Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation

The Foundation … Reimagined

Don Healy, Babs Healy and the entire 2018 Foundation Committee deserve a special thanks for a successful year in supporting our community through grants and volunteer activities, and for representing the VYC as a caring partner in the community.

Don brought unparalleled compassion to the VYCCF as Vice Chair in 2017 and as Chair in 2018. He implemented innovations such as the annual Blues Bistro and charity ambassadors. Thank you, Don.

As Chair in 2016 and 2017, I created a monster, a term coined by P/C Kerry Carper to describe the Chair’s position. Despite our successes in growing the Foundation, a lack of delegation and expansion of more complex events made the position unmanageable and unattractive. We could not find a new Chair, as the position was structured. It was just too much work.

The Committee met to reimagine the Foundation to dramatically reduce the scope of the Chair’s position, spread the work across Committee members, and simplify processes. This was successful. We slew the monster and I agreed to Chair the Foundation in a “Proof of Concept” year.

Here are some changes we implemented. We eliminated the annual auction benefit. While a great fundraiser, the work was intense, and our solicitation of auction items competed with solicitations by the very charities we support.

We will continue the Donor Appreciation event on January 24, the Bike Ride for a Better Community on February 24, Jazz under the Stars on April 4, and Blues Bistro on October 5. The music events will be purely entertainment and informational, without fundraising activities.

We discontinued separate donor acknowledgement letters and will rely on the Gulf Coast Community Foundation tax letters to thank our donors. We discontinued letters acknowledging “gifts in honor of” or “in memory of” to those being so remembered. We also discontinued the Captain's Circle pin program. We hope our donors will understand this reduction in workload does not diminish our appreciation of their generous support.

In addition, we temporarily discontinued the grant application process and will identify early in 2019 those charities which will be supported.

A full slate of officers, other positions, and charity ambassadors has been filled to spread the work of managing the Foundation.

The viability of the Foundation was challenged. Without these changes, a new Chair could not be recruited. We believe the reimagined Foundation will demonstrate a Committee with balance and shared responsibilities. We believe the position of Chair, as a truly leadership role providing guidance and direction, will be a more attractive position.

Please mark your calendars for our January 24 Donor Appreciation event and our February 24 Bike Ride for a Better Community.

In other news, the VYC Board of Directors agreed to sponsor a fifth Habitat for Humanity house in 2019. The Foundation will coordinate volunteers to help complete the house and publicity. This is an important outreach by the VYC as we “Chart a Course to a Better Community.”

Finally, thank you so much for your continued support of your Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Nemser, Chair

VYCCF Committee: Chair Michael Nemser, Vice Chair & Secretary Joan Bowen, Treasurer John O'Donnell, Kevin Collins, P/C Merle Graser, P/C Dick & Doris Guba, Don & Babs Healy, Sylvia Hollister, Barbara Isaacson, Bill & Jennifer Kessler, Noni Lavelle, Warren Major, P/C Gus Olson, Beth Piel, Dave Slaman, Ann Van Cott, and Bill Walker

updated: January 2019 Currents