The William Way LGBT Community Center introduced two new staff members at its public board meeting this week.
At its July 26 meeting, the center welcomed Michael Pomante as its new director of development and Paul Blore as executive assistant.
Pomante will oversee the center’s fundraising, individual-donor and grant efforts, as well as special events. Prior to his appointment at the center, he worked as director of development at the Jewish Publication Society.
Blore has served the past few months as the interim development coordinator, and executive director Chris Bartlett said the center was eager to keep him on staff after he “won over” the employees and board with his work on such events as Homecoming. Blore will support Pomante and director of center services Candice Thompson.
The center also brought on three summer interns who are working on development, programs and social media.
In attendance were board co-chairs Stephanie Gross and Jeff Sotland, treasurer the Hon. Ann Butchart and board members Eric Ashton, Steve Brando, Joseph Dougherty, Deb Francesco, Ted Greenberg, Leon King, Moira Mulroney, Bradley Richards, Laurie Ward and, via phone, Adam Hymans. Secretary Matt O’Malley and board member Amber Hikes were absent.
Micah Mahjoubian, spokesperson for the Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld Fund, briefed the board and public on the latest developments with the proposed William Way Senior Residences.
The project did not receive the state tax credit it applied for, putting the project on hold. DMHF representatives will meet with officials at the Pennsylvania Housing Finances Agency early next month to review the first application and discuss how to strengthen it. The organization has until October to submit another application.
“It’s not been an easy 10 months since we started working on this, and we’ve had a lot of ups and downs,” Mahjoubian said. “But the William Way has put in a lot of time and effort into meetings, research and tough negotiations in the past few months and we have achieved a lot.”
The entire project is slated to cost about $20 million, and backers secured $2 million in city funding for the project, a $1.8 million investment from development company Pennrose and $6 million in state funding. The last amount still needs the signature of Gov. Tom Corbett to be finalized, and Mahjoubian said supporters are optimistic that will occur.
“We’ve lobbied hard and spoken with both parties, lawmakers and people in the governor’s office who are telling us we’re on track,” he said.
Mahjoubian said further details about a new application won’t be available until after next month’s meeting with PHFA.
Butchart said the finance committee is slightly behind schedule on creating next year’s budget, as it has been working on two separate documents in case the Senior Residences project were to begin and the center had to temporarily relocate. She expects the board to adopt the budget at its next meeting.
For the fiscal year to date, which started in October, the center has brought in $603,877 in revenue, ahead of the $559,866 that was projected. The center has thus far spent $456,207, less than the projected $485,545.
The figures leave the center $73,349 ahead of its budget, but Butchart cautioned that figure includes a $200,000 bequest left to the center by the late Jack Wilcox.
The center is at 100-percent occupancy and has brought in more than $100,000 in revenue from rentals and tenants thus far this year. The number of year-to-date visitors stands at 7,270, almost on par with last year’s 7,288.
Butchart said the center has begun working on multiyear financial planning, a “sign of the maturity” of the organization.
The center’s new strategic plan is also in the works, and Bartlett said consultant Fairmount Ventures will spearhead the effort.
Organizers will be working on data collection through the end of the summer, which board members will review at their retreat in September. The center plans to conduct several town halls on its plan this fall and present the final plan at its brunch for Cornerstone members in January.
Pomante detailed his plans for increasing general membership, as well as the number of Cornerstone members — a title given to those who donate at least $1,000 annually to the center.
The center currently has 86 Cornerstone members, and Pomante said the staff has identified 186 more prospective members and, in the past few weeks, contacted 39 of those individuals, 11 of whom have agreed to in-person meetings.
From July 1-22, four new Cornerstone members were recruited, and Pomante hopes to secure three new members per week through the end of September.
A Cornerstone wine and cheese reception was scheduled for July 28 at board member Ted Greenberg’s house, an event Pomante said organizers initially expected would draw about 25 people but the guest list had already reached 40 by last week.
General membership has seen a steep drop since last year. There are currently 542 member households, compared with 854 at this time last year.
Pomante said that, for the first time in six months, the center recently reached out to lapsed general members, securing renewals from 49 of 400 lapsed members, bringing in about $4,000 in membership fees. The center aims to increase general membership by 25 percent by the end of the year, and is working on creating new membership benefits, such as free admission to center events, discounts at local businesses and access to a William Way app for iPhone users.
The center is also well into planning for this fall’s annual fundraiser Indigo Ball, scheduled for Oct. 1 at Arts Ballroom, 1324 Locust St. The event will be catered by Stephen Starr, and 16 of 25 tables already have been reserved.
New this year will be an “IndigoGo” after-party, but the location is not yet finalized.
The next public board meeting is Nov. 22.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].
