Board Members Needed

The Friends of Loring Park (FoLP) board has three board positions (volunteer) coming open January 1, 2011 and we invite you to apply or to let your friends know about the opportunity. The FoLP Board has twelve members, with overlapping terms.

Each member’s term lasts three calendar years and the three open positions run January 2011 through December 2013.  A variety of skills are needed to ensure the smooth running of the group and there is probably a good fit for you or a friend. A love of Loring Park is the primary criterion for being a board member, but other skills in finance/accounting, marketing, volunteer organizing as well as newsletter writing and editing are needed for the Board.

The three board positions include the following duties:

• Participate in six full board meetings per year, held every other month (odd numbered months).Each meeting last about 90 minutes.

• Participate in e-mail communications among the board members between face-to-face board meetings. E-mail is used for dealing with time-critical issues between the face-to-face meetings, and for distribution of board meeting minutes.

• Assist in hosting park events, and volunteer at gardening meetings and other park activities

• One of the board positions is responsible for planning, gathering and editing the articles for the FoLP newsletter, published three times per year. Volunteers write the articles and contribute photographs for the newsletter. Editing the newsletter involves working with a professional newsletter formatter, and the printers. This board position works closely with the volunteer responsible for the addressing and mailing of the newsletters.

• The second position is the Treasurer of the FoLP board. This position includes posting and depositing mail donations, picking up the FoLP PO Box mail and distributing it appropriately, notifying the board member responsible for updating the member mailing database about address changes, processing bill payments, preparing bi-monthly accounting reports for the board, and filing annual  taxes.. Currently Microsoft Money and Excel are used for record keeping.

• The third board position opening includes responsibilities for organizing two to three yearly public events (e.g., Party on the Pond) in conjunction with the Board of Directors, planning and scheduling volunteers and activities, working with Minneapolis Park Board staff for events, obtaining sponsorships and donations for the event, managing the event set-up and clean-up.

If you, or a recommended friend, is interested in serving on the FoLP board, please contact Dr. Lee Frelich, Board President at freli001@umn.edu or call (Office) 612-624-3671 or (Cell) 612-991-1359