angela. Working on getting booth for hometown Thursday nights.

Old Business:

FAB request – Seraphim theatrics is handling
Clean up of Drive- Nathan S and Derek Handling

New Business:

Appointment of committee chairs: Nathan S appoints Sharon as chair of volunteer committee, AL as chair of fundraising, Mike as chair of PR, and Anna as chair of special 15 year anniversary committee.
Scholarship apps: Kelsey, Heather, Mike, and Al will judge via ranked choice voting. Applications will be stripped of identifying info by Derek.