[mou] finding mou money for owl rehab

[Jim Williams]

Mark Alt, MOU president, has generously agreed to put on the next board 
meeting agenda a request for MOU funds for The Raptor Center, to help 
pay for this winter's owl rehab work.

In spite of having a large amount of money in the bank, finding this 
money is not going to be easy for the board. Much of the MOU money is 
dedicated or invested. There is a budget to consider, and the board's 
responsibility to live within its plan for the year.

If I may, here are some suggestions for finding a one-time contribution 
to The Raptor Center that would not disrupt the budget nor cause 
dedicated funds to be considered. (Since a major portion the MOU's 
annual budget is devoted to publications, all of the suggestions fall 
in that category.)

1. Forego printing the 2005 listing supplement. Publish it instead as a 
pdf file on the MOU web site. This file would be available to all who 
have interest, and could be downloaded and printed if birders want a 
paper copy.  This would save perhaps a thousand dollars. The MOU is 
making great progress at improving its web site. Adding the listing 
summaries there would be another nice feature. Actually, this could be 
done each year, allowing that large budget item to be used elsewhere. 
(Those folks interested in listing totals who do not have internet 
access -- and that has to be a very small number -- could ask the MOU 
to provide a plain-paper copy to them; a small fee for this could cover 
MOU copying and mailing costs.)

2. Forego color on the cover of the next issue of The Loon. Savings, I 
believe, again would be about a thousand dollars. This would be a 
thoughtful one-time gesture in memory of our best owling season ever.

3. A smaller amount could be saved by foregoing color on the cover of 
the next issue of the newsletter.

4. If an Occasional Paper is in the 2005 budget, skip the paper this 
year and give the money to the owl rehab needs.

Jim Williams
Wayzata