Saturday, December 19, 2009

[Financial report] Counting summary

Total amount of money collected: $295.9 (As of December 19, 2009)
Reported by:Aya Okada (Treasurer)

PP's logo designs

Dear PP members,

Please look at PP's logo and symbol options, designed by Jonathan. I would really appreciate if you give your feedback and opinion by December 31. Based on all feedback from PP members, we will start producing a digital logo via Kevin's friend who are a professional illustrator and web-designer. I especially appreciate Kevin for taking charge of this role.

Thank you,
Jonathan

[Minutes] PP Executive Committee and General Meeting

* Present
—Session 1: Jonathan Jeong, Aya Okada, Alla Khadka, Khurram Butt, Fangzhi Ye
-Session 2: all of the above (except Fanzhi) and Kevin Cheong, Yifeng Yu, Dennis Parra, Takayuki Noda, Jungho Park, Jungwon Yeo

*Minutes written by Alla Khadka

* December 18, 2009


Minutes:
I. Updates

a. We are officially registered as a University of Pittsburgh organization

b. By registering PP gets a bank account, and a privilege to reserve a room at the university for holding an event

- We can reserve a room at the William Pitt Union – for bigger events – such as fundraising functions

- We can also reserve a room at the Posvar Hall to hold our regular meetings
Two ways to do the meetings:
1. Have a all-members meeting one day and a separate meeting of the office-bearers on separate day or
2. Office-bearers can meet earlier and then others will come in and join us

c. University has a special requirement – you have to be a student of the University of Pittsburgh to have voting rights at the university organization
- Since we want Pitt or GSPIA alumni to be part of the executive committee a special position was created:
o Special Rapporteur position - allows one to be in the executive committee, without being able to vote
d. Our Current Faculty Advisor – Dr. Kevin Kearns
e. Depending on a project, we might want to have other faculty advisors – for instance Dr. Pickard


II. Progress Up to Date
a. Collected $165.12 (As of September 19)
b. Collected additional $130.32 from the last count until now (Total about $300)
c. Jonathan: This progress is very encouraging – we are on the right track!
d. Aya will enter everything into the system and post it

III. Organizations We Considering to Work With
a. Initially we wanted to work with Kakenya and/or Duquesne public school district – Kakenya did not respond; Jonathan got the reply from the Pitt food-bank person who was supposed to put us in touch with a school, but they were taking a very a long time– decided not to peruse either of these options
b. Two new options:
c. First option: is the Lubuto Library Project
• Last year Jonathan went to the forum organized by Jane Meyers (the representative of the Lubuto Library Project) –GSPIA library was helping them to promote their project in Pittsburgh – promoting and building libraries in Zambia and extending project to the other countries in Africa – allow orphans to study in libraries – collect the books – either collecting cash or actually collecting books
• Jonathan received an e-mail from Jane Meyers -- she heard of PP via google alert system – Jane said that she would love work with us

d. Second option: Bright Kids Uganda Project– Suggestion from Dr. Pickard – he would be happy to work with us and support us – the project is aimed at helping child refugees of war etc – there are several things that they are doing , one of them has to do with education – they have a face-book page – can connect with them via face-book
• A point to consider: Dr. Pickard will be helpful to PP on a long run – he can help to develop our organization etc.
• Bright Kids Uganda needs our money more - other organization has other donors – but we can consider to work with them in the future
• With other organization – maybe we can help in other way

IV. Discussion on how do we get engaged with other organizations
a. Khurram –initially we planed that it would be just one project – we raise a 1000 dollars and once we collected it – then we move on – we can work with a couple of organizations simultaneously, but if we are looking into a possibility of having a continuous relationship then we have to chose either or.
b. Aya – like the original idea – working with several organizations will allow us to shape our own identity
c. Khurram – another suggestion – let’s decide on a dollar amount – if $500 per year for organization – we can do it – then the issue is a matter of order – which one will we work with first?
d. Jonathan – need to be careful – want to focus all of our efforts on one organization at a time
e. So we don’t fix a dollar amount – we fix the time period (in our case it will be one year) – the goal is how much beyond $1,000 can we go?
f. Khurram: what exactly is our goal? Being able to work with one organization and then with the other will give us more room to shape our identity
g. goal is not to have a significant impact on one organization, but have some impact on different projects
h. Can work with the same organization, but not in a consecutive year – do it one year, next two years don’t come back to it, then can come back
i. Adding organizations to your portfolio – builds up your credibility
j. Impact that we can make is limited in the offset

k. Yifeng – from the donor point of view–want to know: are we committing ourselves to one organization– or would we be involved in several projects
l. Need to work on our mission statement - need to know what is the objective of our organization
m. Jonathan: we are a student organization, but professional student organization – should distinguish ourselves from other organizations and initiatives – we can be flexible
n. Core members needs to share an overarching goal-and overall understanding of what the organization is set to do
o. Think about the name of the organization – penny – can change the world – coins when combined with commitment are powerful
p. Why are we helping, to whom, why kids in Africa
q. Agreement that we are committing to the Bright Kids of Uganda - for one year – we will say to them that we are committed – among ourselves we will decide (all present members voted)

