The meeting was called to order at 7:09 PM in the Sports Pavilion Club Room.
Attending: John Oravis, John Thompson, DuAnn Thompson, Bruce Kvam, Wayne Miller, Nao Ikeda, Jerry Byrnes, Mike Hebert and Dave Boos.
The minutes from the previous meeting and the treasurer's report were approved.
Banquet: 131 people attended the Golddiggers banquet. Though the cost per plate was higher than other suppliers, the Radisson did not charge for room rental. They also accomodated us for things like desert and altering the menu slightly.
MVI Coaches Clinic: MVI has again provided table space for the Golddiggers and the U of M on April 2-3 in Applie Valley, put on by Walt Weaver. There are usually between 150 and 200 attendees. University of Minnesota coaching staff will make several presentations at the event.
Spring Tournament: The Gophers spring tournament will be held April 23 at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota will play Nebraska at 10:00 AM, Nebraska will play Northwestern at 2:00 PM and Minnesota will play Northwestern at 6:00 PM. [Amendment: Nebraska dropped out.]
A Golddiggers reception will be held after the Spring Tournament match. The board authorized up $300 of expenditures. Coaches Hebert and Boos will present some ideas for increased Golddigger participation in the growth of the department. Attendance of 30-50 is projected. [Amendment: actual attendance was upwards of 75.]
Fall Road Trip: A bus trip to the Wisconsin match on Sept. 23 has been proposed. The bus would depart for Madison in the afternoon and return to Minnesota after the match. No hotel stay will be involved.
Another candidate is the Purdue/Illinois weekend of Oct. 14-15. The next option is the Michigan/Michigan State weekend.
Membership Incentives: Larry Mickelson is investigating the production of a 2004 season highlight video as an early membership renewal incentive. John Oravis will look into obtaining permission from the company that produced the video. The board approved including this as an incentive for members renewing before July 31.
Donation Tax Deductibility: A question arose as to whether donations to the Golddiggers are tax deductible. The Golddiggers are not a 501 (c) 3) organization. Johin Oravis and John Thompson will investigate the details.
Donations: Coach Hebert clarified the status of the Berg scholarship fund. When donations are made to the Berg fund, they simply reduce the amount of money the University applies to volleyball scholarships. The University has already commiited to support the full complement of scholarships for the volleyball program. Such donations therefore do not increase overall funding of the volleyball program.
To increase the funding available to the program, contributors should give to the volleyball service account. The department has a number of these service accounts, including one for the international trip fund and the Golddiggers.
Funds from the Golddiggers donation drive will be transferred to the volleyball service account.
Golddigger Fundraising: Mike Hebert and Dave Boos described the financial status of the department, and the expectations of the University with regard to fundraising for improvements that the department would like to make. As the profile of the volleyball program is raised, the level of fundraising required to maintain that growth is required to grow on par with other similar programs such as women's basketball.
The coaches described a number of avenues and asked the Golddiggers to commit to helping the program grow. A similar presentation will be made to the general membership at the post-match reception after the spring tournament match.
Program Donation: The board approved a donation of $4,000 to the volleyball program's service fund.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 PM.