From:
Sent:
Subject:
Attachments:
Kay Meyer [kay@meyergould.net]
Wednesday, November 03, 2010 2:33 PM
ZONTA D12 GovnrGram -- November 2010
Oct board mtg ZI Liaison Points.docx; Oct ZIF board Liason Points.docx; Dist 12 Conference
Report2010.doc
GOVNRGRAM – NOVEMBER 2010
Greetings, Club Presidents &
Board Members:
You are now viewing what I am
viewing. Yup…this is my
‘workstation.’ (The only change I
made for this picture was to shove
my D12 Directory to the right so
that it would show.) What you
can’t see is that through that
window I have a view of snow on
the Indian Peaks—seen better now
that the leaves are falling.
This message includes:
 Information from the ZI & ZIF Board October Board Meetings
 Governor’s Report to ZI regarding District Conference
 Seeking new District YWPA Coordinator
 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence
 Reporting Info that is Used
 LinkedIn Discussion Excerpts
Information from the ZI & ZIF Board October Board Meetings
Action: Read ZI Liaison Points and share highlights with club.
As you are probably aware, the Zonta International (ZI & ZIF) Board meetings took place October 25-29. And,
we have already been provided Liaison Points from these meetings(attached). Talk about efficient! There are
several new developments that should be shared with your club members. We are parts of the same body;
make sure your ‘arm’ is informed.
Governor’s Report to ZI regarding District Conference
The governor is required to submit a report regarding each District Conference. Since I believe in what’s
called ‘360 reporting’, I send to you what I send to ZI. Here it is (attached).
As you will read in this report, your Board will be e-sending you a motion for a vote regarding subsequent
‘off-year’ conferences. There is no rush on this, so it will not occur during the busy holiday season.
Seeking a new District YWPA Coordinator
Action: If you have a recommendation, let me know.
We are still seeking to fill this position. Each of you is in a position to know who might be good at this. We
are seeking a YWPA Award Coordinator (outside Area 3) who can package & forward the YWPA info that is
on the ZI website & generate more interest, someone who can organize a selection committee for the
District (the review of the applications forwarded from the clubs occurs each April), and forward our District
winner’s application to ZI by May 1. The Coordinator will also present the District winner a certificate & $500
from D12, plus the $1000 & certificate from ZI. The three District Scholarship Coordinators are part of the
District Service Committee, so attendance at Board meetings is not required.
I think this is really an ideal District position since one can correspond with the ZI YWPA Selection Committee
and do 90% of everything online. From a personal standpoint, it is good training for the parent who might
one day like to have one of her offspring win some scholarship. (Obviously it’s prohibited for the daughter of
a current coordinator to apply for ZI scholarship). It’s quite doable for an organized person.
Our District 12 clubs are recruiting very few YWPA applicants. Quite frankly, we are missing the boat on an
easy piece of PR: an announcement at HS Commencement of the Zonta YWPA Award winner with all those
parents sitting there. (Are your scholarship recipients announced? Ours are.) I am very interested in building
the number of scholarship applicants we have in District 12. See also the comment in the LinkedIn ‘blog’
below.
16 days of Activism against Gender Violence
Action: Educate your club members & your community.
November 25—December 10: What is your club doing? Check out
www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/about.html Last night Sheila Davis, Jody Gostas & I joined Kathy Stafford at
the Greeley City Council chambers to accept a proclamation from Mayor Tom Norton. We had the
opportunity to say ‘every community should be aware of & seek ways to fight gender violence, from date
rape to trafficking’ and a few words about Zonta. Many thanks to Kathy for organizing this! If you have
questions, please contact Kathy.
Another specific and easy way for Zontians to take individual action is the ‘SAY NO – UNITE’ campaign
(whose spokesperson is Nicole Kidman). See www.saynotoviolence.org
Reporting Info that is used
Action: Collect impact/results-oriented information re your service activities.
20 Clubs in the District sent in their 2009 reports. Some had some difficulty with the on-line format but
persevered to get it in; others thought the format quick & easy.
We USED the end-of-year annual reports to determine a District Service Award winner. We totaled the
amount of District 12 local service $$ allocated in 2009-10, and it totaled $209,000.
This information and the # of women served information was USED in the District 12 Membership Brochure.
We want to continue this USE of information in ways that can help you & promote Zonta. Please ensure that
you are collecting this impact/results-oriented information and aretaking those Action Photos!!
For each service project ZI wants to know: Name of project & brief description, goal of project, did it meet its
goal, # of people it served, community partners involved, club’s commitment to project in terms of # of
members & overall hours. (This last is being reported in quite general terms. If you wish to collect detailed
timekeeping information so that you have an idea of the resources your club is expending toward a
particular project, it can be good management info, but it forms no Zonta or District 12 ‘database’ because
there is no standardization.)
LinkedIn Discussion Excerpts
Some Recent Comments—
Have you checked out Zonta.org lately? You no longer need a logon and password to get to the membership resources, only need to
logon to get to the membership directories. There are tools added every month for clubs and districts. Ther is a place for clubs to sell
their fund raising items on the zonta marketplace for free and only 11 have signed up to do so.
I have heard that at membership recruitment meetings the fact that we are International is discussed and new members join to be a part of that
International organization. When then get in the club they find it is only locally-oriented, and ZI or ZIF is not brought up at the meetings. Those
members get discouraged and realize the club is not what they thought it would be and resign. Each club should consider having a Zonta
international presence at their meetings, it only has to be a minute or two. If a club tells prospective members about our international projects and
educational awards they should keep the club updated about them.
Just discovered this Linked In site from one of our newer members. It seems that mastering social networking will be critical to attract the younger
members that people have mentioned. Our membership Committee discussed your question and have 3 thoughts for you - some have already
been mentioned: 1) start with goal setting for your Club so you can focus member energies and clearly highlight your priorities to potential members
2) hold public service, advocacy or fund-raising events that build local profile and that align/demonstrate Zonta's mission - then rigorously follow up
on the attendance list to invite membership - for instance, we have some very good members who came to us via our IWD fund-raising event 3)
hold an annual "prospective member" night where members invite a qualified person that they know - our club hovers in the 45 member range and
we have held an annual event for the past 4 years, as turnover does happen. This can be a 1/2 hour intro before the regular meeting time or,
dedicate a whole meeting to the topic of Zonta and membership. Good luck!
We have 2 international educational awards—JMK & YWPA Awards where the recipients come directly from clubs. Each club has an opportunity to
pick a local winner that then goes on to a district competition where she can win a $1,000 district award provided out of ZIF funds.* Then those 32
district winners compete for 12 Klausman awards of $5,000 each and 5 YWPA awards of $3,000 each paid for out of ZIF. It's a chance for a club to
have some input into where ZIF funds are spent and a chance to bring $6,000 for Klausman or $4,000 for YWPA* back to their local community. I
am always surprised how many clubs do not participate at all. A new or small club can participate in these two awards at very little cost to their club
except for a small local award and time to distribute and process the award applications. These awards can do a lot to promote Zonta in our local
communities, and we usually do not have trouble getting announcements of the award applications in our local newspapers and schools.
*plus $500 from District 12 (color by Kay)
Ttttttttthat’s all (for November), folks!
We’re eager to hear from you for the next District 12 newsletter. More on that coming from Tracy & Anita.
Meanwhile, I’m counting my blessings this Thanksgiving for the wonderful people I have the opportunity to
work with, for a cause I believe in, through Zonta.
Thanks for being here!
--Kay