V. Bright Kids of Uganda
a. Once we chose working with them there are several things to consider
b. Dennis: suggestion - Getting feedback from real kids and posting it the website - will help us to stay connected with the children we are helping – talk to Dr. Picard about it
c. Right now the feeling is that we could raise about 1,000 per year US

VI. Collecting Coins
a. Collecting cans for our donors – using coffee cups with our logo on it
b. Event: getting donors all together and distributing the collecting cans to them
c. Need more secure cans for places like the student lounge


VII. Action Plan
a. Need to have an action plan
b. Jonathan: need to be flexible


VIII. Logo
a. Jonathan will scan the logo (he has several samples) – and will post it on line (PP google site) – we will have to vote on it
b. Will vote on-line
c. Kevin’s friend will create a professional logo for us – based on the Jonathan’s drawings

IX. Fundraising Event
a. Success of our project next year depend on the success of our fundraising event
b. Multi-purposeful ceremony – advertizing organization – advocating our cause etc.
c. To be hold sometime in March
d. Preparation and planning - starting at least two months in advance

X. Training Members Event
a. Will talk about in detail at our next meeting
b. Khurram and Aya will be in charge

XI. Website
a. Who is going to work on the website - goal is to have it up by the end of January
b. Alla and Yifeng – in charge of developing the interface of the website
c. Dennis will help putting it together
d. Another suggestion: Translating our mission statement etc. into different languages
e. Need to come up with the plan – Dennis will help us with putting it together


XII. Miscellaneous
a. Business card – for the office bearers – Aya will get the template for the cards
b. Yifeng agreed to be our Co-secretary – warm welcome!!!
c. Dennis agreed to be our Webmaster – warm welcome!!!


Next Meeting: Sometime in January, Jonathan will follow up on that

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Dr Picard recommended the Bright Kids-Uganda for PP's collaborated endeavors

Dear PP members,

I am so glad that I can deliver a great news to you. I asked for some
advice and help for selecting an organization to collaborate with.
Through his replying e-mail, Dr. Picard sent us a strong support and
cheering message. The most encouraging part is that Dr. Picard hopes
our group to be involved in the Bright Kids-Uganda in an orchestrated
effort. Dr. Picard is a board member of this nonprofit center. The
Bright Kids-Uganda works for orphans, street kids in urban situations,
refugees of war and former victims of the Lords Resistance Army a
group which plagues Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda.

http://www.thebrightkids.org/Bright_Kids_Uganda.html

This nonprofit center fits our mission, helping education for kids and
children. Their efforts have got high reputation for their achievement
and their commitment in their community work. Please visit the website
and figure out what Purposeful Penny can do and in what way we can
involve with. By working together with this center will be a great
privilege for us because we can get the direct and helpful resources
in the center, i.e. Dr. Picard's experience and knowledge in this
initiative. We can discuss this agenda this coming Friday, both in the
executive committee meeting and dinner party.

Thank you and hope to see you all,

Jonathan

P.S. Below is the e-mail from Dr. Picard.

======================================================================
From: Picard, Louis A
Date: Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 11:59 AM
Subject: RE: Asking for your advice on a charity initiative, Purposeful Penny
To: Bokgyo Jonathan Jeong
Cc: "brookecwhite@aol.com"

I would be happy to work with you in any way that I can. Perhaps we
could meet after the first of the year. In the meantime, I will
mention a group that I am working with. It is called Bright
Kids-Uganda and it works with orphans, street kids in urban
situations, refugees of war and former victims of the Lords Resistance
Army a group which plagues Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda. There
web site is below.

http://www.thebrightkids.org/Bright_Kids_Uganda.html

I am a member of the Bright Kids Board and I am copying this to the
head of the Board, Prof. Brooke White of the University of
Mississippi. Please take a look at our web site and face book page.

Please come in and see me and lets discuss options.

Happy holidays.

