10-03-20 NCNWTF Board Meeting
Chatham County Wildlife Club - Bear Creek, NC - 1:00 pm
Attendees: Henry Smith, Howard Rumfelt, Robert Smith, Ken Moore, Tim Draughon, Ted White, Perry Bryant, Luke Gibson, Jessi Sackett, David Lee, Bonni Stephenson, Bill Collart, Richard Plattenberger, Roger Reynolds, Greg Ward, Brent Phillips
Guests: Ryan Stanley, Bobby Phibbs, Larry Smith
Robert Smith started the meeting at 1:04 pm with opening remarks and welcomed all visitors.
Ken Moore gave the invocation.
Tim Draughon presented the meetings from the last meeting. Motion to approve by Ken Moore, 2nd by Ted White. Minutes were approved.
Henry Smith presented the financial report. Henry made a correction to the report regarding the seed account it should be $9,594.50. Motion to approve with correction by Ken Moore. 2nd by Tim Draughon. Financial report was approved.
Robert Smith stated while we are on the subject the Outreach Fund, it is no longer and has rolled over into the Superfund. Currently we cannot get a statement from Edgefield on the current amounts. Edgefield is in the process of working on it now and has formed a committee to work on the Superfund. Also, according to the State Chapter Presidents call it may be June before we find out the outcome.
Ted White raised a question regarding the impact of the State and National Scholarship.
Robert Smith stated it will not affect the national scholarship and the only other scholarship will be at the local level. The local chapter will be responsible for that scholarship there will be no funds coming from Edgefield except for the national scholarship winner.
Scholarship applications will be online, and it is unclear what the process will be on that because we were told that all applications will have to have to have a letter of recommendation from the state.
No limit on how many students could apply from each state could apply and we suspect we will here more soon. Suggestion was to still accept applications from local chapters and for the State Chapter to award a scholarship.
Seems counter productive at this point but we really don’t have a lot of input until it gets to the point Edgefield wants to discuss it further.
Ted White brought up kids are currently already applying for scholarships so if we are going to do it, we need to take what money and what money Edgefield will offer and move forward.
Robert Smith stated this is something we will have to decide if we want to award a state winner or forward all the applications to Edgefield, not sure how they are going to take all those applications a select a winner.
Ken Moore stated if you must have a letter of recommendation from the state it makes it difficult when you may not even know how many you have in. A lot of questions remain regarding the scholarship program and they couldn’t explain a lot on the call.
Brent Phillips commented that he feels it is a benefit for the State Chapter to give away a scholarship. Robert made the comment we must be able to fund it. Richard Plattenberger asked if Robert was on the Superfund Committee and he stated he was not. Bobby Phibbs stated it was comprised of volunteers with NWTF staff providing oversight.
Henry provided a brief summary of what we usually allotted for scholarships and it is approximately $4,500 from the Outreach Account and Superfund Account that go to scholarships and usually $2,000 the State Chapter gives so that is $6,500 we would have to come up with to fund if we decided to do it.
Robert Smith asked to be thinking about it and if you have any suggestions or recommendations on how we fund it please let us know. Ted White commented it is a shame we seem to be cutting out the future leaders of the chapters such as the young man who won a few years ago and is now leading the NC State Chapter.
Brent Phillips stated people are always wanting to know where their money is going, and it seems cutting out the scholarship is not a good idea. Robert Smith stated the reality is we do not have a lot of control over the situation and it possibly helped save the organization during the current situation.
Ted White asked about the December Raffle money and what it could be used for, it is the State Chapters money and we could possibly be utilized. Richard Plattenberger asked if we could do another online auction or does all that money go to Edgefield, if the State Chapter did its own online auction the money would stay with the State Chapter. Ted White will come up with some ideas and submit to the Board for review and discussion.
Ryan Stanley and Bobby Phibbs presented the RD Update.
Ryan introduced Bobby Phibbs and he is coming from SC and will be covering 10 chapters in SW North Carolina and Northern South Carolina as well.
A lot of questions currently several events planned through December that have been scheduled. We had several events in August not many in September, a lot of Chapters stepped up for the Call for All Campaign.
Ryan asked Ted White to provide numbers for the State Auction. Ted stated after we paid $6,800 and we are still in the process of collecting all the money we made $3,545 from the auction and the raffle was $3,300. Ted appreciates every one that helped sell tickets and helped. Hopefully next time we can do better and raise more money.
Ryan stated this is a good event to critique because we need to do some virtual fundraising this fall. We need to continue the fund raising and don’t need to stop because we made the Call for All goal.
