2011 Summer BOD: Wintergreen

October 12, 2022

The 2011 summer Board of Directors meeting was held in Wintergreen on July 16. The “spouses included” weekend began on Friday night with a “Virginia Country Barbecue” cookout on the patio. Board members met Saturday followed by cocktails and dinner in the conference center.

President Kim Nash began by noting the presence of Executive Director Lynn McCashin as “proof positive of our first giant strides” in the past year, and thanking Lynn by saying, “In many ways, it is because of Lynn that I really don’t have a report.”

Treasurer Anne Baldwin presented her report and distributed charts and financial reports.

Executive Director Lynn McCashin described her daily activities as they related to Finance, Development, Kent-Valentine House and Personnel committees, and her work with Catherine Whitham on staff performance reviews. She listed KVH income-producing events, meetings and workshops, and summed up by saying, “My involvement in the committees and activities is so important in having the total perspective of the GCV and the knowledge of how we are holding the vision true for this organization. It is my job to be there, observe, comment when it is pertinent, understand how we fulfill the mission — and how we take care of our resources.”

Personnel Chairman Catherine Whitham reported that the main work of the Personnel Committee since the last board meeting had been conducting staff reviews. Staff came prepared with their own assessment of their performance and the way their job is unfolding. In every case, the job is changing because the GCV is changing. Lynn has revised the Employee Handbook and everyone has signed a page indicating they understand the policies.

Finance Committee Chairman Julie MacKinlay marked the completion of GCV’s first fiscal year with its new consolidated budget, stating, ‘We now have more financial information which gives us a more accurate picture of where we are, and we have improved the consistency of our reporting. All this is in the support of greater sustainability and stability.”

Julie reported that the 2011-2012 Operating Budget had been reformatted based on the current environment and thinking, and that expense allocations would be based on percentage of use. She reminded board members that “expense allocation is a best practice procedure in the non-profit world to allocate administrative expenses to programs, ensuring that a nonprofit’s ratio of program expense, management and general expense, and fundraising expense are in line with industry norms.” She distributed comprehensive handouts showing budget changes and expense allocations.

The board approved the revised GCV Budget, to be presented at the 2011 fall Board of Governors for approval.

Development Committee Chairman Barbara Luton reported a 326% increase in the number of gifts since 2008-09, the year before instituting the first GCV Annual Fund campaign, adding that Symposium sponsorship had been obtained and that the committee was seeking a title sponsor for the 2011 fall Conservation Forum. Plans were underway to seek foundation grants for KVH capital needs and for procuring major gifts to the Endowment.

Admissions Committee Chairman Mary Bruce Glaize reported inquiries from the Blacksburg area, Hume and Hopewell. The board approved a motion to give the committee supervision to assist and/or direct club dissolution.

Historic Garden Week Chairman Anne Cross distributed a report detailing 2011 income and expenses for member clubs and headquarters and noted that HGW income from this point forward would be reported as net. The net income for 2011 increased 5% over 2010, while expenses increased 32%.

Anne also reported that HGW Executive Director Karen Miller was compiling Suzanne Munson’s notes into An Insider’s Guide to Historic Garden Week: HGW 101, and that recent changes have led to cost savings in the HGW website, as well as the ability to quickly provide updates to the website.

Horticulture Chairman Lea Shuba announced plans for Horticulture Workshop on October 18, 2011, featuring Doug Tallamy from the University of Delaware, who will speak on the importance of native plantings for the purpose of preservation of threatened wildlife. Horticulture Field Day was tentatively scheduled for May 23-24 in Richmond.

Kent-Valentine House Committee Chairman Bebe Luck was soliciting bids to repoint the bricks at the top of the chimney which should eliminate leaks in the third-floor ceiling. To accommodate the move of the library to the third floor, a second estimate for new shelving was obtained. While the second estimate was much more reasonable than the first, it was decided that the move would have to be postponed until sufficient funds were available.

Bebe then summarized conclusions of an ad hoc committee meeting on June 30 to discuss responsibilities of the Restoration, Kent-Valentine House and Development committees regarding the upkeep of the GCV headquarters. (The KVH is the only non-landscape restoration property of the Restoration Committee and it has assisted with various maintenance projects over the years.) It was agreed that all exterior maintenance of the house and the grounds would be covered by Restoration funds. The interior maintenance would remain the responsibility of the KVH Committee. Any extraordinary needs of the KVH would also be considered by the Restoration Committee, but the ad hoc committee was reassured that the GCV Development Committee and staff would be diligent in exploring funding sources from appropriate foundations to underwrite the capital needs of KVH.

Before adjournment, Kim read a letter to the board with suggestions to improve the Annual Meeting. Discussion followed and the meeting was adjourned.