We are at the point where one person has taken C.P.P.D. as far as one person can.

Where can we go from here?

We stay a one or two person personal venture, we struggle, we fight, and every year we feel the hopeless realization that the best we can do cannot get much better.

Calgary Pagan Pride Day is currently a ‘not-for-profit’ venture run by one person, personally. Things can be directly passed on to another person, but there is no place for long-term growth or stability here.

What is the next step?

The next step should be to move towards formal registration as a Not-For-Profit entity with the Government.

There are items needed to get to the next step.

1. An initial Board of Directors (5 people) representative of the community and committed to C.P.P.D.’s goals.
2. Bylaws that fully capture our purposes and vision including membership details
3. The funds to register the Society

What will the Board of directors do? Everything the current LC does:
- Fulfill the information sharing commitments we have with PPP Inc.
- Book the venue, prepare the annual budget, organize the programming, vendors, promotions, and fundraising before and at the event.
- Maintain the financial and other internal records

There will be some extra work involved with operating as an NFP organization:
- Filing of the annual return
- Maintaining a current Members’ List
- Researching and applying for Grants, Sponsorship requests, etc.
- Annual General Meeting - Report the annual financial statements, elections for Board positions, Bylaw modifications, etc.

However, with a Board of Directors there will also be more people doing the work.

I have a starting idea of what might be a good distribution of duties/description for the Board of Directors roles.

President:
- Official LC (contact) for PPP Inc.
- Prepares progress reports from all departmental updates and submits to PPP Inc. each month (about one page max of written information).
- Acts as Meeting Chair: maintains the focus of meetings, presents updates for any other Board members not present
- is aware of what all of the departments are working on and facilitates any of the inter-departmental requirements
- Logistics coordinator — focuses on the big picture of how the pieces tie in together, and details throughout the day.
- Signing authority on bank account

Secretary/Treasurer:
- Compiles the financial records
- Maintains the internal records and members’ list for the Society
- Prepares meeting Agendas and takes Meeting minutes.
- Signing Authority on Bank account
- Drafts budget for approval by Board

Promotions Director:
- Drafts a promotions plan that is within the budget allocated for promotions
- Designs or coordinates the design of posters, website and ad copies.
- Coordinates the distribution of the posters, and submits the ad as appropriate
- on-going & event day promotions

Programming and vending Director:
- Corresponds with potential vendors, programming contributors
- Maintains appropriate lists, determines information/specifics necessary for vendors and programming
- Research and contact other potential vendors, including food, for the event day.
- Ensure all vendors are aware of their responsibilities i.e. they require the necessary licensing, tax collection, etc.
- If necessary, confirm references for vendors (esp. food)
- Works within budget

Communications/PR/Volunteers Director
- Manages incoming general correspondence, including media, and volunteers redirects as appropriate
- Manages public presentations, coordinates with Promotions Director as necessary
- Maintains list of interested volunteers and contacts volunteers for necessary tasks
- Coordinates and oversees Children’s activities and volunteers

Directors are essentially internal management & “department heads” coordinating, directing and organizing the volunteers, vendors and other participants involved in the day. The above description is based on a 5 person Board but could be adapted for any number of people between 3 and 7, including positions jointly held by a couple. The Board will require a minimum of a Solitary, a Wiccan and a Non-Wiccan on the Board (of 3) to ensure there is adequate representation of variety within the community. With the 5-member Board example, an ideal composition would be four members of different paths, with at least 2 solitary practitioners and one non-pagan or general community member.

What about the bylaws?

We already have a starting point for the Bylaws of our Society: The bylaws of PPP Inc. They will need to be modified in a few ways to fit with Canadian statutory codes, but these modifications are fairly minor.

As for the funds to incorporate, I am willing to loan the amount to C.P.P.D. to be paid back over 5 years or as C.P.P.D. is able to pay it back.

I am also willing to do the work Treasurer/Secretary throughout the process of registration and up to the first AGM to ensure that the Board and Society get put in place with a strong foundation.

What C.P.P.D. needs is people willing to stand for the initial Board of Directors, to work together to setup the bylaws and to organize next year’s event while we wait for the registration to be processed by the Alberta Government.

I would like to schedule an initial meeting with everyone who is interested, concerned, curious, or otherwise wants to attend and discuss or observe these discussions. Please join the CPPD Yahoo group and vote in the poll for the date/time you prefer. The poll is anonymous, and the members list is available only to moderators. The meeting will likely take place somewhere reasonably central and transit accessible.