I. CALL TO ORDER

The fourth quarter meeting of the Dalmatian Club of America Foundation Board of Directors was called to order at 9:10 PM CST on Saturday, November 1, 2008, at the O’Hare Hilton, Chicago, IL, by President James Smith. DCAF Directors present in addition to President Smith were Mr. Ken Berg, Mrs. Sharon Boyd, Mr. John Cramer, Dr. J. Charles Garvin, Mrs. Meg Ispas-Hennessey, Dr. Mary-Lynn Jensen, Mrs. Diana Skibinski, and Mrs. Sheila Wymore.

II. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

Minutes of the July 19, 2008 DCAF Meeting in Houston, Texas were previously distributed by e-mail. There being no additions or corrections, the minutes stand as distributed and approved.

III. REPORTS OF THE OFFICERS

A. President - Mr. James Smith.

Mr. Smith had presented a written report prior to the meeting in which he stated that there would be many items to address in a short period of time.

In addition, President Smith stated that the financial position of the Foundation is sound and he thanked the officers, committee chairs and so many others whose efforts contribute to our success.

B. Vice President - Meg Hennessey.

No report.

C. Secretary's Report - Sheila Wymore.

Mrs. Wymore reported on the activities of her office between 7/1/08 and 10/24/08. Correspondence sent included July meeting minutes compiled and electronically distributed, preparation and mailing of six certificates of donation for the Dalmatian Club of Southern California to award at supported entry shows, and November meeting notices sent to the Officers, Board and committee chairs. Correspondence received included emails from board members acknowledging receipt of the minutes and approval thereof, and a Thank You note from Cindy Vogels, President AKC CHF, for the DCAF donation to Grant 975.

In addition, Mrs. Wymore requested that an action taken at the April 26th board meeting be put in the form of a motion, as it affects committee titles. Mrs. Hennessey made a motion to change the name of the Finance Committee to the Investment Committee with Mr. Lawson as Chair and Mr. Cramer, Dr. Jensen, and Mrs. Wymore as committee members. Seconded by Mrs. Skibinski, the motion passed.

D. Treasurer's Report - Rob Lawson

Mr. Lawson submitted a written report to the Board with a Balance Sheet from January 1, 2008 to October 31, 2008 showing Assets/Liabilities of $339,646.20. The Income/Expense detail for the period January 1 through October 31, 2008 showed an excess of $31,829.54 income over expense.

Mr. Lawson reported that he had opened the Vanguard Money Market Account as directed and transferred $125,000 to it.

Mr. Berg requested that the board be given a written report on the various directed donation accounts now that they have been brought up to date. He also requested that the Treasurer develop a disbursement plan for memorial accounts, or a bookkeeping entry that would remove funds from them annually and place them in general funds if they were not directed donations.

Mrs. Skibinski made a motion to accept the reports of the officers. Seconded by Dr. Garvin, the motion passed.

IV. DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT - Julia Soukup

Ms. Soukup reported, or furnished committee chair reports on the following:

1. DCAF Christmas Cards - Julia Soukup

   Sales of the Christmas cards total $2,640 to date. There will be an e-blast mailing to encourage timely purchase of the cards. A direct email to each non-member who purchased previously is currently being implemented.

2. On-Line Auction Report - Cinda Haff

   Ms. Haff reported interest in the auctions over the past couple of months, with income exceeding expectations. A set of collectable figurines that had not previously sold went to a nice bid by an individual.

   Recent donations included hand painted ceramic pieces from one of our members, whose previous donations were of quality and which generated active bidding.

   Mr. Smith will request that Ms. Haff’s report include sales figures in the future.

3. DCAF on eBay - Cindy Bowman

   No action required. We must provide proof of non-profit status before we can start selling in that venue. The Treasurer is working on locating the necessary information and completing the tasks.

4. DCAF Gala Pre-Top 20 Party – Norma Baley/Rob Lawson.

   Mr. Lawson will submit an advertisement to the webmaster for a new banner and information page for the 2009 event. The webmaster is currently working on the Gala 2008 Photo Gallery and information page.

   Arrangements for the 2009 Gala were reported. Several actions/ responses were requested of the board. The board determined that it was not necessary to design a pin in honor of the second Gala. It was decided that music is an integral part of the event and Mr. Cramer will investigate what KU has to offer in this regard. In addition to the donated quilt, it was suggested that we try to garner two or three more large ticket, quality items for the auction, which will be held midway through the event. Mr. Cramer can provide a list of the regional club contacts for marketing purposes.

   A request was made for volunteers and sponsors. Mrs. Skibinski volunteered to chair the decorations committee again this year. Mrs. Boyd, Dr. Garvin, Dr. Jensen, Mrs. Skibinski, and Mrs. Wymore offered to repeat their sponsorship donations as in the previous Gala.

   Mrs. Wymore, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Lawson will coordinate handling the priority Top Twenty seating.