Robert Smith stated it seems since we reached the goal things slowed down. Howard Rumfelt brought up concerns as well. It seems the current auction setup did not work as desired and Ryan asked for other options.
Bobby Phibbs discussed the current auction platform and brought up that shipping costs hurt profits and the auction didn’t seem to reach groups outside the NWTF members. The platform was ok, but the auction company didn’t seem to hold up their end of the deal.
Ryan brought up potential issues with communication to the members and not receiving texts or emails and we are losing touch with the members. We need to make sure we are getting the membership cards filled out completely to stay in contact. Luke Gibson asked how do we get communications outside the NWTF those are the people we need to reach.
We still have several core packages out with Chapters-Bobby has 5 in his region and Ryan has 13 in his region for a total of 18 core packages in NC.
Ryan touched on the Facebook Auctions and they have done well so far. Currently around $20,000 and sent in $18,800 and still collecting money. If anyone wants to do one he will be glad to help set it up.
Robert Smith stated we have several items left over from the State auction and picked up several more items. We need to decide if we want to have another auction and the specifics.
Ryan and Bobby discussed the preferred vendor program and will open on October 15, 2020 and it is what we all have been wanting. Looking good so far and excited.
Quite a few vendors involved, and we want to get up to 50 vendors, currently we have 5 confirmed. Reeds will be one of those vendors, a wholesaler and flyers will be made up for your table guns and will be available the night of the banquet on the table and the guest will check which gun they would like when the banquet is over we will place the order and guns will be available 2 weeks after the banquet.
They also have a neat idea with a raffle board with 20 items on it in the $350 range including tools, chainsaws, ground blinds, and guns like a bonus raffle. The guest would pick the item off the board and they would order that item. And it would ship directly to their house and we would be looking at a 3-week turnaround. You can order in advance if you want the items in the room the night of the banquet.
We need to start having discussions preparing for the Spring banquet season. Roger Reynolds wanted to know how we access the system to get this process started, Ryan stated through the RD and they will provide a budget and log into the website showing the vendors and items.
Henry Smith brought up concerns that not having the items at the banquet has not worked well in the past. Robert Smith brought up an example of the shadow box Jessi donated for the State Auction where all we had was a picture - it brought $65. They sold the same item at their banquet in Swansboro for $300.
Ryan brought communication will be key on these changes and asked for the Boards assistance on this. Robert Smith stated that it would be key to communicating with Chapters we must get started sooner and not wait until the last minute. We need to start preparing for the banquets now.
Bobby Phibbs brought up that the challenge with the preferred vendor program is you must be confident you are going to sell the items. They cannot be sent back so we need to be cautious on banquets and the current situation. If you cancel a banquet then the Chapter is responsible for the bill, if the banquet is held and the event loses money then the NWTF will cover the difference. The vendor will have a post-dated check so we need to watch if you have a large amount of credit card transactions, we may need to hold check until funds are available.
Bobby and Ryan commented on trying to get donations form local vendors such as fishing trips, BBQ dinners for 30 folks. You may need to create your own vendors. No core packages will be available for 2021. If you know of vendors, please let the RD’s know if you have any.
This should give the volunteers an opportunity to pick items for your event.
Please continue to contact your local Chapters and assist them as needed. Entice them to do a virtual event or some form of fund raising.
Robert Smith discussed the State Chapter Presidents call from this past Thursday evening. He wanted to share a few things that come up on the call.
As of Thursday evening, there are 1,200 core packages in the warehouse, and they broke up 50 packages for virtual events. The direction was to sell all packages first.
The big issue with this is the Chapters having the banquets first are the ones that have already had these packages. This is a concern. Several Board members had concerns with trying to sell the same items again, maybe you could break them up and try to sell the items that went well previously but it would be difficult.
Bobby Phibbs brought up the 1,200 core packages may already be spoken for. He cannot currently go in and order core packages so if you don’t have a core package currently you will not have one. So, we need to get on with the new program as soon as possible.
2019 banquets across the nation averaged $7,200 net and in 2020 they averaged $3,400.
Robert stated the 990 Forms need to be submitted to Edgefield by November 1, 2020 for tax purposes. If you had a banquet you did it with your banquet report. If you did not have a banquet, please get with your RD.
Robert Smith stated our new District Biologist-Cully McCurdy could not attend the meeting. He will be covering NC, VA and WV.
Howard Rumfelt provided an update on the Conservation Seed Program. Everything is going well currently. We have a little hold over milo and wheat it is in Lexington, NC. Henry hasn’t seen a bill to pay for the seed and it was discussed it may have come out of the Superfund.
