Posted by Daniel Joraanstad on Dec 01, 2020
The Board of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation (SFRF) met on November 19, 2020. President Dan Joraanstad presided and welcomed everyone. Below are some highlights from that meeting: 
 
Update on the 50/50 Campaign: Dan reported that the 50/50 Campaign has achieved over 76% of its $100,000 goal. Even better, total pledges paid are at 72%. Our members are not only generous but good for their word. Dan added that combining the fundraising for both Foundation and Club has sparked interest among several other Rotary Clubs.
 
Rhonda Popppen: The Board unanimously approved Rhonda Poppen to replace Donna Lee Rubin on the SFRF Board. Donna Lee Rubin had relocated to Florida and resigned from our Board. Rhonda brings three years of experience in her prior ex-officio role to the SFRF Board while serving as President-Elect, President, and Past President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco. We look forward to Rhonda's leadership and advice in this affiliation with the Foundation.
 
Investment Committee: Luis Moran was named chair of the Investment Committee. Luis said that the Investment Committee met last week, and he reviewed key points from that meeting. With the election uncertainty behind us, the Investment Committee moved $100K back into equities and will move another $100K on January 5, 2021. Luis advised that the financial activity undertaken will still leave standard goals of our investment policy at 70% equities and 30% fixed income and cash. 
 
Report on Investments: Brent Cunningham, the Foundation’s Merrill Lynch financial advisor, summarized the most recent performance of the invested assets as of October 31, 2020. Performance had been unusually strong with an 8.6% advance for the quarter and growth for the year-to-date of 15.3% The invested assets had risen by 107% since Merrill Lynch took on management in 2013.
 
Fund Allocations to the Club: President JT recapped the October 2020 meeting of the Grants Review Committee. He summarized the status of fund allocation for projects, noting that the Foundation’s grant to the Club for projects totaled $151,000 at the beginning of the fiscal year. In addition, the Club received $20,000 in District Designated Funds (DDF). There was some uncertainty around getting the DDF, but those funds were released. Total allocations for the year to Club projects from both Foundation and DDF will be slightly more than $171,000. President JT noted that the Grants Review Committee would meet again in December to review project allocations.
 
Amendments to the Bylaws Approved: Two significant changes were made to the Bylaws. The first change was to restrict annual funding for projects from the invested assets of the Foundation to 4% of the average balance of the invested funds on December 31 of the last three years. This restriction may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of the Foundation Board. The other change was to authorize the right to vote by email on matters facing the Board in between regular meetings. These two amendments plus a few other updates were passed unanimously.
 
Community Service Projects: In September 2020, the Board heard about the Action Leadership Program with Students (ALPS). In November 2020, the Board heard a presentation by Bob Hermann, Vice President of Community Service, on community service projects. Bob remarked that his role is to guide individual project managers. At the beginning of his term, Bob provided a project planning tool for each manager. He had also created a dashboard of the 10 ongoing Community Service projects. Bob noted that some projects have been on hold due to COVID-19. He emphasized that anyone bringing new projects into the Club must engage the Community Services Chair. This allows for Club members to participate in such projects, using their talents and passion. All projects funded by the Foundation stem from ideas of the Club membership.  
 
In addition to the 10 sponsored projects, Bob also discussed the exciting collaborative work of the First Five Rotary Clubs, which focused on the distribution of hygiene kits to the homeless. Over 4,500 kits were distributed in San Francisco alone. Similar efforts were made in Chicago, Oakland, Seattle and Los Angeles. John and Susan Dean generously underwrote the acquisition of 2,000 kits. The Latter-day Saint Charities funded the remainder of the kits for all of the First Five Clubs.  

Next Meeting: The next two meetings are scheduled for January 21, 2021 and March 18, 2021, both from 12 noon to 1:30 PM. Please join us if interested.
 
The above are just the highlights of the SFRF meeting on November 19, 2020. If you have an interest in the complete minutes of this meeting, please email Bill Poppen for a copy.