Dr. Louis A. Picard
Director
Division of International Development and
Professor of Public and International Affairs
and African Studies
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
USA

and

Visiting Research Professor
Graduate School of Public and Development Management
University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa

Office Phone: 412-648-7659
Cell Phone: 412-260-9709
Fax 412-648-2605

Home Phones:

Pittsburgh: 814-352-8008
Washington phone and fax: 202-547-1135 (call first for fax)

================================================================================

Monday, December 14, 2009

Purposeful Penny, certified as a student organization

Dear PP members,

Purposeful Penny got certified as of December 14, 2009. Thank you to all of you for your help and support for the registration process. I especially appreciate all office bearers, Khurram, Aya, and Alla for their commitment for creating and revising the constitution. Without their help, we might have not finished this work so effectively and professionally.Following is the official acceptance letter and notice from SORC office. Hope to see you all on Friday.

Yours,
Jonathan

=================================================================================

Your Certification Application Has Been Processed



Your student organization, Purposeful Penny, has been certified through The Student Organization Resource Center. You are receiving this because you are listed as one of the officers or the advisor of this organization. If you are not involved in this organization as an officer or advisor, please contact sorc@pitt.edu and we will remove you from the distribution list. Please read this email carefully and save it for your reference.



**Room Reservations**

*In order to reserve rooms, your group must use the Pitt Portal under “My communities” and “Course and Event Viewer”

*For additional information contact the William Pitt Union Reservations Office (412-648-7817). ONLY the Reservations has student organization passwords

Username: ppenny



**Your Email/Web****

Groupname: ppenny

Email: sorc+ppenny@pitt.edu

Web: www.pitt.edu/~sorc/ppenny



*see attachment for more information on how to use the web/email system.

*if you would like any additional people besides the president, vice president, and business manager to have access to the website, please have the president send an email with their name and username granting them permission to sorc@pitt.edu





**Recertification**

Organizations are responsible for recertifying on an annual basis OR when officers change. This helps us to keep accurate records, and ensures that the appropriate people have access to your group's email and accounts. Your last certification date is 12/14/2009. Your group will need to recertify before 12/14/2010 or WHEN OFFICERS CHANGE. If you fail to recertify, your group's status will become inactive and you will lose access to email, web space, space in the WPU, access to funding, etc.



**Funding**

Please note that the Student Organization Resource Center does not allocate any money to any student organizations. As a certified student organization, you are now eligible to apply for funding from student government under the policies and procedures set forth in the appropriate student government constitution and bylaws. Each student government has guidelines that define which student organizations are eligible for funding, please see your student government for information on these guidelines. For more information about funding, visit the following offices:

* Student Government Board (SGB): 848 William Pitt Union, phone: (412) 648-7970
* Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA): 830 William Pitt Union, phone: (412) 648-7844
* College of General Studies (CGS): 824 William Pitt Union, phone: (412) 648-7895



**When you contact us**

There are over 500 student organizations at Pitt. Therefore, when you want to get in touch with us, please give us your full name, your group's name (please, do NOT use the acronyms or the short form of your organization - use the same name you certify with), and be sure to include an email address or phone number where you can be reached. We will be able to respond to your request much faster if you include this information.



**Services for Organizations**

The SORC, located in 833 WPU, provides copies, fax and mail service free of charge to student groups. Gina Scozzaro, in the Business Office, assists groups with the administration of budgets. The Business Office is located in 833 William Pitt Union. Gina is usually available from 9am – 5pm daily to answer questions about certification, resources for organizations, constitutions, and web and email services.



We post contact information for your organization on our website at www.sorc.pitt.edu. Check to make sure this information is accurate, and let us know if changes need to be made.



**Copy Policy**

In order to produce these copies in a fair and timely manner for all organizations, we have instituted a copy policy. Groups may request 200 copies per event. If you need more than 200 copies for your event, you can discuss your request with Gina. He will determine the number of copies that can be produced and will set up a production schedule. In the event of large volume requests, your copies may not be available the same day. Organizations MUST include their name on all documents being photocopied.

Groups may request only one color of paper per request. For technical reasons we are unable to print anything with a large amount of gray or black shading on it



**Office Hours**

The SORC is open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM and Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Summer and inter-term hours are subject to change.



**Contacting Other Organizations**

All contact information for active student organizations is available on our website, www.sorc.pitt.edu. Our policy is that we will not release a distribution list of organization emails to anyone - if you have an announcement that you would like to be sent to everyone, you may submit it to the SORC and we will determine if it is appropriate for all organizations.



**Events Calendar**

Use this FREE online calendar service to advertise your organization's events. Go to www.events.pitt.edu and open an account in your organization's name.



