Board of Directors meeting minutes, April 20, 1994

JEWISH FEDERATION OF LAS VEGAS BOARD OF DIRECTORS APRIL 20, 1994 MINUTES PRESENT ABSENT Dr. Allan Boruszak Daryl Alterwitz Dr. Stanley Ames A1 Benedict Amy Boruszak Shelley Berkley Michael Cherry Ron Cook Dorothy Eisenberg Philip Engel Elaine Galatz Judy Frank Dan Goldfarb Melanie Greenberg Gene Greenberg Danny Greenspun Edythe Katz Rick Hollander Ron Kirsh Eva Kallick Marty Loeb Gregory Kamer Hal Ober Dr. Steve Kollins Dr. Marvin Perer Sandy Ma11in Dr. Neville Pokroy Art Marshall Milton I. Schwartz Michael Novick Douglas Unger Arne Rosencrantz Lenard Schwartzer Leslie Simon Marta Sorkin REPS Jerry Turk Dr. Harris Waters Barry Eisen Gerald Welt Bill Feldman Rabbi Sanford Akselrad STAFF Ronni Epstein Bev Eisen Tony Figueredo Sharon Heiman Suzan Loeb I. WELCOME, ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Dr. Allan Boruszak welcomed members of the Board of Directors to the April meeting. He asked for a motion to accept the minutes from the March 16th meeting. Dr. Marv Perer motioned to accept the minutes from the March 16, 1994 meeting, Hal Ober seconded the motion and the motion carried. 1 Allan announced this coming Saturday evening is the final event of the 1994 Campaign. He said it was imperative for everyone on the Board to attend this program. He said every Board member was needed to show support, not only for the Federation Campaign, but for the community. Allan announced Dr. Neville Pokroy has agreed to chair our Israel Independence Day Program this year. He said the event will take place on Sunday May 1st at the Sands Hotel. Allan said we were approaching the end of our fiscal year which means it is time for our Annual Meeting. He announced Elaine Galatz has agreed to chair this program, and it is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7th at 7:00 p.m. in the Federation Community Room. Allan said a memorandum was received from NJCRAC reflecting security arrangements for our offices. He said we have been fortunate not to have any incidents of vandalism, even with our sign so visible out front. Allan said it would behoove us to make the necessary precautions to secure this facility, and we are now in the process of receiving bids to make the fourth floor secure. II. CAMPAIGN REPORT Allan called on Dr. Marv Perer to give the Campaign Report. Marv said it was his privilege to announce the 1994 Las Vegas Federation Campaign is rated NUMBER 1 nationally, both for growth and increase. He said the Campaign is now at $1,055,232.00 with over 1,189 cards in. Marv said this was over $300,000.00 ahead of last year's Campaign, card-for-card, and reflects a 40% increase, card-for-card from last year. Marv said the total Campaign figures reflect 203 contributors that are brand-new first givers to this Federation of which 104 of them just input into the Federation's computer in 1993 and 1994 and equates to $98,637 in new money. Marv said the outstanding cards were reviewed at the last Campaign Cabinet meeting Monday evening, and those outstanding cards will be contacted within the next two weeks. He said a second Campaign Cabinet meeting is scheduled for May 12th to evaluate this year's Campaign; and a third will be on June 13th to begin planning for next year's Campaign. Marv said the almost 1,000 new names entered recently onto our mailing list were contacted either by a Super Sunday phone call, a Passover Mailing or an invitation to the upcoming "Bubbe Meises." Marv said Super Sunday was held Sunday, March 20th here at the Federation Offices and volunteers raised an incredible $60,000. He 2 said during Super Week, an additional $24,000 was raised making the total for the Super Sunday Campaign, $84,188.00. Marv said as Campaign Chairman, he wanted to add his personal thanks to the tremendous effort put forth by everyone involved in making this project the most successful it has ever been. Marv said the one-woman show, "Bubbe Meises" is scheduled for this Saturday evening, April 23rd at the Alexis Park Resort. He said Melanie and Gene Greenberg and their committee worked to personally contact people, and to encourage their attendance. He said help was needed to encourage new people to attend and make the minimum per person contribution of $125.00 or $250 from one family member. Marv handed out pledge cards for members of the Board to cover and return to the Federation by May 1st. Allan said when the members call the cards given to them by Marv to thank them for their previous gift and ask them for a 2 0% increase. He said it was important