Open Forum

Imagination Station is a non-profit STEM Center, and though 20 years old, is functionally in a start up phase, again. Most of the Board, including myself, is new. We are looking for a sample of a policy for dealing with political and religious entanglements. The previous board has a history of having a booth at church outreach programs (frequently called "Block Parties" here). Though I see no problem with having a church (or mosque, or temple, or synagogue or whatever) pay to have a function at our facility, or to hire us for programs on their site (within reason), I do think being connected with an evangelism event puts us into waters we do not want to be in (full disclosure, I am an evangelical Christian myself). Likewise, as we are in Indiana we recently had a crisis with a "Religious Freedom Act" where a lot of businesses put up signs expressing the willingness to serve all people. I think that it should go without saying that a non-profit education STEM Center is open to everyone. I also think putting a sign up that is politically charged (though if I owned a private, for profit business I would actually put up such a sign) crosses a line more or less in the other direction. Though I have these opinions I'd like to have a policy in place that I can point to rather than just saying this is what I think. Can anyone point me in the direction of such a policy? Thanks for your time and patience. 

------------------------------
Philip Cardella
President of the Board of Directors
Imagination Station*Science Center
Lafayette IN
------------------------------

Hi - 

We are pretty lucky, and never went down that slippery slope. Here is the language from our space use policy (aka "rental" policy). I love it because it provides a very clear direction of who we let use our facility and who we don't). If you would like the FULL, 14 page policy, drop me an email at nwagner@dukefarms.org.

Hope you find this somewhat helpful!

Nora

REASON FOR POLICY:

The reason for this policy is to provide a clear and consistent explanation regarding how, when and whom can use our facilities. All Duke Farms facilities are to serve the Foundation’s mission. Duke Farms welcomes the responsible use by groups for purposes that conform to the Foundation’s mission “to be a model of environmental stewardship and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land.”

Duke Farms reaps many benefits allowing the use of our facilities by other entities in the non-profit/governmental space. These include:

• Being informed on developing environmental issues, best practices,

• Being able to participate in appropriate mission related events

• Strengthening and expanding our partner base

• Connecting organizations, resulting in other partnerships

• Supporting others within our mission related sphere

• Building alliances

• Creating a forum where partners can learn from one another and share challenges and accomplishments

POLICY:

Duke Farms’ various built and natural environments provide a unique setting for a multitude of non-profit, educational and governmental events. The primary uses of Duke Farm’s facilities include public programs and meetings associated with our own operations. Occasionally, we make our spaces available to organizations whose missions are consistent or compatible with ours or which advance our mission in some significant way. Our facilities are available on occasion to the following categories of organizations:

1. Non-profits with a mission that includes environmental stewardship, holding a class/seminar/workshop on environmental stewardship.

1. Government entities with a mission that includes environmental stewardship,  holding a class/seminar/meeting/workshop on environmental stewardship

1. Contractual Program Partners

Conversely, our facilities will not be available:

• By non-profit entities for any purpose that is not directly related to the Duke Farms

• To profit making companies or for profit making purposes

• For fund raising events by mission unrelated organizations. For more about fundraising events, please see section below)

• As a location for personal use (ie. Weddings, birthday parties, corporate meetings, etc.)

• Ad hoc citizen groups

Additional Eligibility Criteria

Consideration of an event or space use is always given to the following criteria:

• Does the event address a significant and critical opportunity related to the foundation's mission of being a model of environmental stewardship in the areas of native horticulture, wildlife habitats, agro-ecology or sustainable resources?

• Is the event designed to achieve both the objectives of the applicant organization and the program goals of the foundation?

• Is the applicant a non profit or governmental entity with a mission of environmental stewardship?

• Does the applicant organization have the capacity to effectively execute the project?

• What opportunity exists to leverage additional programs as a result of the use of Duke Farms’ space?

Duke Farms’ various built and natural environments provide a unique setting for a multitude of non-profit, educational and governmental events. The primary uses of Duke Farms’ facilities includes public programs and meetings associated with Duke Farms operations. On occasion we will make our spaces available to organizations whose missions are very similar to ours or compliment ours in some way.

