Meeting Minutes 6/23/2012

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST June 23, 2012, 52 Duncaster Road, Bloomfield

Present:  Dale Bertoldi, Vikki Reski, Paula Jones, Chip Caton, Tamara Hochman

A.    Fundraising Campaign  –

1)      Timing and Length of Campaign:  The objective of the campaign is a commitment from major donors of a minimum of $250 per year for 3 years. 

2)      Training and materials:  A training session on how to approach potential donors will be offered.  Chip will take the lead on putting a package together that could be used as the basis for a presentation to donors.  Hannah will draft a letter that can be modified to fit particular situations.  We discussed the need for the package to be comprehensive enough for the different interests of potential donors.  For example, we own property in several towns, and are working with other towns and land trusts to establish linkages between towns (e.g. Tanager Hill in Simsbury.)  Such a regional approach is important to us, and would be viewed positively by some donors.  We need to reflect this aspect of Land Trust operations in our materials. 

3)      The Board developed a potential donors list.  We focused on businesses given the Neighborhood Assistance Application program (see item C 1))

B.     Hawk Hill Update

1)      Hawk Hill appraisals were delivered.  Terms are being reviewed with the owner for re-negotiation. 

C.     Other Business

1)      Neighborhood Assistance Application:  Kevin Gough presented our Thrall property project on June 4^th to the Windsor Town Council and requested their support for an NAA application for Thrall Potato Barn.  The Council approved our application.  The Land Trust submitted an NAA application to Bloomfield for our Bloomfield-based projects on Monday, June 25^th.  We agreed that our presentation materials to businesses under this program should include an illustration of the state tax credit in addition to state and federal tax deductions to show true net cost of a business’ donation.

2)      Proposed “Responsible Party” assignments (Organization Assessment):  Paula had provided a proposal of assignments.  She will start working on the high priority items that should be “quick hits.”