Minnesota Literacy Council
Board Packet
March 16, 2015
Contents
Agenda ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Board Meeting Minutes ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Executive Director Report ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Minutes: Finance & Audit Committee...................................................................................................................... 6
Appendix A: January 31, 2015 Finance Committee Report .................................................................... Attachment
Appendix B: The Principles of Nonprofit Excellence ............................................................................... Attachment
Appendix C: Grotto Proposal Narrative - 2015 ....................................................................................... Attachment
Appendix D: Conflict of Interest .............................................................................................................. Attachment
Minnesota Literacy Council
Board Meeting 5:00 to 6:30
March 16, 2015
Agenda
5:00
Brought to order
Jewelie
Approval of minutes
5:10
Executive Director Report
Eric
5:45
Committee Updates
Chairs



6:10
Finance
HR
Development
New Business



Jewelie
Review Grotto Foundation Proposal
Conflict of Interest Forms
Self-Assessment review
6:25
Old Business
Jewelie
6:30
Close Meeting
Jewelie
2
Minnesota Literacy Council
Board Meeting Minutes
January 26, 2015
Present: Bob Cocker, Carla Engstrom, Chap Milis (on phone), Jewelie Grape, Jackie Prince, Jim Afdahl, John
Sanyamahwe, Laura Cohen, Norberto Moran, Rudy Brynolfson, Theresa Weimerskirch
Staff: Amy Stolpestad, Debbie Cushman, Eric Nesheim, Lynette Ward, Paul Kirst, Susan Godon
Absent: A.C. Flynn, Sean Sweat, Verneita Madden,
Meeting called to order at 5:08 p.m.
Review of meeting minutes from November board meeting.
Motion to approve minutes passed unanimously
Introductions of members and staff. Welcome to new board members.
Executive Director Report
Upcoming board calendar:
There will be an opportunity for board members, table hosts (for the April 29 luncheon) and
Literacy Advocates to attend a social gathering at the end of February. The primary focus will be a kick-off
for luncheon table hosts. Details will be emailed later.
Board members are invited to a board and staff strategic plan retreat on Saturday, April 11, 9am – 1pm.
Location TBD.
Board members are invited to monthly orientation sessions. Email invitations will be sent with details.
New fee-for-service opportunities. The literacy council began a new ESL project with FedEx Ground at their St Paul
hub. We will complete a needs assessment then begin an on-site ESL class as a pilot. The model could be used for
further fee-for-service projects.
Legislative report. The literacy council is monitoring legislative funding for children and adult literacy programs.
The objective is to maintain state literacy funding from the Department of Education. There is a strong network of
advocates that are ready to rally if there is a threat to funding. Board members are encouraged to advocate with
their personal connections to legislators.
Finance Committee
Rudy reported. Numbers look good with a year-to-date positive variance from unbudgeted software revenue, a
strong December of fundraising and holding our expenses.
Jim and Noberto have agreed to join the finance committee.
Annual board resolutions
The annual board resolutions were distributed (also attached.)
Motion to approve the annual board resolutions was passed.
Statement of Financial Position
There was no report from Human Resources Committee.
Development Committee
April 29 Luncheon. Theme is “Firsts.” Priority efforts: 1) seeking major sponsorships and 2) table hosts. Laura asked
board members if they have suggestions or personal contacts for sponsorships, i.e., employers that support their
employee’s service and volunteering. A number of board members volunteered to be table hosts.
Year-End appeal. Several major unanticipated gifts plus a strong response to the matching fund challenge resulted
in over $100,000 raised (we usually average about $46,000.) Carla Engstrom has made personal thank you calls to
donors. Donors responded positively to her calls and loved to talk about their connection to MLC and why they are
supporters.
Matching challenge grant of $50,000. We have raised $30,529 towards the $50,000 challenge. The next big push
for the challenge grant will be at the luncheon.
The Development Committee meets the months that the board doesn’t meet. Board members are encouraged to
come to the committee meetings and become members.
New business
Sean Sweat is stepping back from board work for a few months until his time is freed up.
Meeting was adjourned at 6:25
Next Meeting – Monday, March 16, 5 – 7 p.m. at the Raymond Avenue office
Minutes submitted by Lynette Ward
4
Statement of Financial Position
Minnesota Literacy Council
Executive Director Report
March 16, 2014
Strategic Planning: Please make sure April 11th from 9:00 to 1:00 is on your calendar. We will be
kicking off our strategic planning process.
Conflict of Interest Forms: Each year board members are required to review and sign a conflict of
interest form. You will find the form in the board portal and it will also be available at the meeting on
Monday.
Charities Review Council: Thanks to Paul and Debbie and many others, we have gone through the
Charities Review Council certification process and once again have been given their stamp of
approval. This is an important process and it allows funders and others to see that our agency is of
the highest quality. Over the years this seal has become more difficult to obtain so we are in a very
good place as an agency.
