Library Committee Minutes Archive

Library Fundraising Committee
Monday, May 24, 2007
8:30 A.M. - Senior Center
Meeting Notes

1. Call meeting to order
   Meeting called to order at 8:30 a.m.
2. Roll call
   Members present were: Sandy Leibfried, David Kurth, Ron Haas, Tracy Fillback, and Darrel Haskins. Member absent: Brent Straka. Administrator Simpson was also present.
3. Minutes of May 3, 2007 Meeting
   Motion by Kurth, second by Leibfried to approve minutes of May 3, 2007 meeting. Motion carried.
4. Interview with Larry Dittman

   At 9:00 am the Committee conducted an interview with Larry Dittman of Church Street Associates. Mr. Dittman provided a written proposal which is included with minutes for all those that weren’t present. That proposal is dated May 24, 2007.

   Mr. Dittman explained how Church Street is set up. Larry is the principal, does the interviews and founded Church Street in 1989. He provides the core project management services, other services are vended. That includes design, creative writing and photography.

   Mr. Dittman stresses the project is about donors as much or more as it is about the Library Board’s desires. Leadership for the campaign is key. Successful campaigns tend to succeed mostly on a small number of large gifts rather than a large number of small gifts. Mr. Dittman explained he works on a letter of understanding, there is no up front fee, no contract – monthly retainer is $5000 plus production expenses. A project of this nature is expected to 9-12 months. Regarding Phase I feasibility study it is likely a 6 week project that could be done for approximately $7,500 - $10,000. Mr. Dittman encouraged the Committee to check his references, specifically Mineral Point and Grinnell, Iowa. He indicated that he takes on a maximum of 4 projects at a time and he currently has 3 lined up for the period we are discussing, including the project in Mineral Point.

5. Interview with Tim Coffey

   At 10:00 am the Committee interviewed Tim Coffey from Coffey & Associates. Mr. Coffey discussed primarily that he works with the study committee to identify people for interviews, prepares a mini case for support. He provided a draft example of the case for support. He asked that there is local scheduling of the interviews by someone in the community to maximize the efficiency of his time.

   The campaign study is confidential and confidentiality is maintained, providing an executive summary at the end of the feasibility. The cost to do the proposal is $7,500 with 40-50 interviews plus mileage and lodging. The campaign phase would include enhanced proposal literature, the case for support and a campaign plan. Mr. Coffey works under a retainer of $4,500 - $5,000/month. He expects this campaign to take 6-9 months. Phase 1 would include the large gifts phase, Phase 2 would be medium gifts, and Phase 3 would be small gifts and Phase 4 would be the community fundraising. Mr. Coffey indicated that he does a maximum of 5 clients at a time, of that only 1-2 capital campaigns at any given time.

6. Discussion of candidates

   At the conclusion of Mr. Dittman’s interview the committee determined they would need to meet again on June 13, 2007. That meeting will take place at 9:00 am to discuss with Administrator Simpson the reference checks. There was a consensus by the Committee that Larry Dittman was the preferred choice based on the interviews. They also discussed hiring Boris Frank for feasibility and then Church Street for the campaign. The Committee would like more clarification as to specific questions to reference checks. The Committee directed Administrator Simpson to obtain specific information in the reference checks.

   1. The flexibility of the candidates for scheduling and follow up work with the community.
   2. The experience other communities have had with having one candidate do the feasibility study and a different candidate do the campaign phase.
   3. Concern about boilerplate feasibility studies and if the two candidates provide specific and detailed feasibility studies for Lancaster.
7. Adjourn
   The meeting was adjourned at approximately 12:00 pm.

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