Board Business

(Editor’s note: In the winter edition of this newsletter (Vol. 14, #4), there was inaccurate information printed about the PFI board on page 13. The correct information is that neither Larry Kallem, who currently serves as an advisory director, nor Dick Thompson, are eligible to vote on board matters.)

If you’ve been keeping up with PFI’s big picture, you know that in 1999 the board contracted with Martha Cline, a free-lance consultant, to conduct a feasibility study for our endowed campaign. Martha spoke at the Annual Meeting in Ames and many of you had a chance to interact with her and offer suggestions for donors. Thank you for your participation.

In March, Martha made her final report to the board. She had discovered a great deal about how PFI is perceived by not only its own members, but also the general public. She raised some thought provoking questions which she had uncovered in the course of her work. She advised that PFI was not in a strong enough position to launch a massive fund raising endeavor at this time. The factors guiding her recommendations were related to size of the PFI membership, quality of relationships with potential donors, and resources currently available.

The board may have been disappointed with Martha’s conclusions, but in general they were not totally surprised. In immediate response, they initiated a series of email cob rolls to share reactions to Martha’s key questions. In addition, they committed to a two day retreat on July 6th & 7th. The purpose of the retreat is to digest the information in Martha’s comprehensive study and to draft options for the future.

If you have any ideas to contribute to this think tank, please contact one of your district directors before July. Some topics to consider are: establishing a clear identity for PFI; expanding membership; cultivating relationships with potential donors; and evaluating organizational structures.

In conjunction with this last item, the board tabled discussion on associate members’ voting status until the July meeting. Likewise, discussion of the appropriateness of the ISU Foundation as the endowment fund manager was postponed.

We all need to realize that the feasibility study does not send us back to square one. It’s just time for some good head scratching. Time to be really imaginative about PFI’s future. Time to ask ourselves “What next?” – then come up with some innovative responses. The endowed fund is alive and well, and additional gifts to support the operating costs of PFI or any of its special projects are always welcome.

Other topics covered at the March board meeting included the following: reports on district meetings
(see p. 9); strategy for communicating with members whose renewals are overdue; updates on Field to Family projects and on-farm research; report on the Annual Meeting 2000 and plans for 2001; and announcement of the Renew America award (see p. 1).