Treasurer Report
- See attached report for full details
Financials Update
- Form 990 for 2024 has been sent
- Live Oak accounts for Building Fund and general savings have both been opened
- Citibank accounts are still open, with a plan to move to Chase in the next couple of months
- Continued segue to Zeffy use
- Board has open discussion in considering changing ADZG tax status to a “Church”
- Application would need to be filed with IRS
- ADZG may no longer be listed as a “nonprofit” or 501C
- Possible to have dual status and continue to file 990
- Which would be more beneficial for fundraising?
- The previous discussion predates all current Board members’ service
- A decision was made by the Board to defer discussion until additional information is available
- Annual Review of Guiding Teacher Compensation
- The Board discussed in closed discussion adjustment of the compensation for inflation, cost of living
- COLA last year (October) was 3.2%
- Paula moved to increase the Teacher’s salary by 3.2% and Adrienne seconded
- Motion passes unanimously
- Approval of $135/month increase in compensation
Guiding Teacher Report
Hogetsu shares that she is excited about the ADZG Sangha. People are showing up and involved in caring for the Sangha
- People are enjoying each other and sharing good ideas.
- Hogetsu has enjoyed hosting visiting teachers and sharing how their Sanghas are doing, what kinds of Dharma they are teaching. She feels our Sangha is in good shape.
- Hogetsu proposes having scholar talks quarterly on a Sunday, different than a Dharma talk, to cover concepts or historical context to enrich our teaching. Paul Copp will be giving the first talk on July 13.
- New Meditation & Recovery group is forming
Actionable Items
- Approve Ethics and Reconciliation Documents
- Action will be delayed until Douglas can be present for discussion, planned for the next Board meeting
- Branching Streams funding for ADZG representatives
- ADZG is hosting this year and will be sending four representatives
- Board discussion to offer reimbursement of registration fees. The registration fee is $650 per person, $2600 for all four representatives
- Kevin moved to cover this cost and Mark seconded.
- Motion passes unanimously
- Donation to Faith in Place (FIP) 2025 Environmental & Spirituality Summit
- Robin Wall Kimmerer will be the Keynote speaker
- ADZG has supported FIP with annual donations and has been listed in the program for the summit
- Hogetsu moved to donate $500 to FIP Summit and Howard seconded
- Motion passes unanimously
- Guest Teacher Honorarium Fund
- Hogetsu suggests having a separate fund set up to fund guest teachers to honor them.
- Paula suggests that a separate fund could potentially benefit fund raising
- Board decides to table further discussion until the next Board meeting
- Temple Director
- Paula has been our acting Temple Director, beginning at the PCP
- Hogetsu appoints Paula as the Temple Director, which does not require a vote by the Board given that the Temple Director is appointed by the Guiding Teacher
- The Board thanks Paula for her continued service to Hogetsu and the ADZG Sangha.
Fundraising Update
Summer Monthly Supporters Campaign, as we did last year, which will begin July 7th
- Campaign will be announced in the newsletter
- Paula suggests a “Family Day” at ADZG at the conclusion of the campaign
- A day to invite family and friends
- Special events, such as a 10-minute meditation instruction
- Perhaps a short service with the Metta Sutta for introduction
- Possibly open it up to people in our community as well
- This could be done on a Saturday so as not to conflict with the Sunday program
- Hogetsu feels this is a great idea
- Make a professionally produced video that can be used for fundraising
- Consider the program in the Fall after Branching Streams conference
- Flexibility and accessibility in our programing, such as the recent Saturday half-day sit, which is more doable for some Sangha members
- Howard wonders how ADZG can have more family-oriented events, how do other members of Branching Stream provide family-oriented events
Finance Committee Appointment
- David Doerksen, long-time member of ADZG, has agreed to serve on the Finance Committee
- Paula is hoping to identify and recruit one other person to serve
- The plan is for ADZG financial book to be reviewed quarterly, someone on the outside, not on the Board
- They would objectively review the books and ensure that finances are being managed appropriately
- Financial reports that can answer what would be the cost for purchasing a building and what would be needed to support a temple, donations and income
Fundraising Committee
- Looking to populate a fundraising committee
- People who have experience in fundraising or grant writing
Technology Committee
- Nothing new or exciting to report from technology side, there has been stable traffic at the website
- Kevin shares that the Home Page (26% of traffic), followed by Events, Schedule, and Podcast Library
- Specific subpages, such as the Half-Day Sit received significant attention
- The number of people who are coming entering the online Zendo is not currently being tract
Promotions Committee
- Mark and the committee have been making use of the good pictures take at the temple that have been forwarded to him
- Committee wants to look at doing a video sometime this Fall, worthwhile investment for ADZG
- Overall, 2.4 K followers on social media, which is slowly growing
- In the past 90 days, interactions have been down 27%
- In general, people are currently staying away from social media
- Hogetsu thanks Mark for all his hard work. Sesshin days have been full in part because people are notified on ADZG social media sites
Hospitality & Sangha Care Committee
- Gerrie has been very helpful supporting Sangha members. She visited or contacted Sangha members recently
- Paula has also been reaching out to Sangha members and offering support
Other Business
- Conflict with scheduled meeting on October 26 with Segaki. The time for the meeting will be moved to 1:00 PM CDT on October 26, 2025
- Scheduled Board meeting on December 7 conflicts with Rohatsu. The meeting will be rescheduled for December 14, 2025, at 12:00 PM
- Planning for 2026, Board meetings will be at two-month intervals rather than 6-week intervals