**Our Contact Information**

833 William Pitt Union

Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Phone: (412) 624-7116

Fax: (412) 648-1366

Email: sorc@pitt.edu

Web: www.sorc.pitt.edu

===================================================================================

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Bring the Lubuto Library Project into PP's discussion

My dear PP members,

I would like to bring a library project in Africa into a discussion at the next PP's executive member meeting. I hope that PP members look into this project for our group's donation. Please read my introduction,visit the website and bring some ideas for the discussion on Friday, December 18th.

The Lubuto Library Project which was initiated for providing street children in Africa with opportunities to access education. Most of them are orphans who do not have primary care givers and deprived of opportunities to learn at school. Through this library service, the street children are given the access to books which will lead them to learn about the world and plan their future life. Some children use the library to study for the secondary school entrance exam, and earn a right to attend public high school. PP members, please visit their website and figure out what this project is attempting at.

http://www.lubuto.org/

The Lubuto Library Project has special link with GSPIA and University of Pittsburgh. The president and CEO, Jane Meyer visited University of Pittsburgh last year and gave a talk calling for the efforts to support them at the GSPIA Library. I went the forum last year and I talked with Jane Meyer about her project and future plan. She appealed for students involvement related to their initiative. You can find out Pittsburgh Library is acknowledged as a sponsoring school and institute.

http://www.lubuto.org/sponsors/schoolsanduniversities.html

The Lubuto Library Project well serves and is tailored to the need for children's education in local communities in Africa. Most of all, it fits the Purposeful Penny's mission and vision. Furthermore, the reputation and credibility of this project will help the PP develop our action plans with a long term plan. In terms of the accessibility and administrative process for implementing our donation project, the Lubuto Project is most suitable and manageable because we have some contacts which are already established here in Pittsburgh through the channels of the University of Pittsburgh Library. We have some staff members here who are involved in this project and the project has an office in D.C. which will help the communication between the project and the PP's initiative.

Thank you for your time, my dearest PP members!!!

Jonathan

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Notice of next PP meeting

Dear PP members,

We will have the final Purposeful Penny Executive Committee meeting on Friday Dec. 18, 2009 at Jonathan's place. All general PP members are welcome to join and inspire with your inputs and ideas. PP members, please bring your collected coins, and bring your own ideas for making PP coin collectors.

After the meeting, we will have dinner at 7 pm, which is open to all people including welcomed guests. So please don't hesitate to bring guests who are interested in our activities and donations.

Please let me know if you have any questions or requests. Good luck with your final rush of this school semester.

Best regards,
Jonathan


* Event: Executive Committee Meeting of Purposeful Penny
* Date: Friday, Dec. 18, 2009 3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Dinner will start at 7:00 p.m.)
* Location: Jonathan’s Place (141 N. Dithridge St.)


Agenda for the Executive Committee Meeting on December 18

1) Summary report for the final regular meeting of the fall 2009 semester
2) Discussion for the fundraising event for spring 2010
3) Discussion of organization’s logo/symbols
4) Discussion of making coin collectors
5) Financial counting wrap-up: coin counting/ writing up financial statement
6) Discussion of sending a semester summary newsletter to members

Saturday, December 5, 2009

[Final version] Constitution of Purposeful Penny

Hello, Purposeful Penny members,

Following is the final version of PP's constitution. Please go over it and give us your feedback by Tuesday, December 8. If you do not send any feedback by this date, it will be assumed that you agree with and confirm this constitution. Thank you.

Sincerely,
PP Office Bearers

==============================================================================

[Final] Constitution of Purposeful Penny

Name of Organization
The name of the organization is “Purposeful Penny”. The abbreviated name is PP.

Purpose
The vision of Purposeful Penny is to demonstrate that even a small contribution can bring about a big positive result. Purposeful Penny contributes to organizational efforts aimed at providing education to underprivileged children.

Activities
Purposeful Penny will collect donations in the form of loose change (pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters). This fund will be used to contribute to specific initiatives being undertaken by nonprofit organizations in the field of education for underprivileged children.

Membership Requirements
Anyone who is interested in furthering the cause of the organization will be welcomed as a general body member.

Financial Obligations of Members
There are no financial obligations for being a member, but members are encouraged to donate loose change periodically, which will be greatly appreciated.

Associate Membership
Faculty, staff and alumni of the University and non-University persons may participate in the meetings and activities of the organization. An associate member may be given specific tasks and appointed as a special rapporteur by the executive committee. Such special rapporteurs will be de facto executive members but will not have voting rights. Annual renewal of membership is a requirement for maintenance of associate membership status.

