Draft Minutes of the May 12, 2005 AGM

== PERC Annual General Meeting May 12, 2005 ==

Attendees:

Board Members: Adrienne Armstrong, Celina Tuttle, Joe Parchello, Randal Marlin, Steve Gurman

Ex Officio Board Members: Mike Kaulbars, (Regrets): Margaret Jensen

PERC Members: Gerard Dachsel, John Kruithof, Maguy Robert

PERC Volunteers: Sarah Levesque-Walker, Kristen Miller, Jason Lawrence, Dianna Graham, Jo Wood, Elizabeth McDermott, Chris Hamacher, James Galetta, Eric Robard, Connie Hawkins, Ryan Iversen, Steffan Hammonds

Visitors: Sunny James, Gerard Robert

1.	Welcome by Chair and Introduction of the Board

Steve Gurman welcomed the PERC members and introduced the Board. He explained why the AGM being held in May instead of November as was previously the case. This date will better coincide with PERC’s fiscal year end (March 31) so financial reports presented at the AGM will be more current.

2. Roll Call of Members

PERC members present were recorded.

3.	Adoption of Agenda:

Motion to adopt agenda by Steve, seconded by Joe Parchello. Carried.

4.	Approval of Minutes of November, 25, 2004 A.G.M.

Moved by Steve, seconded by Celina. Carried.

5.	PERC Board Chair’s Report.

Steve thanked to Dianna Graham for help on the PERC Board Development sub-committee, and he thanked all Board members for their time and help with the PERC over the past year.

6.	Treasurer’s Report:

Joe Parchello presented a financial review. Bob Henry the PERC accountant provided monthly updates of cash flow projections. There was a cash flow shortfall over the period of January to March 2005. In order to deal with this shortfall, the Coordinator was laid off for a number of months.

PEN revenue over the past year was down due to a reduction in the number of issues and a 25% reduction in grant funding compared to previous years. On the other hand, revenue raised through Special Events in 2004 doubled compared to the previous year. The 2004 Great Glebe Garage Sale also raised more than in previous years.

The costs of rent and insurance charged to PERC have increased. Rent is up 25%. Joe reviewed the cash flow forecasts for 2005-06, as well as the budget and profit and loss statement.

There were a number of questions from PERC members: Joe explained that there were increases in office supplies from 2004 to 2005 due to the purchase of a photocopier ($670.00), which is now paid in full.

Motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Carried.

7.	Committee Reports:

Mike mentioned that many reports are posted on the PERC web site.

8.	and 9a), Coordinator’s Report and Introduction to Discussion:

Current Trends in Grassroots Organizing and Implications for the PERC

Mike Kaulbars introduced the topic by describing the challenges faced by many charities in Canada today, including cutbacks in available government grants, a decrease in the amount of time that volunteers stay with organizations and consequent burn-out of those remaining. Donor fatigue is a real problem for everyone. Increasingly frequent disasters such as the Asian Tsunami, floods in Haiti and the refugee crisis due to the war in Sudan's Darfur province all make claims on the limited financial resources of potential donors. There are also many local charities such the Food Bank and United Way which have a justifiable claim on our hearts and dollars. On an administrative level, Mike noted that the amount of time needed to train a new PERC volunteer was about 40 hours. This places a heavy load on the shoulders of the Coordinator and committee chairs since there is a significant loss of volunteers over the course of a typical year - even though the volunteer retention rate at the PERC is better than that of most charities. Joe Parchelo continued the introduction by presenting a number of hypothetical PERC organizational models for consideration. These included:  not making any changes to our current organization; acting proactively to preserve the current PERC mandate and programs; changing the organization into either a government funded NGO or a quasi-government funded agency (similar to the Canadian Blood Services); or seeking corporate or foundation funding.  Joe's presentation could be summarized as providing 3 distinct options: 1. maintain the status quo; 2. seek institutional funding of some sort and a bold new direction; 3. try to do what we are currently doing, but do it better. The Board Chair completed the introduction to the discussion topic by describing the potential impacts that each of the hypothetical models would have on PERC's mandate, funding, volunteer numbers and activities. In summing up the potential impacts on the PERC, it became apparent that organizational models that depended on funding from corporations or government (whether directly from the federal or provincial government or indirectly via a foundation) would also inevitably lead to a radically different PERC. The end result would be an organization more or less shorn of its grassroots base, with fewer volunteers and activities and a narrower mandate. Input from the floor:

Input from the floor:

The discussion entered its final phase with input from the floor. The clear consensus among volunteers and members present was a desire to maintain the current PERC mandate and programs. Suggestions were then sought on how to make the PERC more effective at fundraising and how to inspire volunteers to greater involvement in the organization. A number of ideas were put forward for consideration. These included the following in more or less the order in which they were presented (but suggestions with similar themes have been grouped together):   Rent space from a supportive landlord (like the new Ecolofts development being built on Bank across from Landsdowne Park) and open a non-profit shop/cafe/hangout that would be accessible to everyone. The PERC office would occupy part of the rented space. The intention would be to make enough profit from this operation (food and sale of green merchandise) to be able to subsidize the PERC's operations.   Clarify PERC's mandate and make it more specific for volunteers to coalesce around.   Identify projects or special events that could be undertaken during the summer with the intention of making a profit on the administrative aspects of the projects which would then be used to subsidize the PERC's operations. </li>  Coordinator could work half-time at the PERC office and half-time somewhere else for an adequate salary. This would improve his financial situation. </li>  PERC should have 2 staff; one to coordinate volunteers and the other to research Foundation Grants, pass them by the Board and Committees and write the applications. </li>  Ask other social justice groups in Ottawa what they want from the PERC in terms of resources (e.g. can we develop PERCShops that would meet the stated needs of other groups or make the PEN more useful as a vehicle for promoting other groups' activities?). Is there any way to pool resources with other groups as part of a coalition? </li>  How could the PEN make more money? Should we charge other groups for ads instead of running them for free (in the Calendar)? Should we publish the PEN more frequently and/or increase the number of copies that we distribute?. </li>  Could we get Ottawa area employers to sponsor employees who volunteer time with the PERC they same way that they do for groups like the United Way? </li>  Could the PERC get funding to buy some relatively expensive equipment that it could then rent out to other groups (e.g. an LCD projector)? </li>  How could the PERC experience be made more exciting for its volunteers in order to generate more involvement in its activities? Should we focus on a number of "hot" issues such as climate change or watershed protection instead of continuing with a broader peace and environment educational message as at present? </li>  Are we essential to the community? How does the public see us? It is very difficult to sell something which is not clear. Do we become more concrete to make it easier to sell, or do we figure out better ways of selling our more general mission?

At the end of this discussion, the Board undertook to seriously examine each of the suggestions put forward to see whether it would be feasible to carry out in the context of PERC's available human and financial resources.

10. Nomination and Election of Directors

Jason Lawrence was nominated as a new Director

Since all of the other sitting Directors were mid-term, they were not required to stand for re-election.


 * Steve Gurman, Joe Parchelo and Celina Tuttle were re-elected in November 2004,


 * Randal Marlin and Adrienne Armstrong were also elected in November 2004.

An election was held which confirmed Jason Lawrence as a new PERC Board member.

11. Other Business

There was no "other business discussed"

12. AGM Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at approximately 11:00 pm.

13. Selection of PERC Officers

The following PERC Officers were chosen from among the Board members:


 * Steve Gurman - President
 * Randal Marlin - Vice-President
 * Joe Parchelo - Treasurer
 * Jason Lawrence - Secretary
 * Celina Tuttle - Member-at-Large
 * Adrienne Armstrong - Member-at-Large