VCOG Board of Directors meeting
February 26, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.
Virtual
Present: Bobbi Bowman; Paul Casalaspi (Treasurer); Maria Everett (President); Craig Fifer (Vice President); Chris Gatewood; Richard Gard; Stephen Hayes (Secretary); Josh Heslinga; Amanda Kastl; Lawrence McConnell; Pat O’Bannon; Bruce Potter; Elliott Robinson; Jeff South (Immediate Past President); Steve Stewart; Chris Tyree; Sarah Vogelsong; Steve Weddle. Megan Rhyne (Executive Director) was also present.
Everett convened the meeting at 11:02 a.m. and turned it over to Rhyne, who turned it over to Stewart for presentation of the slate of candidates being offered to serve (retroactively) from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2027. Stewart reminded the board that there wasn’t a quorum at January’s meeting, when this vote would normally have taken place.
The candidates are:
President – Maria Everett
Vice President – Craig Fifer
Treasurer – Paul Casalaspi
Secretary – Stephen Hayes
Immediate Past President – Jeff South
Stewart moved to accept this slate; Weddle seconded. No discussion. Motion passed unanimously.
Rhyne gave the board a heads up about information she’ll soon be sending about how they can reserve a room near the annual conference location in Norfolk in April.
O’Bannon reported from the Ad Hoc Committee on Financing (O’Bannon, Potter, Vogelsong, and Weddle). She noted she interviewed some fundraisers as well as professional head hunters. She and Everett also interviewed Rhyne. She referred to a writing she sent to the board.
The proposed job title is the Marketing and Development Manager. It would be a part-time position. Primary duties: marketing and development, with administrative duties as needed, which is what Rhyne needs. Salary negotiable. Must be in Virginia but otherwise remote. Opportunity for full-time if successful. Initial salary would come from the endowment.
Potter said he considered this a baby step in helping Rhyne with marketing and fundraising. He added that in future years we’d have to ensure that the new hire is not only paying for him/herself, but also bringing in additional revenue.
Vogelsong said it will be important to develop metrics that we want to look at after we get underway with this new set-up.
Gard thanked the committee and said it was evident they thought through how to mitigate the burden/impact on the organization.
O’Bannon talked about the benefits/drawbacks of hiring a headhunter.
Bowman thanked the committee, then asked two questions. One, what product are we trying to sell to people? Two, you can’t do fundraising on the cheap, and Rhyne needs admin help. Is that where we should look.
On the second point, Vogelsong noted that the committee was leery of pulling from the endowment just to finance an administrative position versus someone who was going to help increase revenue, too. Potter agreed. O’Bannon said the “other duties as needed” language would pull in some of those administrative duties. Tyree noted that results from fundraising do not come quickly and agreed that metrics would be critical. O’Bannon noted that Rhyne would set goals.
Rhyne asked that the administrative duties not be given short shrift because we’re raising money to be able to deliver the programs and services better, and she’s the program/service. So the more help she can get, the better.
Heslinga stressed the need to get more law firms involved, which he hopes the fundraiser would do. He also asked Rhyne for an update on the contact management platform. Rhyne reported that the transition of our contacts database to Little Green Light online; she’s still getting used to it, but noted that it has the capacity to add team members and manage donor cultivation and fundraising management.
Everett reminded the group that when we first started talking about needing more money, it was about how to get Rhyne a higher salary. She urged a slower approach with an emphasis on administration first. Get Rhyne what she needs and see how that works out with raising the profiles. O’Bannon suggested that the two are not mutually exclusive. Casalaspi said a fundraiser should be focused on fundraising. Fifer added that both the administration and the fundraising should not be used just to justify their own existence.
Bowman reminded the board that financial support from all board members is critical.
Kastl said she thought the board should give Rhyne the discretion to write the description and set the metrics rather than having the board get into the granularity of what the new hire will do day-to-day. Rhyne suggested that she and board members might have different ideas about what is meant by “fundraising.” Tyree added that the ED is often the key fundraiser because they have the institutional knowledge. He also noted that fundraising consultancies might be worth a look.
Kastl moved after additional discussion:
To authorize Megan Rhyne to recruit and hire a part‑time employee to (1) increase donation revenue for VCOG and (2) perform necessary administrative and marketing work in support of VCOG, at an annual compensation not to exceed $35,000, which will be fully funded by the VCOG endowment fund for the initial term of employment. The term shall be up to one year, with the option to extend the employment period based on performance and available funding.
Everett seconded. There was more discussion. Bowman called for the pending question, which was agreed to unanimously.
The board then voted in support of the motion unanimously.
Gard reminded the executive committee that they should come up with a bonus program for Rhyne. Also, he urged the Programming Committee to start rethinking the conference. Gard noted that he got some good information from the Georgia First Amendment Coalition, who puts on an awards dinner.
Kastl encouraged board members to help Rhyne at the conference itself. Donating time is valuable.
The meeting adjourned at 12:18.