Membership Procedures
Recruitment will take place all year around. A written application will be required for membership, upon which a confirmation will be communicated. There are no methods of selection or approval. Privileges of membership include regular updates, an opportunity to participate in meetings, and access to annual financial records. Failure to renew membership for two consecutive years will result in membership status being made inactive.

Voting Privileges
Voting privileges are limited to active student members in good standing with the organization including but not limited to compliance with the provisions of this constitution. General body members will have voting privileges for electing office bearers.

Officers
The membership of the organization is divided into three tiers: general body members, executive committee members, and office bearers. General body members elect office bearers in an annual election. The office bearers in turn appoint executive committee members. Four office bearers comprise of: a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, and a secretary. The president is the public face of the organization, and is responsible for leading decision making and presiding over committee meetings. The president will delegate authority where necessary to executive committee members. The vice-president supports the president in performing the day to day activities of the organization and specific tasks as given to him/her by the president. The treasurer is responsible for collecting and keeping track of loose change donated by members, and generating and maintaining financial records. The secretary will be responsible for logistical arrangements including but not limited to taking minutes of committee meetings and disseminating these minutes to all concerned.

Election of Officers
Annual election of officers will take place during the first week of October. Election will take place through anonymous voting via internet. Within seven calendar days, the incumbent President will announce the successful candidates. To qualify as a nominee, the person must have been a general body member for at least six months. Voting will be limited to general body members. Adequate procedures will be undertaken by the executive committee to ensure that the elections are open, transparent, and fair. A simple majority of valid votes cast is required to be elected as an officer. An officer cannot hold more than one position at the same time. Absentee or proxy ballots will not be accepted.

Terms of Office
Terms of office will be one year from the proclamation of election results to the date of election the following year.
Removal of Officers
Failure to comply with the responsibilities stated in the constitution shall be grounds for removal of officers. Unauthorized and/or unlawful use of organizational assets, monetary or otherwise, shall also be grounds for removal of officers.

Voting Powers of Officers
Important decisions shall be taken through a vote and each executive committee member except associate members with special rapporteur status shall have one vote each. The President will vote in the event of a tie.

Vacancies
Upon vacancy of an elected position mid-term, the president will appoint an executive committee member to serve out the remaining terms of office. In the event that the president resigns, or is absent or incapacitated, the vice president shall assume the responsibility until the end of the term.

Committees
As and when required, the President may appoint a subcommittee with a specific task to be completed within a specific duration of time.

Meetings
Regular meetings will be held monthly. Office bearers will be expected to attend the meeting, executive committee members are encouraged to attend, and general body members are welcome to attend. Quorum requirements are four attendees including at least two office bearers. The president shall call special meetings whenever necessary. Notice of such meetings shall be communicated via emails/phone calls. The President will chair all meetings. The powers of the Chair are as follows: calling the meeting, setting agenda, initiating voting on particular decisions, breaking the tie, and coordinating dates and place of the next meeting.

Finances
The executive committee will identify the organization to which Purposeful Penny will channel its collected donation. Once the decision is made, the decision will be communicated to the recipient organization. The President will hand over the check to the organization. The President and the Treasurer shall be the authorized signatories for all transactions requiring check issuing. All donations collected shall be channeled into selected organizations.

Advisor
A faculty advisor shall be sought from Graduate School of Public and International affairs (GSPIA). The role of the adviser is to assist the group and to service as the group’s liaison with the University. The advisor shall become familiar with the University rules and regulations applicable to student to organizations.

External Affiliations
The only external affiliation that Purposeful Penny has is with the organizations to which donations are channeled. The mission of the organization shall govern relationship eligibility.

By-Laws
Addenda to this constitution if and when added shall be made a part of the original document.

Amendments
Amendments to this constitution shall be made through a regular meeting where office bearers and executive committee members are present. Minimum quorum for such meetings will be five members including all office bearers.

================================================================================

Sunday, November 29, 2009

PP Draft Constitution

Dear PP members,

Please go over the draft constitution of PP. We really appreciate any kinds of input and feedback. Please send your feedback to Jonathan (jon.jeong@gmail.com) by December 4, 2009. Once we got all feedback from PP Executive committee members, we will finalize the constitution and submit it.

pp Office bearers


[Draft] Constitution of Purposeful Penny
Date: November 28, 2009
Drated by Aya, Jonathan, and Khurram

Name of Organization
The name of the organization is Purposeful Penny. The abbreviated name is PP.