to return the cards to the Federation office no later than May 1st in order for us to proceed with our allocations process. III. WOMEN'S DIVISION REPORT Allan called on Amy Boruszak to give the Women's Division Report. Amy said of the $1,055,000 raised by Federation, $393,000 was raised by our Women's Division with over 529 gifts and reflects a card-for-card increase of 37%. Amy said the Women's Division will go over the $4 00,000 mark this year. She said two potential large gifts were still outstanding, and several lower-end gifts, not yet in, will be contacted before the close of Campaign. She said since the Women's Division closed at $319,000 last year. Amy said 74 new women made first time gifts to Federation, and their gifts amounted to $40,552. She said 13 women who had "skipped" their gifts over the years, came back to Federation this year with gifts reflecting $3,375. Amy said the Women's Division's last fund-raising event was held at Morton's in the Fashion Show Mall, Tuesday, April 5. She said almost $4,000 in additional money was raised at the event, and there were 2 6 first-time givers. There were 27 previous givers who raised their gifts to $365, or more, to come to the event. She said the guest speaker, Midge Costanza was very enjoyable. Amy said the last event for this year will be the Installation at TPC for our Women's Division Board of Directors and new women we'd like to see become involved in Federation. She said the Women's Division's events were excellent and the speakers were right on target, with all of the luncheons well attended. ( 3 Allan thanked Amy for the support of the Women's Division and her report. IV. FINANCIAL REPORT Allan called on Dan Goldfarb to review the Financial Report for the period through February 28, 1994. Dan reviewed the Summary of the Budget Comparison Report on the fiscal year ending July 31, 1994. Ronni said the 1995 Budget is being compiled at this time and will be presented in May. She said this year's budget was very close in the expenditures for Campaign and the Program expenses were under due to the fact that we had no Young Leadership and part of a salary not expended. She said with Sam Young leaving the Program budget shows money not used in Management, but with a viable candidate for Campaign Director, next year's budget will reflect this money in use. Allan thanked Dan for his report. V. BY-LAWS CHANGES Allan said everyone received copies of proposed changes to our Federation's By-Laws. A motion was made by Edythe Katz to change Article II - Purposes and Powers, Section 1. - Purposes, Number 3, to read, " The Federation shall: 3. Serve as the central planning and coordinating body for the Jewish community. sensitive to, and seeking to serve the needs for all the elements within the community." Ron Kirsch seconded the motion. Motion carried. A motion was made by Edythe Katz to change Article IV - Board of Directors, Section 2 - Composition of the Board, Number 2. to read, "forty (40) members elected by the membership at large of those members in good standing only. The election shall occur at the annual meeting of the membership, and shall allow for nominations from the floor of those members in attendance only." Ron Kirsch seconded the motion. Discussion follows. Mike Cherry was not in favor of changing the composition of the Board. He felt the way to build was through committee participation, and thought perhaps 30 members were enough for an area our size. Ronni said communities the size of Las Vegas generally had up to 50 Board members; representation 1 Board member for every 1,000 people, in general. 4 Edythe Katz said some of the suggested nominees are "old timers" who should have been on the Board and some are new to the Federation. Dorothy Eisenberg said the Federation needs to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Dan Goldfarb said the committee reached out to find people who were interested in the community and would get involved in the Federation. Hal said the committee was not after quantity but rather quality and pointed out that 40 good Board members will strengthen the community. Allan said Board members should be expected to come to meetings; be expected to serve as chairpersons or serve on committees; and expected to attend the community events and to do solicitations. Mike Cherry proposed to amend the motion saying, "30 and no more than 40," which Edythe Katz and Mike Cherry accepted. The amended motion will now read, A motion was made by Edythe Katz to change Article IV - Board of Directors, Section 2 - Composition of the Board, Number 2. to read, thirty (30) and no more than forty (40) members elected by the membership at large of those members in good standing only. The election shall occur at the annual meeting of the membership, and shall allow for nominations from the floor of those members in attendance only." Ron Kirsch seconded the motion. Motion carried. VI. PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORT Allan said the Planning Committee has been working diligently to develop a proposal for a Demographic Study and Needs Assessment. He called on Amy Boruszak, Chairman of the Planning Committee, to give a report. Amy said the Planning Committee met six times from November through April 19th. She said the Committee consisted of experts from different areas of knowledge, and together they began by researching Studies from other communities. She said Barry Kosmin who did the 1990 Study in North America which was the wake-up call in America came here to discuss Demographic Studies. Amy said that after the Committee studied proposals by different demographers they narrowed the field down to Bruce Phillips and Gary Tobin who were both competent and close in price. She said the Committee met yesterday and selected Gary Tobin, Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. Amy said 2 contracts will be issued, one to Gary Tobin and one to Keith Schwer at UNLV, who under Gary's guidance will do field work. Amy said $55,000 is being requested to conduct this Study and it will be completed by next Spring. She said the Study will not be just numbers but will contain information the whole community will find useful. Rabbi Akselrad said Gary Tobin was very impressive and had done more work in this field than anyone else. Hal said we really need the Study, and we cannot afford not to do this Study as the information gathered will be invaluable. Mike Cherry said the old Demographic Study was completely out of date and believed it was essential Las Vegas do a new Study. Dan Goldfarb felt we were now in a position to do this as we are growing and need to plan the future. Mike Cherry made a motion that Gary Tobin be selected to conduct a Demographic Study and Meeds Assessment for Las Vegas. Dr. Marvin Perer seconded and after discussion the motion carried. Allan thanked Amy and her Committee for their diligence in making this proposal. VII. COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT Allan said that Louis Farrakhan will be speaking at the Thomas and Mack Arena on Saturday evening, June 4th, and called upon Mike Cherry, Chairman of the CRC, to give a report. Mike said the CRC met on Monday, May 18th with over 40 people, representing the community, in attendance, including the National Conference, religious leaders, civic leaders and representatives from the State of Nevada. He said after discussion it was decided the National Conference would be the spokesperson for the community of Las Vegas, and to be aware it was a dangerous situation and to keep people away from the area. Mike said it will be a community effort and not a Jewish effort. Dr. Stan Ames asked if any protest groups have been formed. Ronni said she met with Jackie Matthew, of the National Conference and they felt a coalition must be built to have a long-term Agenda and not a just address spur of the moment problems. The Agenda will include: education, programming and dialogue with the entire community. Allan said if anyone inquires if the Jewish community is doing anything about Farrakhan's speech just to reply that a community coalition is being formed. Dorothy added that no one should respond to the media as it will escalate the issue. Hal said we must keep Farrakhan's appearance as a community issue not a Jewish issue. Allan thanked Mike for his report. VIII. UJA SPLIT Allan said every year we are called upon to make a very difficult decision regarding the allocations of the funds we raise for United Jewish Appeal and our local needs. He said the past two years we have given 35% of our Annual Campaign to UJA. Allan said we have had a very difficult time raising enough money to meet the needs here in Las Vegas. He said that even though we have made significant changes in our Federation operation and are attracting 6 many new people to our community he felt we need to increase our allocation to our local community this year in order to just keep pace with the exploding needs. Allan made the recommendation to the Board of Directors that the percentage be retained this year of 35% to UJA. Allan pointed out more money was