Eligibility

By restricting space use to mission appropriate organizations, Duke Farms continues to focus resources on our own operations. If we chose to rent our facilities for corporations or weddings, Duke Farms would be forced to invest capital expenditures to retrofit our buildings for these events, invest in additional furniture, increase maintenance costs, increase staff size and time allocation to manage these events. This would distract us from our true goal: “to be a model of environmental stewardship… and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land.” This model of space use only by mission appropriate non-profit and governmental entities is unique but allows us to expand in the ways that educate visitors.

Requests can be made on a rolling basis and must be submitted in writing to the contact list below. A response will be given within 1 business week. Space use is limited to one event per organization per month; anything exceeding this should be made as a special request with the Programs office.

------------------------------
Nora Wagner
DIRECTOR, PROGRAMS
HILLSBOROUGH NJ
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-29-2015 05:39 PM
From: Philip Cardella
Subject: Seeking a sample policy for dealing with political and religious orgs

Imagination Station is a non-profit STEM Center, and though 20 years old, is functionally in a start up phase, again. Most of the Board, including myself, is new. We are looking for a sample of a policy for dealing with political and religious entanglements. The previous board has a history of having a booth at church outreach programs (frequently called "Block Parties" here). Though I see no problem with having a church (or mosque, or temple, or synagogue or whatever) pay to have a function at our facility, or to hire us for programs on their site (within reason), I do think being connected with an evangelism event puts us into waters we do not want to be in (full disclosure, I am an evangelical Christian myself). Likewise, as we are in Indiana we recently had a crisis with a "Religious Freedom Act" where a lot of businesses put up signs expressing the willingness to serve all people. I think that it should go without saying that a non-profit education STEM Center is open to everyone. I also think putting a sign up that is politically charged (though if I owned a private, for profit business I would actually put up such a sign) crosses a line more or less in the other direction. Though I have these opinions I'd like to have a policy in place that I can point to rather than just saying this is what I think. Can anyone point me in the direction of such a policy? Thanks for your time and patience. 

------------------------------
Philip Cardella
President of the Board of Directors
Imagination Station*Science Center
Lafayette IN
------------------------------

That is very helpful. We are not in the position to be quite this restrictive (we need birthday parties to survive at this point, for example) but this is a very useful model. I love how precise it is and well organized. Thanks for sharing. Do you mind if I use this as a model and alter it to fit our needs? Thanks. 

------------------------------
Philip Cardella
President of the Board of Directors
Imagination Station*Science Center
Lafayette IN
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-30-2015 09:25 AM
From: Nora Wagner
Subject: Seeking a sample policy for dealing with political and religious orgs

Hi - 

We are pretty lucky, and never went down that slippery slope. Here is the language from our space use policy (aka "rental" policy). I love it because it provides a very clear direction of who we let use our facility and who we don't). If you would like the FULL, 14 page policy, drop me an email at nwagner@dukefarms.org.

Hope you find this somewhat helpful!

Nora

REASON FOR POLICY:

The reason for this policy is to provide a clear and consistent explanation regarding how, when and whom can use our facilities. All Duke Farms facilities are to serve the Foundation’s mission. Duke Farms welcomes the responsible use by groups for purposes that conform to the Foundation’s mission “to be a model of environmental stewardship and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land.”

Duke Farms reaps many benefits allowing the use of our facilities by other entities in the non-profit/governmental space. These include:

• Being informed on developing environmental issues, best practices,

• Being able to participate in appropriate mission related events

• Strengthening and expanding our partner base

• Connecting organizations, resulting in other partnerships

• Supporting others within our mission related sphere

• Building alliances

• Creating a forum where partners can learn from one another and share challenges and accomplishments

POLICY:

Duke Farms’ various built and natural environments provide a unique setting for a multitude of non-profit, educational and governmental events. The primary uses of Duke Farm’s facilities include public programs and meetings associated with our own operations. Occasionally, we make our spaces available to organizations whose missions are consistent or compatible with ours or which advance our mission in some significant way. Our facilities are available on occasion to the following categories of organizations:

1. Non-profits with a mission that includes environmental stewardship, holding a class/seminar/workshop on environmental stewardship.