Purpose
The vision of Purposeful Penny is to demonstrate that even a small contribution can bring a big positive result. Purposeful Penny contributes to organizational efforts aimed at providing education to underprivileged children.

Activities
Purposeful Penny will collect donations in the form of loose change (pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters). This fund will be used to contribute to specific initiatives being undertaken by nonprofit organizations in the field of education for the underprivileged children.

Membership Requirements
Anyone who is interested in furthering the cause of the organization is welcomed as a general body member.

Financial Obligations of Members
There are no financial obligations of member, but the members are encouraged to donate loose change as often as they can, which will be greatly appreciated.

Associate Membership
Faculty, staff and alumni of the University and non-University persons may participate in the meetings and activities of the organization. An associate member may be given specific tasks and appointed as a special rapporteur by the executive committee. Such special rapporteurs will be the de facto executive members but will not have voting rights. Annual renewal of membership is a requirement for maintenance of associate membership status.

Membership Procedures
Recruitment takes all year around. A written application is required for membership, upon which a confirmation will be communicated. There are no methods of selection or approval. Privileges of membership include regular updates, an opportunity to participate in meetings, and access to annual financial records. Failure to renew membership for two consecutive years will results in membership status being made inactive.

Voting Privileges
Voting privileges are limited to active student members in good standing with the organization. General body members will have voting privileges for electing office bearers.

Officers
The membership of the organization is divided into three tiers: general body members, executive committee members, and office bearers. General body members elect office bearers in an annual election. The office bearers in turn appoint executive committee members. Four office bearers comprise of a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, and a secretary. The president is a public face of the organization, and is responsible for leading decision making and presiding committee meetings. The president will delegate authority where necessary to executive committee members. The vice-president supports the president in performing the day to day activities of the organization and specific tasks as given to him/her by the president. The treasurer is responsible for collecting and keeping track of loose change donated by members, and generating and maintaining financial records. The secretary will be responsible for logistical arrangements including but not limited to minute taking of committee meetings and disseminating minutes to all those concerned.

Election of Officers
Annual election of officers will take place during the first week of October. Election will take place through anonymous internet voting. Within seven calendar days, the successful candidates will be announced by the incumbent president. To qualify as a nominee, he/she must have been a general body member for six months. Voting will be limited to general body members. Adequate procedures will be undertaken by the executive committee to ensure that the elections are open, transparent, and fair. A simple majority of valid votes cast is required to be elected an officer. An officer cannot hold more than one position at the same time. Absentee or proxy ballots will not be accepted.

Terms of Office
Terms of office will be one year from the proclamation of election results to the date of election the following year.

Removal of Officers
Failure to comply with the responsibilities stated in the constitution shall be grounds for removal of officers. Unauthorized and/or unlawful use of organizational assets, monetary or otherwise, shall also be grounds for removal of officers.

Voting Powers of Officers
Important decisions shall be taken through a vote and each executive committee members except associate members with special rapporteur status shall have one vote each. The president will vote in the event of a tie.

Vacancies
Upon vacancy, the president will appoint an executive committee member to serve out the remaining terms of office. In the event that the president resigns, or is absent or incapacitated, the vice president shall assume the responsibility until the end of the term.

Committees
As in when required, the president shall appoint a subcommittee with specific task to be completed within a specific duration of time.

Meetings
Regular meetings will be held monthly. Office bearers will be expected to attend the meeting, executive committee members are encouraged to attend, and general body members are welcomed to attend. Quorum requirements are four attendees including at least two from the office bearers. The president shall call special meetings whenever necessary. Notice of such meeting shall be communicated via emails/phones. The president will chair all meetings. The powers of the chair are as follows: calling the meeting, setting agenda, initiating voting on particular decisions, breaking the tie, and coordinating dates and place of the next meeting.

Finances
The executive committee will make the decision in identifying the organization to whom Purposeful Penny will channel its collected donation. Once the decision is made, the decision will be communicated to the organization. The president will hand over the check to the organization. The president and the treasurer will make authorized signature. Hundred percent of the donations collected shall be channeled into the selected organization.

Advisor
An advisor shall be sought from Graduate School of Public and International affairs (GSPIA). The role of the adviser is to assist the group and to service as the group’s liaison with the University. The advisor shall become familiar with the University rules and regulations applicable to student to organizations.

External Affiliations
The only external affiliations the organization has is the organizations to whom donations are channeled. Relationship eligibility shall be governed by the mission of the organization

By-Laws
Attenda to this constitution if and when added shall be made a part of the original document.