V. GRANTS COMMITTEE REPORT - David Doane

Dr. Doane recommended the addition of Gregory Hanley, DVM, to the Grants Committee. Dr. Hanley’s curriculum vitae was presented to the board. Dr. Garvin made a motion to appoint Dr. Gregory Hanley to the Grants Committee. Seconded by Dr. Jensen, the motion passed.

VI. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT - Rob Lawson

Christine Gogan, financial advisor to DCAF, suggested that Treasury Inflation Protected Bonds would be a safe, protected investment vehicle for DCAF funds at this point in time.

VII. OTHER COMMITTEE REPORTS

1. Website – Julia Soukup

   Ms. Soukup reported activities since the July board meeting. She added a new banner for the Betty Garvin Speaker Series, corrected some links on the site, added the April and July minutes as well as a new page for the By Laws, handled the auction links and info, and re-indexed the site for search function. Her projects in process include the 2008 Gala photo gallery, a new 2009 Gala banner, link, and information page, and a redesign of the appearance of the site.

VIII. OLD BUSINESS

1. Standing Rules – Sheila Wymore.
   Mrs. Wymore will try to have printed copies of the new standing rules by the February meeting.

2. Food Study/Wendy Brown. - Ken Berg.
   Mr. Berg reported that he had not heard anything further from either Ms. Brown or CHF.

3. DCAF Web Page Review and Update.
   DCAF board members were charged with examining and navigating the DCAF web page to look for anything that may need updating or should be removed.

X. NEW BUSINESS

1. Liskin Fund.
   President Smith reported a recent conversation he had with Ms. Mary Liskin, donor of a directed fund, regarding the potential use of those funds. Discussion ensued regarding the health testing of LUA/HUA progeny with the end result of producing a body of information regarding the project. It was suggested that for comparison purposes AKC Dalmatians should be tested as well, preferably from the same household as an LUA when possible, and without the tester knowing which Dalmatian is in which category. Mr. Cramer made a motion to define a list of tests and protocols for which DCAF will reimburse the owner of an LUA/HUA dog. Seconded by Mrs. Skibinski, the motion passed. Dr. Jensen offered to work with the APC health liaison to find out what the Pointer club recommends for testing.

2. Grant Request, DCA Health Clinics.
   The Foundation received a request from Ms. Danielle LeVangie, chair of the 2009 national specialty health clinics, regarding financial support for tests being offered. Mrs. Hennessey made a motion that DCAF support the CERF and DNA repository. Seconded by Mrs. Skibinski, the motion passed.

   The scope of the financial support was discussed. Mrs. Hennessey made a motion that DCAF also cover the entire cost of registering the results of the CERF tests with the CERF database. Seconded by Mr. Cramer, the motion passed. As a point of clarification, it was stated that DCAF is covering half the amount of the testing costs, as per Ms. LeVangie’s submitted budget.

3. DCA Grant Request.
   During the preceding meeting of the DCA board, a letter from AKC/CHF had been presented delineating various grants approved for 2009 and seeking funding for those grants. The DCA board reviewed the merits of each grant and its potential benefit to the Dalmatian. Mrs. Hennessey made a motion that DCAF fund $2500 to AKC/CHF Grant #1105: Understanding the Dynamics of Canine Influenza Virus Transmission in Dog Populations and Intervention Strategies for Reducing Transmission. Seconded by Mr. Cramer, the motion passed.

4. Thyroid.
   President Smith introduced the topic of potential thyroid problems within the breed and opened the floor for discussion. During previous health clinics, blood was drawn and sent to Dr. Bruner, who indicated that a minimum of 500 samples would be necessary to determine the average thyroid level for this breed. Mr. Smith suggested that we set up an ad hoc committee charged with determining several points: do we have enough samples, what information can be gleaned from these samples, what more information in reference to thyroid is needed, do we need to do more testing, and can we set a baseline level for what is “normal” in the Dalmatian. Answers to these various points may lead to a recommendation that Dalmatians should be thyroid tested as a matter of course and this test would become part of Dalmatian CHIC requirements. Mr. Smith proposed that this ad hoc committee be composed of Kelly Flannigan, DVM as chair, with Ginger Iwaoka and Ann Smith to serve as members. Dr. Jensen made a motion that an ad hoc Thyroid committee be instituted comprised of Kelly Flannigan DVM as chair, with Ginger Iwaoka and Ann Smith serving as members. Seconded by Dr. Garvin, the motion passed.

5. Report on Contribution Complexity.
   Treasurer Rob Lawson submitted a report showing how many different ways a simple $30 contribution needs to be handled, from the accounting to the banking to the recording to the acknowledging level. He would like the board to think about streamlining this operation to make it easier on successive treasurers. The board was requested to think over the situation and come back with possible solutions. Mr. Smith also brought up the Founding Partner list that appears in every Spotter, suggesting that it is already permanently posted on the DCAF web site and in the annual membership booklet, and that perhaps it need only be printed once yearly in the statistics issue of the Spotter. It was a board consensus that this practice would satisfy the commitment made during the initial solicitation for start-up funds for the foundation and Mrs. Wymore will notify the Spotter staff accordingly.

XI. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 10:20 PM CDT.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sheila Wymore
DCAF Secretary