Non-profit Excellence Award: Related to the note above, we are in the process of applying for the
Minnesota Council of Non-profits excellence award for large non-profits. Only one of these is given
out each year so it would be a huge honor to be chosen. The Charities Review Council process has
a lot of overlap with the application so we have a great start. There are a number of things that we
will be running by the board of directors in the future including some information on a selfassessment that a number of us took showing how we think we rate as an agency. More on
this at the board meeting.
New Initiatives: As Dan Backman and I head off to North Dakota to do our Library/Literacy work on
Thursday, I think it might be a good time for all of us (staff, board, and friends) to be thinking about
the different ways new initiatives can play out. We seem to have some capacity to add new
programming above and beyond our L3 Library and Literacy work (Fed Ex, several different
evaluation projects and a local printing company looking for training). So far this work has come to
us because of connections and reputation. Though we will do more marketing in the future, I still
think connections and reputation will be the key way that we are approached. I look forward to more
discussion about this during our strategic planning process.
Table Captains and Sponsors: I’m keeping this update on my report because we are still looking
for table captains and sponsors for the Power of Learning Luncheon on April 29th. Again, we’re
hoping that most board members will participate if possible. If you know of any possibilities please let
Susan know right away. There seems to be some momentum this year since we already have more
$ in sponsorship than any previous year. If your place of work or a company that you are familiar
with seems like a prospect for sponsorship at any level please follow up with us.
Legislative Update: As I mentioned last time, we are spending most of our time defending our
gains and monitoring potential opportunities and threats in the legislature. One area of concern is our
hard fought seat on the Governors Workforce Development Council. There are a number of changes
going into effect with the new WIOA federal legislation that are causing a domino effect in each
state. In Minnesota we are working on changing the makeup of the council. I am at every meeting
fighting for a seat for ABE. We’ll see what happens.
Eric Nesheim
Executive Director
Minnesota Literacy Council
5
Minnesota Literacy Council
Minutes: Finance & Audit Committee
In Attendance:
Meeting Date:
Meeting Time:
Board:
Rudy Brynolfson, AC Flynn, James Afdahl, Norberto Moran,
Jewelie Grape; Volunteer: Susan Spray
Staff:
Eric Nesheim, Paul Kirst
Absent:
Debbie Cushman
3/10/2015
Date Minutes Written:
3/10/2015
4:35 – 5:40 p.m.
Minutes Written By:
Rudy Brynolfson
1. Financial reports for 1/31/2015. The latest financials were reviewed based on Paul’s report
(also posted on the web portal). For the year to date, there is a positive unrestricted net income
variance of $142,060 resulting from the previously noted unbudgeted software fee revenue and
successful fundraising results, together with higher revenues or lower expenses in several
areas. All program areas are at or better than budget and financial indicators continue to be
strong. The nature of the recent large Minnesota Department of Education payment was
discussed. Eric and Paul explained that it covers several programs and a precise breakdown is
still being sought from the funder.
2. Budget priorities. Eric listed the main priority areas to be considered in the FY 2016 budget
process, which is now beginning. They include further database development, a cloud server
system for better multi-site access, and funding for a telephone system upgrade. Little change
is expected in ABE. VISTA summer programs may expand in 2016 with added funding from
United Way; however year-round VISTAs may decline somewhat as resources are reallocated
from Minnesota to other states. The structure and scope of the Children’s Literacy program
may have to be adjusted due to funding constraints. Other staffing adjustments are expected,
but they are not likely to have significant impact on the overall budget. Salary and benefit
increases are yet to be determined and will be based on market conditions. The budget will
aim for an unrestricted operating surplus, with a target of 1% or more suggested by the
committee.
3. Risk assessment. Paul gave an overview of the risk assessment document, which is reviewed
annually and updated as needed. (This is a best practice in keeping with the MCN Principles
and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence.) There were no changes this year. Diversity of
funding was identified as a key risk area, but most funding changes could be offset by
corresponding adjustments to expenses.
4. Financial Policies Manual. The draft update prepared by Paul and Debbie was discussed.
Rudy noted that it provides an excellent statement in detail of MLC’s commitment to ethical
conduct and full compliance with all legal requirements. Most changes were of a minor
housekeeping nature with two exceptions: Section 31.0 includes revised language previously
approved by the Board on Board-designated net assets, and Section 35.0 contains new
language on investments, balancing the potential for additional income against the
requirements for opening a new account, that will be up for Board approval on March 16. The
full document will be formally approved a later date following final editing.
5. Auditor. Paul recommended that we continue with Redpath and Company as our auditor. This
would be the third year of their original three-year proposal, fees are reasonable, and we have
been happy with their work. The committee agreed unanimously to recommend this to the full
Board.
6. Next meeting. The next committee meeting will be on Tuesday, May 12, at 4:30 p.m.