Richard Plattenberger discussed the zoom meeting with Chris Kreh and the Small Game and Turkey Committee. Chris addressed the committee and most of the hens were nesting in all three regions April 24,25,26 most hens were on the nest. The chairman of the committee asked the question so when are the turkeys bred in March. So, the question may come back up to open the season earlier possibly which was concerning. Robert Smith stated we need to keep our eye on this. Several of the committee members were pleased with data being collected.
Robert Smith stated Zach Morton called yesterday and asked Robert to apologize for him not being at the Board Meeting due to a prior commitment. He did ask Robert to thank everyone for all the support for the Call for All Campaign. Several Chapters contributed as well as members. We have 286 currently major donors in NC up 33% over a two-year period and our goal is to reach 300 by the first quarter in 2021 and that will put NC in the top 5 in the nation. He offered a special thanks to Richard Plattenberger for his efforts.
Robert Smith asked to discuss old business
Bonni Stephenson discussed the WITO and WOW event. We need to decide if we want to start back with WOW and do we want to stay in the mountains. Robert Smith stated we have no Superfund money available. Bonni will be on a conference call to discuss further and should know more after the call. More discussion to follow.
Robert Smith brought up the State Convention and Awards Banquet.
We decided to not hold the Leadership Conference and consider going back to the convention format. Robert asked for further discussion and it was decided to table until we see what happens.
Robert asked about the awards in January whether we just have a Board Meeting and forgo the awards. There will not be that many awards, with no chapter awards. The National Convention will be virtual this year and we may be able to do something like this. Robert envisioned some sort of virtual event like a Facebook auction.
Richard Plattenberger stated we need to do the state level awards. Robert asked for thoughts and discussions. Howard Rumfelt brought up do we have the funding to have an award this year, awards will not be that big of a cost. We should be good to move forward if desired. It was decided to table this discussion until the next meeting.
Robert Smith brought up discussions on the Dixie Deer Classic.
Wake County Wildlife Club is moving forward currently.
Henry Smith pointed out we have $5,000 from the Wildlife Habitat Foundation to be used for youth events. Typically, we have been buying $10,000 worth of calls and this year we will buy half what we have been this year.
Richard Plattenberger has pencils and bookmarks that can be used for the event.
Motels are normally our largest expense and we will not be able to provide rooms this year due to the situation. We may need to schedule volunteers this year for coverage.
Ted White brought up even if the event is cancelled, we can still hold the Call Makers Contest and he can hold from his house if needed.
Robert discussed expanding to more than the wild turkey possible different mounts and educational material to show we do more than just for the wild turkey. Robert received several deer mounts that could be utilized for the event and research for other options. David Lee volunteered to build the display and reach out to taxidermist. David is also willing to store it and setup and tear down if needed.
Roger Reynolds brought up utilizing the photos from the youth photo contest on a board to display as another option.
Robert Smith brought up the Calling Contest and this year we will not be able to supply lodging for judges due to the current financial situation.
Robert Smith asked for updates from other committee chairs.
Henry Smith provided an update on the December Raffle.
Online sales are going well. We need to consider how we are going to handle next year considering prizes etc.
We need to look at different options to improve our profits as discussed previously. Richard Plattenberger asked what the value of the prizes for a day and it varies depending on the day.
Bonni Stephenson stated we didn’t need to scale back on the prizes it will hurt us. Henry Smith needs input on which way we need to go we need to set a target on profit.
Raffle promotes and a lot of good stories come out of it. We need to be careful about cutting the split the groups get - may not be willing to sell. Perry Bryant stated we need to leave as is currently.
This year’s tickets will need to be to Henry by November 15
Robert Smith will get an email out to all the Chapters regarding the December Raffle to possibly help support their scholarship. Bill Collart made a motion to keep the raffle as is. Motion received a 2nd by Ken Moore. Board approved the motion.
No further committee updates were provided.
Robert Smith discussed the Archery Trade Association and he received an email from Teresa Carroll. Teresa has been working with the Archery Trade Association looking for next step events for participants in NC and TX. A list of chapters has been provided to the Archery Trade Association to partner with local archery clubs etc. This event would qualify for our R3 program. Teresa was having a conference call and provide Robert the notes, but he has not received them as of today. Robert will send out more information once he receives it. Robert asked the Board to think about it and we can discuss at the next meeting.
Robert Smith received a thank you from the NWTF regarding the NCNWTF contribution to the Call for All Campaign from the National Board.
Robert asked for any other new business.
Larry Smith brought up the passing of Glen Harrellson past NCNWTF President and the passing of Carl Brown.
Meeting adjourned at 3:27pm.
