Views from last year's spring fundraiser news Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner? R.U.1.2? Executive Director Search Starts Agdn BY EUAN BEAR .U.l2?, Burlington’s RGLBTQ community center organization, had planned to introduce its first Executive Director at its 4th annual community dinner and silent auction, the group’s major fundraising event for the year. But the best laid plans have a way of ending up in the “circular file”: the search for an executive direc- tor must begin again, now that the candidate who was offered the job said no. The center’s board of directors are dis- cussing how to expand the search, even though it has already advertised nationally. Two candidates with- drew from consideration, although board. President Don Eggert said neither mentioned salary as a reason. Even so, the board will discuss “re- budgeting” for a higher salary in order to attract more quali- tied candidates. The first crop of candidates “tended to have either lots of fund raising experience or lots of program- ming, but not both, and we need both,” said Eggert. The executive director will staff the space and focus efforts on outreach and fundraising. The salary for the position is being funded through a three-year $60,000 grant from the Gill Foundation. “R.U.l2? is the organ- ization," explained Eggert. “There is no real center yet. The current headquarters is an interim step.” Even so, he says, the group has been mak- ing its office space at the waterfront in the Wing Building (behind Union Station) available to communi- ty groups for meetings in addi- tion to their own committees and work on mailings. Ironically, the grant for the executive director comes under the Gill Fou.ndation’s “nonurban” com- munity centers category, despite R.U.l2?’s location in the state’s largest city. Not only is the Burlington area considered nonurban, this glbtq community center is the most rural of the 206 members in the country, according to the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Community Centers. Eggert said that a new community center emerg- ing in the Northampton, MA, area may join them in that cat- egory. The executive director would take over some of the duties now performed by what observers have called “a very active board.” Six board mem- bers, “mostly in their 20s,” says Eggert, currently super- vise the center, raise funds, write grants, and plan for the future. The board has strug- gled to get more age-diversity, while maintaining its diversity in members from the racial minority and bisexual and transgender communities. “It’s just strange that there was no gay-owned gath- ering place in town that wasn’t a bar,” explained Eggert about why R.U.l2? was begun. “There needs to be a place that’s obvious and visible. Hiring an executive director will be a turning point for us.” Asked what will hap- pen when the Gill grant expires, often a make-or-break time for fledgling organiza- tions, Eggert said that the grant was structured to ' required R.U.12? to become increasingly independent in years two and three. The pres- ence of an executive director creates more potential for fundraising, he said, and the foundation provides training for groups in the organization- al areas where they currently lack experience or skills. “With a staff person, the center becomes more accountable to the community, phone calls are returned that day instead of two or three days later,” Eggert said. Ten other gay and lesbian centers are also searching for their first executive directors. . “We’re unique because we’re small. We know our community and there’s less opposition, though that can be a plus or a minus — where there’s vocal opposi- tion, it’s sometimes easier to get support. In Salt Lake City, the center is half community - center and half coffeehouse and it’s a block from the inter- national Mormon headquar- ters. People have to walk by all that opposition to arrive at this rainbow-decked safe place.” Last year’s dinner raised over $7,000, helped along by corporate sponsor- ship. This year’s corporate sponsor is American Express. The silent auction was a major part of the fund raiser, too. Accordingto auction co-coor- dinator Jill Hoppenjans, this year’s silent auction includes several B&B overnights, cer- tificates for massages, web design services from Above the Fold, original artwork from Dykes to Watch Out For, a one-year subscription‘ to Curve Magazine, and certifi- cates or merchandise from Ben & Jerrys’, the Peace & Justice Store, Yoga Vermont, Small Dog Electronics, and others. In a silent auction, the items are displayed with bid sheets. Each bidder signs up for an identification. number and enters his or herbid for the item and I.D. number on the sheet. “It gets really active near the end of the time as people go back to see whether they’ve been outbid or not,” said Hoppenjans. “It’s also really social, as people hang out and talk while they’re keeping an eye on their favorite items.” A second major focus this spring is the R.U.l2?-ini- tiated Queer Summit, sched- uled for May 18. “We would be applying for grants for cer- tain projects and the funders would say, ‘Do you know what you’re doing?’ because two or three other organiza- tions would be applying for very similar projects. It became clear that communica- tionsjbetween organizations was poor, resulting in duplica- tion of efifort,” explained Eggert. The meeting is part of R.U.12?’s strategic plan to have a meeting where all interested GLBTQ organiza- tions can update each other on their activities, Eggert said. “We want. to increase communication and share our‘ strengths and weaknesses. If everyone needs help in grant writing, maybe we should bring in a grant specialist to the next meeting. Do they need help meeting their diver- ' sity goals, maybe we can find someone to help on that.” The Queer Summit is aimed at organizations rather than individuals. “We don’t want to be the VCLGR Town Meeting,” Eggert emphasized. The April fundraising dinner will feature long time community activist (and native Verrnonter) Howdy Russell as the keynote speaker, the Samadhi Singers, and McCawley Burke, a singer- songwriter from Cape Cod. Board member Ann Moore will act as host. If your answer to the question “R.U. 12?” is ‘ ‘‘I.R.’’ make your dinner plans now. V To Contact the center for din- ner tickets or information, call 802-860-7812 or etiiail the- center@ru12. org.