Development Committee Annual Report 2019
submitted by Lindsay Brown
Current Roster
Development
- Brown, Lindsay, chair
- Yang, Sylvia
- White, Sara
- Forstot-Burke, Corinne
- Cleveland, Susannah, ex-officio
- McKnight, Mark, ex-officio
- Rudnick, Tracey, ex-officio
- West, Janelle, ex-officio
Marketing
- Weisbrod, Liza, chair
- Moll, Melissa
- Rea, Allison
- Hickner, Paula
List of Previous Goals and Progress Made
Development
- Help the MLA Fund reach $1 million before the 2021 meeting.
- The stock market took care of this for us, so the MLA Fund has now surpassed $1m.
- Fund the PPL travel grant.
- Through chapter and various matching challenges, the grant is roughly 70% funded.
- Increase the number of Corporate Members and Patrons through targeted solicitation.
- We individually contacted all Corporate Members and Patrons to renew and/or rejoin if lapsed.
- The number of Corporate Members and Patrons has not yet increased.
- Encourage different types of sponsorship for the annual meeting.
- The CA chapter is sponsoring part of a coffee/yoga break and will challenge other chapters to follow suit.
- Replace defunct/expired member perks and discounts with new perks.
- Members may now sign up for a JPASS for 50% off if they do not have institutional access.
- We continue to explore other publisher discounts for members.
Marketing
MLA logoed merchandise continues to be available for purchase at the MLA Café Press shop, and for the sixth
year in a row, limited edition conference-logo merchandise was created and made available for the 2018 meeting. Overall, the MLA Café Press shop did $392.20 in sales for FY 2018/2019 giving us $64.40 in commission.
At the 2019 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, the Silent Auction raised $1,352 and $689 was received
in donations. The Silent Auction procedures were updated to include online registration and include a buy-it-now option.
Previous Goals:
- Continue to create and maintain desirable merchandise on the MLA Shop at Café Press, possibly including MLA St. Louis 2019 logoed merchandise.
- This goal was met.
- Seek to more effectively market the MLA Café Press merchandise through seasonal and occasional plugs:
Ongoing.- In conjunction with the MLA web managers, merchandise was advertised on the MLA website.
- Acquire an array of unique and desirable items to offer at the 2019 Silent Auction in St. Louis.
- This goal was met, as articulated above.
List of Future Goals
Development
- Be transparent to the membership about fundraising goals
- Based on feedback from the Climate Survey, some members are concerned that Development is focused too much on only one fund at a time
- The latest newsletter column addressed our stewardship of funds, but we will frequently share with the membership that we concurrently raise money for various funds
- Consolidate the Bradley/Gerboth funds
- With help from the awards committees, combine the funds so that both award types may be granted
- Invite new vendors to exhibit at and sponsor events at annual meetings
- Project MUSE has agreed to exhibit and JSTOR may exhibit or sponsor.
- We continue to solicit other vendors, such as Kanopy and Proquest, to sponsor and/or exhibit.
- Fully fund the PPL travel grant.
- We will set up more matching challenges and proposals for the final push of fundraising.
- In conjunction with Marketing and the Board, earmark Silent Auction sales for the fund with the greatest need.
Marketing
- Continue to create and
maintain desirable merchandise on the MLA Shop at Café Press, possibly
including MLA Norfolk 2020 logo merchandise. - Seek to more effectively
market the MLA Café Press merchandise through seasonal and occasional plugs. - Add MLA retro logo to Café
Press shop merchandise. - Acquire an array of unique
and desirable items to offer at the 2020 Silent Auction in Norfolk. - MLA Shop and Silent Auction
endeavors relate to fundraising and outreach initiatives of the strategic plan
and are anticipated to make a positive impact in those areas.