Board of Directors Meeting - April 2014

HUMANE SOCIETY
OF FORSYTH COUNTY
Humane Society of Forsyth County Board Meeting // April 14, 2014
Public Release of Meeting Notes
Members in attendance: Mark Schullstrom, AJ Recchio, Vicki Rennick, Laura Wolf, Wanda Deaton, Jenn Von
Essen, Debbie Booth, Dr. Heather Wood, Mary Murphy, and Doris Corona.
Members absent: None
Invited Guests in Attendance: Lauren Bayles
 The April 2014 Humane Society Board of Directors meeting was called to order by President, Mark
Schullstrom at 7:30 PM.
 A motion was made to accept the minutes from the 3/16/14 HSFC BOD meeting and was
unanimously passed.
 Mark Schullstrom provided the President’s update to the BOD which included the following key
highlights:
o There has been great progress in eliminating any paid off-site boarding of dogs in the
program. At the time of the meeting the number of dogs in paid boarding had been
reduced to nine (9).
o All of the estimates to renovate the dog building were received and reviewed. He
indicated that due to the poor financial position of the HSFC at this time that efforts need
to be made in order to raise the necessary capital to start the renovation.
o The sub-committee put in place to create standard operating procedures documents is
working hard to complete. Additional meetings are needed to get all the information
required to create the document.
o Mark indicated that we are currently ahead of schedule on our forecast for hitting 1,600
adoptions in 2014. We currently are on pace to do over 1,700 adoptions by the end of the
year.
o New reports have been put in place to better track and analyze adoption return reasons
to hopefully improve retention rates.
o At the time of the meeting there were a total of 317 animals (154 dogs and 163 cats) in
the program, a reduction from 494 at the start of the year. He reminded us that the goal is
to get our inventory to no more than 125 dogs and 125 cats in order to restore and
maintain a solid financial status.
o Mark introduced a new statistical metric that measures the average expenses per animal
in the program, per day. This new metric will allow the HSFC to better understand the
financial impact the total number of animals in the program makes.
o There was a review of what is considered the most important metric, average length of
stay. This measures the average time each animal spends within the HSFC program. At the
time of the report, 61% of dogs and 57% of cats have been in the program for more than
90 days. The target is to reduce this to less than 40%. It is believed that by reducing the
total animals in the program, more focus can be placed on the long timers in the program
which will increase their chances at being adopted.
o Mark closed out by thanking the Board of Directors, Shelter Employees, and Volunteers
for their hard work.
 Treasurer Wanda Deaton present the financial report.
o New weekly financial dashboard has been created and is sent out each week to the BOD
to review.
o Wanda reviewed all of the current outstanding invoices from HSFV veterinarian partners
as well as local boarding facilities who have been utilized by the HSFC.
www.forsythpets.org | 4440 Keith Bridge Rd, Cumming, GA 30041 | (770) 887-6480
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Wanda indicated that the HSFC will move to an accrual based financial system retroactive
to January 2014 to better keep track of financials.
o Mark Schullstrom presented a new veterinary pricing sheet that will be used to capture
the fees that each of our vet partners charge us for specific procedures. The sheet will be
updated so that the team can make better decisions when choosing which vet to send an
animal to.
Shelter Manager Lauren Bayles presented her monthly shelter update.
o Lauren shared the great progress the team is making on eliminating dog boarding outside
the HSFC.
o She provided an update that the washer and dryer that was donated to be installed in the
dog building have yet to be installed. Electrical and duct outlets are needed for it to be
connected. A motion was made and approved to reach out to local electricians to get an
estimate for this to be completed.
o There have been improvements to employee scheduling to maximize workers during peak
times.
General agenda items covered
o Adoption fee sub-committee was established to evaluate the HSFC pricing structure
currently in place for many years. The sub-committee is to review what local rescue
groups and animal shelters are charging and how they determine their adoption fees. This
will also include understanding our true cost per animal that is in the program. The subcommittee will consist of; Mary Murphy, Mark Schullstrom, Wanda Deaton, and Lauren
Bayles.
o As per the Board of Director bylaws, the only officer allowed to hold two (2) directorships
is the Vice President. Because of this, Mark Schullstrom relinquished his directorship of
the Marketing and Communications teams.
o AJ Recchio will temporarily take on the directorship of the Marketing and
Communications team and named the following two assistant directors to support the
team:
 Sandra Haynes – Assistant Director of Communications
 Abhinav Gopalakrishnan – Assistant Director of Marketing
o Mark Schullstrom introduced a new cloud based software program to manage files and
tasks that are assigned to team members called TeamWork PM. He was able to get the
company to provide the service free of charge through the year 2099.
o Animal Program Director, Mary Murphy, indicated that she has supported the BOD
decisions to reduce animals in the program by stopping all intakes of dogs and cats. She
communicated that her goal is to get the cat inventory down to 110 and the dogs down to
125 as soon as possible.
o AJ Recchio indicated that the IT team is engaged and working with the BBB team to ensure
that all systems are ready for this year’s big event.
o Medical Director, Dr. Heather Wood, indicated that she conducted her monthly shelter
inspection and that she was impressed with everything that she saw.
o Volunteer Director, Jenn Von Essen, indicated that getting volunteers signed up for events
is difficult to manage with so many different teams. She recommended that each team be
in charge of their own volunteer signup and escalate to her if they run into an issue. This
was approved by the entire BOD team.
o Fundraising Director, Debbie Booth, indicated that there are many fundraising activities
taking place.
 There will be a renewed emphasis on the paver program. The marketing team is
working on a new brochure that will soon be printed out and distributed to local
animal businesses.
 Secretary Vicki Rennick graciously donated an expensive necklace to be raffled
off by the HSFC to raise money. The raffle will begin within the next couple of
weeks and the drawing will take place at this year’s Bark & Boogie Ball.
 The BBB auction items are coming in but more items are needed.
 The first Pooches on the Patio of the year was a huge success and everyone is
excited about future events.
o Events Director Doris Corona reviewed the adoption calendar for the coming month.
www.forsythpets.org | 4440 Keith Bridge Rd, Cumming, GA 30041 | (770) 887-6480
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AJ Recchio indicated that Suzanne Chapman will be assisting in the re-launch of the HSFC
newsletter.
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The next Board of Directors meeting will be held Monday, May 12 at 7:30 PM at the Happy Paws
for a Cause clinic in Cumming.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting which was seconded and approved unanimously at
10:25 PM.
www.forsythpets.org | 4440 Keith Bridge Rd, Cumming, GA 30041 | (770) 887-6480

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