Amendments
Amendments to this constitution shall be made through a regular meeting where office bearers and executive committee members are present. Minimum quorum will be five members including all three office bearers.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving notes to PP members and donors

November 24, 2009

Dear Purposeful Penny members and donors,

We want to express our appreciation for your support and interest in our initiative. Your support is more than an accumulation of coins. You, each participant, are a penny who makes a big change together in the local and global community. With your help, Purposeful Penny can collaborate with community based organizations to provide education to underprivileged children.

So far, we have collected about $200.00 through our initiative. Our group is in the process of setting up as a student organization at the University of Pittsburgh for further outreach into the community over and beyond the campus. Once we register PP as a student group, our initiative will be able to boost more participation, thereby extending our endeavors.

Please visit the following webpage if you are interested in our activities. This is the current site, but we will set up a new official webpage once we complete the registration process. We also would like to invite you to this online group if you are interested:

http://pennieswithpurpose.blogspot.com/

As Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we would like to deliver our gratitude to you for all your whole-hearted support. We will send you follow-up letters to let you know where our efforts are moving toward. Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Best wishes,

Purposeful Penny Executive Committee

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

[Minutes] Executive Committee Meeting (November 7th)

Present: Jonathan Jeong, Aya Okada, Alla Khadka, Khurram Butt, Fangzhi Ye
Minutes Summarized by Alla Khadka
November 7, 2009

Minutes
I. Updates

a. Professor Kevin Kearns agreed to be our organization’s faculty advisor – now we can register with the University
b. Jonathan and Khurram introduced our organization to Professor Kearns and he is very supportive of our mission
c. Since he is our advisor, to keep him engaged and informed, we will provide him with a report of our organization’s activities once a semester – Jonathan will oversee that it’s done

II. Registering our Organization with the University of Pittsburgh
a. Jonathan and Khurram will fill out the forms and register our organization with the university
b. We will not register with GSPIA – since we don’t need funds from GSPIA –
c. The purpose of registering is to take care of the legal issues rather than in order to get the funds
d. To register our group we need at least 10 members (the number includes the officers) who are University of Pittsburgh students – we have seven people already
e. Once we register as a university group – we will get the website – we could translate our vision, mission etc. into different languages

III. New Members
a. Jonathan talked to David Bell and he agreed to join the organization – so David is officially in
b. Other potential candidates: Beate Antonich (Aya will ask her) and Alona Reva (Alla will ask her)
c. We need to think about what positions our new members will assume
d. After we talk to Beate and Alona we will e-mail the results to the other group members right away
e. If Beate and Alona will agree, we will proceed with registering us with the University. If they won’t accept we will ask some other people

IV. Structure and Transparency
a. How will we rotate the positions – are the officers elected for a year long term? Are we going to hold elections once a year?
b. Need to discuss this issue during our next meeting and decide –it’s a matter of transparency matter



V. Partnership Organization
a. Aya e-mailed to Kakenya several times – but did not really get any response – so we decided to go with another organization
b. Jonathan suggested another option – looking into Pittsburgh Foodbank connection to public schools – Jonathan will contact them and will give us the update (Duquesne school district)

VI. Finalizing the Name
a. Considering all the suggestions and comments we finalized Purposeful Penny as the official name of our organization – acronym PP


Next Meeting: Friday, December 18; Jonathan’s place; from 3:00 to 5:00

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

[Notice] PPs Executive Committee Meeting

PPs Executive Committee Meeting will be held on this Saturday together with celebrating Alla's birthday.

Where: Alla's place (3345 Parkview Ave, #2, 15213)
When: Saturday, November 7th, at 5 pm. - 6 pm.

Agendas are as follows.
i) Registering PPs as Pitt student group
II) 2009-2010 annual plan including selection of the partner group.
iii) Decision on accepting some new committee members

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Official mission, vision, and core value statements

*General executive committee meeting on October 3rd confirmed these following official mission/vision/core value statement.



Mission Statement

Purposeful Pennies contributes to organizational efforts aimed at providing education to underprivileged children. Purposeful Pennies will achieve this mission through collecting donations in the form of loose change (pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters). This fund will be used to contribute to specific initiatives being undertaken by nonprofit organizations in the field of education for the underprivileged children.

Vision Statement

The vision of Purposeful Pennies is to demonstrate that even a small contribution can bring a big positive result.

Core Values

- Small steps can bring about big change

- Pennies as metaphors for people associated with Purposeful Pennies



* Special thanks to Khurram and Alla for writing draft and revising it.