raised this year, therefore, we will be increasing our contribution to UJA which is given off the top of our campaign after shrinkage. Marv asked if the proceeds of future land sales were still going to UJA, and Allan said the Federation is mostly settled with them. Allan said he hoped to increase the percentage in coming years. Dorothy Eisenberg motioned to retain our percentage this year of 35% to UJA. Dan Goldfarb seconded and motion carried. IX. ALLOCATIONS REPORT Allan said in the absence of Mike Novick, Ronni Epstein would give a brief report on the Allocations process. Ronni said although we are not where we want to be in the allocations process we are moving forward. She said the Local Allocations Committee visited all agencies that receive money from the Federation and a letter requesting information to process this year's allocation was sent to them. She said she and Mike Novick the Committee met with Garth Winkler of United Way to learn how they allocate their funds. Ronni said allocations should be a year round project in order to help agencies so when it comes time to allocate we will have set goals and be able to plan for future needs. Amy asked when the information is due in the office. Ronni said the information was to be in the office May 1st, and there will be three meetings in May. The first meeting will be to review the proposals; second for the agencies to speak and the third will be to make decisions. Marty Loeb asked how much control the Federation will have over the agencies wishes. Ronni said the Federation is asking what the agencies want as their prime needs, and how we can help them achieve it. Allan said we were not looking to control any agency. Ronni said that in the future the Planning and Allocation Committees will become one Committee so we can effectively allocate according to community priorities. Allan thanked Ronni for her report. X. COMMUNITY MISSION GUIDELINES Allan said we were looking to have a Community Mission to Israel in the Fall, and are presently are holding space for the week of October 16, 1994, at a cost of $2,250 per person. He said we are in the process of developing materials to promote the Mission, and need a guideline from the Board of Directors regarding a minimum gift to the 1995 Campaign and decision as to whether or not we wish to subsidize this program. Allan recommended we do not subsidize this trip or set a minimum gift, however, we will publicize that every participant will be expected to make their 1995 gift in Israel. He said the Mission would be from Sunday to Sunday and arranged by Galilee Tours. Dan Goldfarb motioned we do not subsidize this trip or set a minimum gift, however, we will publicize that every participant will be expected to make their 1995 gift in Israel. Dr. Marv Perer second and the motion carried. XI. GOOD AND WELFARE Rabbi Akselrad said than Yom Hoashoah was very moving and Yaffa Eliach was a exceptional speaker. He said the response was wonderful and 650 people attended. Rabbi Akselrad thanked Edythe Katz, Bev Eisen and Roz Sabarra for the work they did to make Yom Hoashoah a success. Edythe Katz said the Holocaust Conference was a success with over 400 people in attendance. She said she has had many requests for speakers and information from teachers throughout the State of Nevada. She announced Schnidler's List will be shown May 10, 11 and 12 at UNLV's Hamm Hall to all local Junior and Senior High School students. Allan thanked Rabbi Akselrad for the Yom Hoashoah program and Edythe Katz for the Holocaust Conference. Bill Feldman announced Jewish Family Services Agency has completed an adoption and another one is pending. Bill thanked Allan for the help he has given JFSA with the adoptions. Bill announced JFSA had received a grant to cover senior housing and a care-giving service. Bill announced a volunteer party tomorrow and two upcoming programs on Alzaheimers and NESW. XII. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned. 8 AGENDA BOARD OF DIRECTORS APRIL 20, 1994 I. WELCOME, ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS II. CAMPAIGN REPORT III. WOMEN'S DIVISION REPORT IV. FINANCIAL REPORT V. BY-LAWS CHANGES VI. PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORT VII. COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT VIII. UJA SPLIT IX. ALLOCATIONS REPORT X. COMMUNITY MISSION GUIDELINES XI. GOOD AND WELFARE XII. ADJOURNMENT JEWISH FEDERATION OF LAS VEGAS S1GESMU.WD OXTER - 3909 South Maryland ParkM-ay. Suite 400 ? Las Vegas. Vex-ada 891I9-,5.0 (702) 732-0556 - FAX (702) 732-3223