Please review the following proposal and send comments to Pam Lasley (plasley@comcast.net) and Dick Preston (dickpreston48@gmail.com)
Proposal for Change in Procedure
TOS receives requests for a variety of funding, including research projects, conservation projects, and contributions for land purchases. The Conservation and Research Funding Committee has subcommittees that split evaluation of these requests between education-type projects and other conservation projects. The committee currently does not have a specific mandate to evaluate land purchase requests. This has fallen on the Executive Committee for the past two years to make these land purchase funding decisions.
We propose that we merge the evaluation process of all types of conservation funding requests into one committee, the Grants Committee.
This Grants Committee:
-Shall consist of a chair and six additional members, appointed by the President. It should include members with diverse conservation and research backgrounds. Members from academia, those familiar with conservation matters, those working at federal or state agencies, those with expertise in land matters should all be included, if possible. They may consult with other experts, if necessary.
-Will develop an overall priority of TOS spending for Conservation and Research and will publish guidelines and requirements for projects to be evaluated and funded. They will also ensure there is a clear application process displayed on the TOS website.
-Will be assigned an annual budget in consultation with the Treasurer and approved by the Board of Directors. A systematic procedure using percentage of assets will be used to set the annual budget.
-Will evaluate all funding requests in light of our stated priorities. These requests may be supporting basic research or field work, funding graduate students and researchers, land protections or enhancements, or any other ornithological related conservation projects.
-Will annually evaluate and forward to the Treasurer the projects approved for funding
-Will also consider extraordinary or extra-budgetary requests arising after funding has been decided for the year. The Grants Committee will evaluate the request according to our priorities and decide if this request warrants non-routine funding or if it should be deferred to the next budget cycle. They will forward any approvals, with amounts, to the Executive Committee for a final decision. The Executive committee, respecting the due diligence the Grants Committee has performed, will approve or deny on the basis of funds available.
Respectfully Submitted,
Pam Lasley and Dick Preston