Purposeful Pennies for registering as a student organization of Pitt

On Friday October9, President (Jonathan), Vice-president (Khurram), and Business manager and director (Aya) had a small meeting for discussing the idea of registering Purposeful Pennies as a Pitt student organization. The Student Organization Resource Center (SORC) at the University of Pittsburgh provides a administrative service for student organization. Until now, the SORC certifies over 400 student organizations to officially operate and provides information and resources.

http://www.sorc.pitt.edu/

The benefits and intentions of SORC certified organizations fit our needs.

First, it provides a formal organizational form that gave our group credibility and transparency.
Second, it offers bank account and Pitt web acount which will help us initiate formal fundraising event outside the campus. We can also create our own webpage.
Third, it helps us be freed from the complicated legal adminitration process of registering for 501C(3) organization. In other words, we can work in a more flexible way under the certification of University of Pittsburgh.
Fourth, we will be freed from the funding support issues and do our activities independently. We do not want to get an official funding from outside for administration cost or any other reaons. GSPIA student organization certification is mainly aiming at providing financial funding, whereas SORC student organization is mainly focused on providing services for establishing official credibility and certification. This is the reason we want the SORC student organization form instead of GSPIA student organization form.

On Tuesday, October 13, President (Jonathan) and Vice-president (Khurram) had a meeting with Dr. Kearns to ask him take charge of the full-time faculty advisor position for PPs. He gladly accepted our suggestion. Once PPs official executive committee meeting confirms this idea of SORC certified student organization form on Saturday November 7, we will officially request his signature for the SORC certified student organization application form.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Meeting Notes October 3, 2009

Purposeful Pennies October 3, 2009 Minutes

Present : Khuram , Aya, Jonathan, Alla

1. Going over items on the agenda: sharing ideas, suggestions

o Everyone agreed that our name should be Purposeful Pennies (PPs would be the acronym)

2. Khuram’s ideas:

- Vision is usually more general, identifies general direction – what is our overarching goal

- Mission – operationalize your vision – how will you achieve your vision (our overarching goal)

- Need to decide on how specific our mission

- Need to formulate vision

More specified mission

3. Annual plans

- Our specific initiatives – what exactly are we planning to do to achieve our mission (specific projects)

- What are we envisioning in terms of our annual plan: we can do 3 initiatives per year – 4 months for each initiatives

- Maybe we will do 2 initiatives per year for now

- Might make a final decision on in December

- Kekenya project – education related

- Is education is the filed for us then – do all of our projects have to fall into the realm of education? Seems that we agree that it’s the main purpose of the group should be related to the education for the youth

- Another crucial component of our mission is that we want to help children

o define children (up to 15 years old)

- Specific amount of money should not be a part of the mission statement – we are committing ourselves up to 1000 per initiative.

Mission: children and education – key components

Based on the discussion:

Mission Statement

Purposeful Pennies contributes to organizational efforts aimed at providing education to underprivileged children. Purposeful Pennies will achieve this mission through collecting donations in the form of lose change (pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters). These funds will be used to contribute to specific initiatives being undertaken by nonprofit organizations of repute in the field of education for the underprivileged youth.

Vision Statement

The vision of Purposeful Pennies is to demonstrate that even a small contribution can bring a big positive result.

Core Values

- Small steps can bring about big change

- Pennies as metaphors for people associated with Purposeful Pennies

4. Legal issue concerns

- When we start fundraising money – raises issue of how the donations are kept – if in personal account - might raise the issue of transparency and accountability

- Good governance requires organization’s bank account

- Who are we – a social initiative or incorporated organization – goal to decide by December

- we can still proceed with smaller fundraising initiatives

- Whatever we end up deciding, still need to create organization form (that we will use with our partner organizations) – Jonathan will look into it

5. For the next meeting

- Aya will approach Kekenya – and we will decide if we will go with this initiative

- Khuram – will start drafting action plan

- Khuram and Jonathan will go to PNC and find out whether we can open a free checking accout for our organization

- Jonathan will find out if we can register our organization through Pitt

- Alla will prepare the logo

6. Ideas for the future

- Counting collected coins procedure could be used as a social event for all the members to get together and to recruit new members – social function – celebrating and advertising our purpose

- Issue of privacy –

o On our record sheet we will just record the money collected per month and the names of contributors

o We will keep our contributors anonymous for the sake of privacy

o We will not record how much a given individual contributed – instead we will record a total number of donations per month

o We will then post on our blog the amount of collected donations and names of the people who contributed

o thank you e-mails will be sent to our contributors

- down the road we might consider publishing a monthly newsletter reporting our progress

Next meeting on 7th Nov at 4 pm.