Minutes APRA-Virginia Spring Meeting March 30, 2005
The Spring 2005 meeting of the Virginia Chapter of APRA was held on March 30th and was hosted by the The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities in Charlottesville, VA. There were 50 people in attendance 37 members, 13 non-members .a great showing! After a continental breakfast and networking session the group was welcomed to the Conference Center by Program Chair Lynda Myers from the Foundation. She then introduced Robert C. Vaughan, President, who shared the history of the Foundation and welcomed the members to the area.
Program Chair Lynda Myers then introduced Samantha Marrs, Assistant Vice President, University Advancement & Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations at VCU , who presented The Changing Face of Corporate Philanthropy. Her presentation was followed by Chuck McLean, Vice-President of Research at GuideStar, who spoke on The ABCs of Foundation Research.
Following a wonderful lunch, Chapter President Chris Pipkins called the business meeting to order. In his opening remarks, Chris thanked The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities for hosting the meeting. As the ice-breaker Chris asked everyone around the room to introduce themselves, share what they did and whom they represented. He recognized Vicki Black from VMI for her recent accomplishment in obtaining her BBA. GO VICKI!.
After introductions, Aleta Gesiewski and Andrea Caserta shared photos and stories about APRA Chapter member Greg Gluba who passed away in March at the age of 39 due to unexpected complications associated with an auto-immune blood disorder. At that time donations were collected for a fund established in his childrens name: Caroline and Thomas Gluba. In a tribute to Greg, the 2005 APRA-Virginia Scholarship Award will be awarded in his memory.
Committee reports:
Presidents Report, Chris Pipkins: The APRA International Conference is scheduled for August 10-13, 2005 in San Diego, CA. Research Rich & Fund-Raising Focused. Check the APRA-Virginia website for a link. The APRA Connections magazine is revamping its circulation and considering an electronic feed. We will keep you posted. The APRA skills sets have been revised and are now available on the APRA International website. The original skills sets were created as the internet was burgeoning and the revisions update changes to the profession and the technology. The committees also introduced a new skills set, one for Research Managers. A skills set on prospect management / relations management is forthcoming.
Vice-President Report, Tricia Ambler: The application for the APRA-Virginia Scholarship Award of $500 is due by April 6th. See the APRA-Virginia website for the application. The scholarship can be used toward the MARC Conference, the APRA National Conference or the CASE Research Conference; it will be the candidates choice. The MARC-2005 Conference is scheduled for June 8,9 & 10 at VCU and will be hosted by APRA. Mary Maxwell, Director of Prospect Research at the University of Richmond, announced that she is the facilitator chair for the conference and is requesting volunteers to man the registration table and monitor sessions for the three days. Please contact her at (804) 289-8045 or by email mmaxwell@richmond.edu if you are interested. Some of the MARC sessions will be conducted by Chris Pipkins, our very own Chapter President; Janet King, UVA; David Lamb, PIN; Jay Frost, Wealth ID.
Program Chair Report, Lynda Myers The next chapter meeting will be held in mid-September as a joint meeting with APRA-DC at George Washington University. Details to follow.
Treasurer Report, Philip Bottonari:Philip reported that as of 3/30/05, the APRA-VA account balance was $6,740.13. Since the 1/28/05 report, $895 in meeting fees (including $75 for the spring 2004 meeting) and $160 in membership dues had been received. A 2004 MARC scholarship check was reissued to that organization, less the stop-payment fee on the previous check.
Secretary Report, Lisa Cheney: Lisa presented the January 2005 meeting minutes which are available on the chapter website. As there were no changes or corrections, a motion to approve the minutes was presented, seconded and passed without objection.
Membership Chair Report, Randy Holden: For 2005, Randy reported that there are 30 organizations represented with 60 individual members. Randy also announced he is the Chair of the Prospect of the Year Committee, if you have any nominations or are interested in participating please contact him at Lynchburg College at holden@lynchburg.edu. We are developing ways to reach out to Virginia organizations who have not been members in an effort to increase membership.
Publicity Chair Report, Aleta Gesiewski: Aleta is in process of upgrading the APRA-VA website with pictures, new links, a membership form and scholarship information. She has a lot of ideas to make the website outstanding! Check it out! Please contact her (757) 221-2804 or email her akgesi@wm.edu with thoughts or corrections for the site.
Program Chair Lynda Myers introduced: Jay Frost, President and CEO of Wealth ID, who presented Finding the Top 1%.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:00pm
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa B. Cheney, Secretary