Westborough 250th committee adopts contact list, sets simple fundraising approach with $2.50 business tier

The Town of Westborough 250th Anniversary Committee voted to accept a contact-tracking list and move forward with volunteer outreach for fundraising, agreeing on a short, one-page solicitation and modest sponsorship tiers to encourage broad participation.

Committee member Carla Cook, who drafted the fundraising letter, told the group she used sample language from the MA250 website and reworked it for Westborough. "I drafted the letter...there were certain parts of the letter that I thought we would wanna discuss with the committee as to what's the most appropriate or relevant to what we're proposing," Cook said.

Members emphasized brevity. One committee member recommended keeping the ask to a single page and proposed a $2.50 business sponsorship level with a $25 baseline for individual donors; the group discussed a tiered approach for larger sponsors and additional recognition such as event-day acknowledgement and signage. Members said small, easily understood tiers are more likely to gain traction among local businesses.

The committee also discussed how contributors would be recognized: suggestions included listing donors on the 250th website as a running, regularly-updated tally, offering in-person visibility such as tables at events, and sponsoring signage or banners around the commons. Committee members favored a single large banner or targeted digital billboard sponsorships for higher-tier donors.

On payment methods the committee confirmed current town policy prevents the municipal account from accepting common consumer payment apps for this fundraising; members said donations will be accepted by check made payable to the Town of Westborough with a memo line referencing the 250th celebration. Committee members noted that while apps like Venmo or PayPal could increase small donations, the town cannot process them for this purpose.

Formal actions taken during the meeting included a motion to accept the contact list and assign volunteers to solicit those entities; the motion carried after a roll-call vote. Committee members agreed Carla would circulate an updated draft letter and the group planned to review it again and approve it at the next Monday meeting.

Other logistics discussed included vendor outreach for banners and event signage, the possibility of purchasing digital billboard time on Route 9, and continuing volunteer outreach using a shared spreadsheet to record responses and declines. The committee scheduled follow-ups on vendor quotes and said a wagon/vendor item and fireworks quotes would appear on a future agenda.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to accept the contacts listed in the fundraising tracking document and assign volunteers to contact those entities: moved by Speaker 5 (unnamed), seconded by Speaker 1 (unnamed); roll-call indicated affirmative votes by Casey, Goldblatt, PJ Maloney, Gary Kelly, Roberta Brown and Carla Cook (details in meeting record). - Motion to approve minutes of 01/12/2026: moved by Speaker 5, seconded by Speaker 4; approved with one abstention (Kelly).

The committee adjourned after confirming next meeting time (05:00 Monday) and set the revised fundraising letter and vendor quotes as items for the next agenda.