SUBJECT: Minutes of KCWF committee meeting – dated 24 March 2012
1. The primary purpose of the KCWF meeting was to present a proposed “Letter of Understanding” for approval to the committee. The Letter of Understanding is an agreement between USA Wrestling Kansas Inc and participating Kansas colleges on how funds provided by KCWF should be used to promote college wrestling.
2. Attendance - the following KCWF committee members were in attendance: Sean McCarthy Dan Harris Jeff Butler Travis Keal Bill Peterman Wayne Petterson Joe Renfro Steve Woody
3. Sean McCarthy - board chairman called the meeting to order at 7 pm 24 march.
a. Item #1 – KCWF Letter of Understanding
Dan Harris was introduced as a new member of the KCWF committee.
Dan helped with the rewrite of the letter of understanding. The change (specifically to parameter 3.5.1) corresponded with letters sent out to the colleges. Dan also ensured it went through a legal review and allowed a few of the institutions to preview the letter – all of which was view favorably. It was stressed that the memorandum is a letter of understanding - not necessarily an official binding document. It cannot be backed by law. Institutions will, in good faith, abide by the intent of the letter, but not legally bound. No judge could be involved, but maybe school administrators if there is an issue. Dan stated that most of the colleges that he discussed this program with indicated they would most likely use the funds for scholarships. Dan also provided an example of a line item budget from Baker wrestling program as an example of where else the money might be obligated against.
The committee took a vote and approved the Letter of Understanding as written with the change to 3.5.1. The vote carried 8-0 and was approved.
b. Item #2 – Notable Accomplishments
Methods of raising funds have been pretty successful.
Kids tournaments – many of the clubs hosting tournaments this year supported KCWF by either adding a $1 to the entry fee or $1 to the admission fee. Participating tournaments raised anywhere from $200 to $1000 per event.
KCWF donation booths – a few of the committee members ran donation booths at various wrestling events. Hats and Water Bottles were provided by Bluechip to support these efforts. Some of the KCWF booth figures provided to the committee included $495 at sub-district 1 south and $223 at district 1. At the state tournament after day 1, people donated more than $300. USA Wrestling Kansas kids state body donated $2K (on the gold list)!
The biggest individual donor to KCWF is Mr. Vince Nowak.
Total funds raised to date is roughly $19K.
c. Item #3 - Marketing/fundraising Ideas
Professional fund raising organization - Sean McCarthy recommended we find someone to be a professional fund raiser for the KCWF. There were a few questions about how this would work and the concern of credibility of individual selected. The committee agreed to go forward with exploring the idea. However, no decision would be made until definitive information was reported back to the committee.
Letters to potential donors – Sean McCarthy is amassing a mailing list to send out funding letter requests. These letters would be going to individuals and businesses. He requested that anyone with potential donors provide him with the mailing address. Sean is planning on mailing requests out in the near future (no date set).
KCWF funding at HS wrestling tournaments – committee wanted to tap into the HS wrestling tournaments/meets in order to raise funds. One idea included adding a $1 to the admission much like what is already established at participating kids tournaments. However, the committee recognized challenges with school and league control of admission. Therefore, this idea was not pursued. However, fund raising at tournaments by booster clubs or by committee members in support of KCWF might provide income support. Ideas included 50/50 raffles might be a manor to raise funds at HS events and setting up the KCWF booth selling hats and water bottles is also a means.
KCWF website, facebook, and twitter sites – Sean McCarthy discussed the preliminary efforts for establishing a KCWF website. It was brought up that the KCWF website should be linked to various other sites (USA Wrestling, Bluechip Wrestling, NWCA, etc) in order to expend the message of the KCWF program. It was agreed the site should also include a feature to receive online donations through Paypal. The site would also include a list of donors, and in some cases may also be used to advertise for major business donors.
KCWF poster boards and brochures – the committee recognized the need to make poster boards to help promote KCWF. These posters/brochures would be featured wherever the KCWF booth is set up. The message focuses on expressing the KCWF program and a view of the future/opportunities for Kansas high school wrestlers.
Expansion of KCWF merchandise items – currently, Bluechip provides hats, knit caps, and water bottles. The committee agreed to look into other additional items to help promote KCWF efforts. Any ideas should be forwarded to Sean McCarthy. The only stipulation is that is cannot be something requiring various sizes.
Promotion of the Kansas college wrestling programs – in an effort to promote Kansas College wrestling within the Kansas wrestling community (kids wrestling and high school), the committee would like to add a college link to the USA Wrestling-Kansas website. The link would take users to a page featuring all the 10 college wrestling programs in Kansas. Mike Juby has tentatively approved the addition to the USA Wrestling-Kansas website. Expansion of the KCWF booth to district 3 and 4 – the committee recognized the need to expand the efforts of KCWF throughout the state. An idea was discussed to establish an agreement with clubs hosting tournaments allowing them to keep a percentage of the donations in return for running a KCWF booth. The committee was willing to accept method as long as it helped promote KCWF, awareness for the program, and helped build funds for Kansas college wrestling. d. Item #4 - Financial status: As of 24 March, the KCWF balance stood between $19K and $20K. Sean McCarthy reported that we would disperse half the funds this September – approximately $10K. [The other 50% will go into an annuity] This would mark the first allotment of funds to participating Kansas colleges wrestling programs. Based upon the current balance and with the assumption that all colleges would participate, the amount per college program would equate to roughly $1,000. Equitable monetary distribution will be the course for the next couple of years. This will be reviewed in the future to determine if this needs to change to provide an equitable value to the programs. e. Item #5 – Other topics Discussion of Wichita State wrestling club – the Wichita State wrestling club once again expressed their desire to be included for disbursement of KCWF funds [earlier in the day to Sean McCarthy]. While the committee recognized their accomplishments and admired their efforts, the committee agreed that a club does not fit the charter of the KCWF. This was previously debated within the committee via email with the same conclusion. Among the many concerns, one discussed was the lack of college institutional oversight of the program which is a requirement for disbursement of funds. New college wrestling programs – the committee briefly discussed that if a Kansas college added wrestling – whether men’s or women’s - it would be eligible for inclusion in the KCWF program. Next KCWF committee meeting – targeted for September before the first disbursement of KCWF funds to the participating Kansas college wrestling programs. The meeting was adjourned at 8 pm, 24 March. 4. POC for these minutes is Jeff Butler, (808) 230-1371.
