Report from the Grand Council: Quarter 4, 2008

Respectfully submitted by Baroness Bianca the Inquisitive, Secretary of the Grand Council on December 28, 2008.

A. COMMITTEE ACTIVITY

The Council received one topic for discussion this quarter. The topic was: "Grants, Grant Writing, Type of Grants, and How Grants Might be Beneficial". In addition, the Chairman assigned one additional topic: "Procedures for Elections of Officers and Terms of Officers"

B. COMMITTEE STATUS AND COMMENDATIONS

Other Changes

Resignations:

Caelin on Andrede - Ansteorran, Kingdom Rep

Roger of Belden Abbey - An Tir, Kingdom Rep

Additions:

Caelin on Andrede - At Large

AElfwyn The Needleworker - Middle, Kingdom Rep

C. PUBLISHABLE SUMMARY

The Grand Council examined 2 specific topics, as mentioned in Section A. There was one other smaller discussion that spun off of these two topics. The specifics can be found in Section E (Discussions).

D. CONFIDENTIAL

Nothing to report

E. DISCUSSIONS

Procedures for Elections of Officers and Terms of Officers:

A suggestion was made to change the officers' term to two years.  Another suggestion was to make the officers' term one year, and the terms of the Grand Council members up to the individual kingdoms. 

There was also a brief discussion of how the council operated under a previous charter, prior to the initiation of term limits.  If the Chair wanted to step down, notice was given, and a new Chair was elected.  If the Chair wished to remain, then a vote of confidence was held. Provided the vote of confidence was positive, the Chair would then confer with the officers.  If they wanted to step down, or if they were asked to resign (which sometimes happened) elections were held to replace the vacant offices.  If they wished to remain in office, and the Chair was in agreement, then they stayed.

While no firm conclusions were drawn, the general consensus appeared to be that members were content with the current arrangements.

 

Grants, Grant Writing, Type of Grants, and How Grants Might be Beneficial:

The Council was pleased to see this topic of Grants presented, as it implied the SCA, as an organization collectively, is looking beyond the traditional sources of income.

The question was posed as to what is the purpose for the grants?  Is there a specific goal?  Or it a way to tap into more money, without a necessary direction?  The consensus is that most grant applications will call for specific direction & purpose.

There are several things to keep in mind:
    * grant money is a notoriously unreliable source of money
    * grant money is unlikely to solve the corporation's fiscal woes
    * Grants are usually given with the understanding that results are usually made available to the general public, not sequestered to the organization's members.
    * there needs to be a clear policy as to who (if anyone) is allowed to commit the SCA-Inc or any of its parts as a participant in a grant

It may prove beneficial to have a person or team designated whose primary responsibility is to ensure the requirements of the grants are being followed, track those projects that the SCA does commit to (if any), to keep a library of sample proposals and a list of possible sources of money, and to develop, keep, and publish a store of institutional experience as to how to and how not to, apply for grant money.

Types of Grants:

"Academic" grants are perhaps the most obvious type of grant.  In this regard, the corporation would lend a great deal of credibility when it comes to being able to vouch for the educational qualifications of the organization.

"Scholarship/research" grants provide support through scholarships for an area of research, or a specific project.

"Outreach" grants are for the development of educational materials to be distributed at demonstrations, schools, and other outreach areas. Some examples of these would be a) teaching tools such as games which could be played with students when we do school demos and b) funding for info pamphlets.

Other types of grants include Corporate grants, foundation grants, and government grants.  However, council members did not have much experience with these other types of grants.

Some questions the Corporation requesting the grant must ask of themselves include:

What does the group need?
Who is going to track and provide oversight?
What is going to be accomplished?
How is the grant going to be spent or utilized?
When can the granting agency expect to see utilization tracking in a report format?
When will the grant or resource have to be renewed?

Procedures:

When it comes to actually writing or applying for a grant, it is strongly recommended that the corporation employ the services of a professional grant writer.  The Society could hire a Grant Administrator. Additionally, it is possible that members of the populace may be experienced through mundane exposure and could be hired to fill a research and/or grant writing position. It takes a very tenacious person (or group of people) to keep working at a grant request until it succeeds.  Additionally, there is a need for accurate, up-to-date records and documentation on grants is extremely high.  It it vital to be able to instantly produce a status report justifying how the money has been spent.

Grants tend to be focused and specific. Many granting bodies have specific guidelines regarding the mission of the organization. Some agencies do have grants for individual artists. Reenactment organizations sometimes fall into a gray area. Some programs excludes them.  Grants can also be cumbersome. They often have stringent requirements and sometimes mountainous paperwork involving supporting documentation that must be filed, contemporaneous records kept, and reports made in a timely fashion.

Special Note for the UK:

There are grants available in the UK that must be used to 'create activities for the public to learn and take part in heritage". This program requires a request of at least 3,000 pounds for a specific project.  Additionally, the SCA may wish to become a member of NARES, the National (UK) Association or Re-enactment Societies.

 

Other Ways the SCA Might Raise Money:

Microsoft sponsored site - http://club.live.com/home.aspx - registered users earn points by playing games and doing searches. The points can be redeemed for prizes, or the users can choose to donate up to 10 points a day to the organization of their choice.

 

F. PREVIOUSLY APPROVED DISCUSSION TOPICS, TO BE ADDRESSED AS TIME PERMITS

There are no such topics at this time.

G. SUGGESTED FUTURE OR ON-GOING DISCUSSION TOPICS

Creating a 10-year plan

Creating a business plan

APPENDIX: LIST OF COUNCIL MEMBERS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DISCUSSIONS

SCA Name	Kingdom Rep/at-large	Kingdom
Aelfwyn the Needleworker	Kingdom	Middle
Annalies	At Large	Calontir
Annecathryn of Wicken Bonhunt	Nonmember	Caid
Ariel of Lindisfarne	Kingdom	Drachenwald
Bianca the Inquisitive	At Large	Meridies
Brenden ap Llewelyn	At Large	An Tir
Caelin on Andrede	At Large/Kingdom	Ansteorra
Caitlan
Cathal	Kingdom	Meridies
Cedric MacRory		West
Chiara Francesca Arianna d'Onofrio	At Large	Ansteorra
Conal Mac Nachtan	Kingdom	Outlands
Daniel de Blare	Kingdom	West
Elias Gedney	At Large	East
Fernando
Fiskr Hammondson	At Large	Northshield
Flanna Dunwalton	At Large	West
Fridrikr Tomasson av Knusslig Hamm	Kingdom	Aethelmearc
Galleron
Goedjn
Helena Bryenissa Raoulaina	At Large	An Tir
Herzog Dietrich von Vogelsang	At Large	Caid
Hrolf Herjolfssen		Lochac
Johannes
Kat MacLochlainn	At Large	Ansteorra
Katriona		Northshield
Kevin Eriôl	At Large	Meridies
Leyland O’Lee	At Large	Calontir
Mitchell MacBain	Kingdom	East
Orla Carey	Kingdom	Atlantia
Raphe Cuthbert		Drachenwald
Roger of Belden Abbey	Kingdom	An Tir
Simone Ui' Dunlaingh	At Large	Ansteorra
Tadamitsu
Therasia von Tux	At Large	Ansteorra
Theodora of Trebizond	Non-member	Artemesia
Tibor	Non-member
T'ressa Margarite	At Large	Northshield
TSivia bas Tamara v'Amberview	At Large	Ealdormere
Wulfred	At Large	Atlantia