Thanks again to everyone for your help and insights as we get our processes moving! It struck me at our last meeting that we really are “building the plane as we fly it,” and I know that takes a lot of flexibility.

I want to confirm a few details and start laying out next steps.

Endowment fund: Matt is going to update us on his meeting with the Fidelity representative about getting the full investment account set up. We’re on status quo in the meantime.
Acknowledging gifts that have already been received: this will be a high priority to catch up on, but first required a proper email setup. Matt has done a bunch of work on the account to set up a proper login system and address previous shortcomings with the alias setup (thank you, Matt!!!). Richard and I are now able to learn how to use the new system so we can send messages to donors. I will resend the acknowledgment draft separately so we can confirm content and get ready to start deploying.
Tracking gifts and pledges: Matt and Richard are working on this jointly. The document will live in the devcomm folder (which we should all have access to) in Matt’s CRWE server.
At the last meeting, we discussed talking points to lean into, encouraging a positive, forward-looking tone and emphasis on CRWE as platform for hearing music that audiences will not have the opportunity to be exposed to anywhere else in the area. This will help inform my remarks at the next concert, and I encourage everyone to lean into it in your own conversations with members and concertgoers as well.

Moving forward, as we get our infrastructure set and working well, our big goal is how to cast a wider net for support.

Grants may be tricky, especially for endowment support. However, the silver lining is that Andrew’s work on general operating and concert-specific grants will offset our annual budget, which is important to ensure the endowment doesn’t take away needed funding there. Taz, Matt, and I have already discussed that if there’s enough extra in the budget at the end of a concert system, we can have a yearly review to decide on an amount to transfer to the endowment.
Now that we have a little over half of the ensemble donating, we need to keep building member support. A next step will be to identify people to connect with and identify which of us is in the best position to start a conversation.
We also need to look beyond the ensemble, as discussed. I’m checking with Matthew for guidance about his network, and we need to keep emphasizing with members that if they can connect us with potential funders/sponsors, that is very helpful too.
I do want us to work on benchmarking with other ensembles that already have endowments, to learn their strategies. Matt has recommended that Taz will be good for me to ask about Met Winds, and let’s identify other groups to connect with as well. Then I’d love it if we can divide up outreach among us.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks again!