Friends of Iowa City Senior Center reports $55,000 raised, endowment funds weekday and weekend hours

Heather Shane, Iowa City Senior Center development specialist, told the advisory board that Friends of the Senior Center, the nonprofit fundraising arm tied to the center, has raised about $55,000 so far this fiscal year and maintains an endowment of roughly $1,200,000 that supports night and weekend hours.

Shane described the Friends organization as a 501(c)(3) that provides the center flexibility to fund items and programs not covered by municipal budgeting rules. "Sometimes in the senior center municipal budget has to be spent within a certain time period in certain ways. And so friends is nice because it doesn't have those regulations," Shane said.

The report said donations and event revenues underpin several recent activities. The Black History Ball, held within the past week, sold out; staff reported about a hundred tickets were sold and that roughly 23 tickets were donated to allow low-income seniors to attend. Shane said Friends and staff also operate other fundraisers such as a pickleball jamboree and two winter appeal drives.

Shane summarized fundraising performance and risks: national and market conditions affect giving, and a lower-interest environment depresses returns on interest-bearing accounts. "The endowment has a little over a million dollars in it, about $1,200,000," she said. She also told the board Friends' donor retention has totaled roughly 54 percent, above a cited national benchmark of 36 percent.

Operational details raised during the report included payment-processing improvements that reduced credit-card fees for events, options for donors to make recurring contributions via online bank account or debit/credit card, and the option for in-person donations at the center's front desk. Shane said the development specialist role is a 20-hours-per-week position and that processing large volumes of donations can be time-consuming.

Board members and staff discussed planned giving and estate gifts. Shane said Friends does not yet have a formal planned-giving program and that establishing one would require legal or financial expertise on the Friends board. "We haven't got that set up, but it is a goal of ours," she said.

Staff also reviewed programming and service updates that Friends donations helped fund: a recent record in-donation season, funding for a replacement piano (Friends approved $20,000 and a later, lower-cost purchase was possible), and grants for training programs such as Matter of Balance. Staff reported ongoing community partnerships with universities for student placements and noted new and upcoming classes including cardio drumming, Tai Chi, strength/balance/flexibility, Reiki, massage, and continuing AARP Foundation Tax-Aide assistance for low- and moderate-income filers.

Food-security work received attention: the center's pantry and the Table to Table redistribution program serve about 60 to 100 seniors per month and redistribute what staff described as "thousands of pounds of food per month" that otherwise might be discarded. Staff said they are prioritizing older patrons first during distribution.

Facilities and capital planning items noted that Friends funding has provided small capital flexibility for furniture and program needs. Staff reported a planned replacement of custom windows and doors likely slated for early fall pending bids; interior renovations, HVAC and plumbing work are planned and expected to generate longer-term operating-cost savings. Staff cautioned that renovations will require custom-made windows and phased construction.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve the minutes from January: motion introduced and approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally recorded in the transcript.

Why it matters

Friends donations provide the Iowa City Senior Center with discretionary funding to pay for one-time purchases, training, program expansion and event costs that city municipal budgeting rules might not cover immediately. Staff said that flexibility has allowed faster deployment for items such as training, a piano purchase and supplemental program funding, and that continued donations will be important if broader municipal budgets tighten.

What board members asked for next

Board members asked staff to: publicize options for front-desk cash donations; continue exploring planned-giving education and legal support; refine recurring-donation messaging tied to membership renewals; and report back on fundraising metrics and program impacts at a future meeting.