Board Tutorial
This board tutorial was created to help prospective board members learn about serving on the Friends of Mosquito Hill board. If you have any questions about becoming a board member, please email Steve Bongers.  To nominate someone to be considered as a board member, use the candidate information packet (pdf).

Board Information
Friends of Mosquito Hill, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, supports Mosquito Hill Nature Center (MHNC) which is owned and operated by Outagamie County in central Wisconsin. Friends of Mosquito Hill (FOMH) provides this support by underwriting the salary and directing the activities of a volunteer coordinator, supporting a volunteer corps of educators, and financially assisting Mosquito Hill Nature Center with projects, exhibits and improvements.

FOMH funds and publishes a newsletter to communicate with MHNC supporters. FOMH provides professional development opportunities and support materials for MHNC staff, as well as training opportunities and materials for volunteer naturalists. FOMH purchases books for the MHNC library.

Funding sources include membership dues, contributions, and proceeds from fundraising activities and investments.

The Board of Directors meets approximately monthly to review and plan activities. Committees meet as needed. Communication is maintained with MHNC staff via periodic meetings and electronic means. MHNC staff and FOMH board jointly update the MHNC strategic plan.

FAQ

Who serves on the board?
Board members are MHNC volunteers, supporters, and others with a specific interest in MHNC. The Director of MHNC also serves as a member of the board, as a non-voting member.

What does the board actually do?
The board sets an annual budget for FOMH and directs the uses of funds. Our single largest commitment is to hire, supervise, and pay the salary of the half-time Volunteer Coordinator. The Volunteer Coordinator makes sure that there are sufficient trained volunteers to assist the professional MHNC staff in offering school programs, helping at events and programs, and maintaining the buildings and grounds. An ad hoc Human Resources committee communicates and meets regularly with the Volunteer Coordinator, carries out an annual performance evaluation, updates the board regularly, and makes recommendations to the board about pay, benefits, and other issues.

At monthly board meetings, we review financial and committee reports and make plans for upcoming events (e.g. FOMH annual meeting) and initiatives, such as fundraising activities. We also plan board development activities (participation in workshops, for example).

While we maintain active email correspondence as needed, most of our work is accomplished via these monthly face-to-face board meetings. These are times to share information, consider new ideas, discuss issues, and bring each other up to speed on happenings since the previous meeting.

Which committees are active?
Standing committees: Education, Newsletter, Membership, Spring Fever Event and the Fenlon Event committees.

Ad hoc committees: Annual Meeting, Human Resources, and Finance committees.

NOTES: While the ad hoc committees are composed solely of board members, the standing committees are composed at this time mostly of MHNC staff and/or volunteers, with a board representative on each. The Spring Fever Event committee is a quasi-separate entity that reports to the board via the MHNC Director.

How do we get funding?
The largest amount of income is from FOMH membership dues. A membership renewal solicitation letter is sent to all members near the end of the calendar year and most of the renewals are received between December and March. Contributions from generous supporters and memorials provide significant receipts. In recent years, the Spring Fever committee (see below) has transferred several thousand dollars to the FOMH general fund each year to support the Volunteer Coordinator position.

A “Friends of Mosquito Hill Educational Endowment Fund” is established with the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, Inc. This endowment fund produces dividends that are reinvested in the fund. It was established to provide a secure source of income to benefit educational programs of FOMH and MHNC in the future. There are no plans to use this money in the foreseeable future; rather, it is hoped that the fund will continue to grow.

What are our fundraising activities?
Spring Fever
Although technically an activity of FOMH, a separate committee (with FOMH board representation) has planned and carried out this successful event annually. Revenue and expenses are tracked separately and Spring Fever funds are maintained separately from Friends' general funds. Since completion of the building project, the funds have been used for displays, projects, and occasional repairs; a significant amount is invested and awaiting use for future initiatives yet to be determined. MHNC staff are heavily involved in the fundraising associated with this event. Because of this, the Outagamie County Parks Director maintains some approval authority over use of these funds. The FOMH board has drafted a Memorandum of Understanding that which clarifies the relationship between Outagamie County and FOMH regarding the use of the Spring Fever funds and other revenues.

Human Race
The “Human Race” is an annual fundraising event sponsored by the Volunteer Center of northeast Wisconsin. Each walker gathers contributions, with proceeds being split between the Volunteer Center and FOMH.

Where does the money go?
The greatest expenses are for Volunteer Coordinator wages and payroll taxes. Business insurance, fundraising and marketing, and the Transportation Fund are other significant expenses, followed by mailing costs for membership letters and newsletters and MHNC staff support expenses.

What is the Fenlon Event?
The late Dr. Chick Fenlon established a fund at the Community Foundation in honor of his deceased wife, Charlotte Bates Fenlon, a longtime Mosquito Hill volunteer. Each year the Fenlon committee brings a nationally or regionally-known speaker or other program to the Fox Cities with expenses paid by the Fenlon fund. The committee selects and plans the events. FOMH handles the financial arrangements, paying the associated bills and being reimbursed by the Fenlon fund. The event is not intended as a fundraiser but as an educational event for the community and a way to promote MHNC and FOMH.

What are the FOMH board's hopes for the future?

1. An active and enlarged board of directors, which has the capacity to assume leadership of nearly all committees.

2. A board Governance Committee which will provide recommendations toward reviewing and updating the board’s statement of roles, responsibilities, and expectations of individual board members; to periodically help clarify the areas of focus for board work, to identify and recruit new board members; to provide an orientation for new board members; to periodically assess the board’s effectiveness, and to act as a nominating committee for board leadership.

3. That the FOMH board and members will actively promote Mosquito Hill Nature Center to Outagamie County government members, especially during budget deliberations.

4. A “culture of fundraising” to be established that is not an onerous burden but rather an unobtrusive part of nearly everything we do. Board members will be excited about our mission and that of MHNC and communicate this excitement to others. We will cultivate donors (i.e., “friend raising”) assiduously, and work hard to keep donors well-informed about the impact of their donations.

5. Membership has been slowly declining, and a comprehensive plan to boost membership and interest needs to be instituted. While many people are currently unaware that FOMH and MHNC are separate entities, a marketing campaign for both organizations will be developed and generate increased FOMH memberships and contributions. (Program revenue will increase for MHNC as well.) Future publications (print and online) should persuade the public to be informed, interested, and active participants.

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