1. Government entities with a mission that includes environmental stewardship,  holding a class/seminar/meeting/workshop on environmental stewardship

1. Contractual Program Partners

Conversely, our facilities will not be available:

• By non-profit entities for any purpose that is not directly related to the Duke Farms

• To profit making companies or for profit making purposes

• For fund raising events by mission unrelated organizations. For more about fundraising events, please see section below)

• As a location for personal use (ie. Weddings, birthday parties, corporate meetings, etc.)

• Ad hoc citizen groups

Additional Eligibility Criteria

Consideration of an event or space use is always given to the following criteria:

• Does the event address a significant and critical opportunity related to the foundation's mission of being a model of environmental stewardship in the areas of native horticulture, wildlife habitats, agro-ecology or sustainable resources?

• Is the event designed to achieve both the objectives of the applicant organization and the program goals of the foundation?

• Is the applicant a non profit or governmental entity with a mission of environmental stewardship?

• Does the applicant organization have the capacity to effectively execute the project?

• What opportunity exists to leverage additional programs as a result of the use of Duke Farms’ space?

Duke Farms’ various built and natural environments provide a unique setting for a multitude of non-profit, educational and governmental events. The primary uses of Duke Farms’ facilities includes public programs and meetings associated with Duke Farms operations. On occasion we will make our spaces available to organizations whose missions are very similar to ours or compliment ours in some way.

Eligibility

By restricting space use to mission appropriate organizations, Duke Farms continues to focus resources on our own operations. If we chose to rent our facilities for corporations or weddings, Duke Farms would be forced to invest capital expenditures to retrofit our buildings for these events, invest in additional furniture, increase maintenance costs, increase staff size and time allocation to manage these events. This would distract us from our true goal: “to be a model of environmental stewardship… and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land.” This model of space use only by mission appropriate non-profit and governmental entities is unique but allows us to expand in the ways that educate visitors.

Requests can be made on a rolling basis and must be submitted in writing to the contact list below. A response will be given within 1 business week. Space use is limited to one event per organization per month; anything exceeding this should be made as a special request with the Programs office.

------------------------------
Nora Wagner
DIRECTOR, PROGRAMS
HILLSBOROUGH NJ
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-29-2015 05:39 PM
From: Philip Cardella
Subject: Seeking a sample policy for dealing with political and religious orgs

Imagination Station is a non-profit STEM Center, and though 20 years old, is functionally in a start up phase, again. Most of the Board, including myself, is new. We are looking for a sample of a policy for dealing with political and religious entanglements. The previous board has a history of having a booth at church outreach programs (frequently called "Block Parties" here). Though I see no problem with having a church (or mosque, or temple, or synagogue or whatever) pay to have a function at our facility, or to hire us for programs on their site (within reason), I do think being connected with an evangelism event puts us into waters we do not want to be in (full disclosure, I am an evangelical Christian myself). Likewise, as we are in Indiana we recently had a crisis with a "Religious Freedom Act" where a lot of businesses put up signs expressing the willingness to serve all people. I think that it should go without saying that a non-profit education STEM Center is open to everyone. I also think putting a sign up that is politically charged (though if I owned a private, for profit business I would actually put up such a sign) crosses a line more or less in the other direction. Though I have these opinions I'd like to have a policy in place that I can point to rather than just saying this is what I think. Can anyone point me in the direction of such a policy? Thanks for your time and patience. 

------------------------------
Philip Cardella
President of the Board of Directors
Imagination Station*Science Center
Lafayette IN
------------------------------

Go right ahead and use it as a model! I put a lot of effort into is so I'm thrilled it could be of help to others. And, part of our mission is to be a model for other organizations. 

What I pasted in the original message was just part of the policy. I asked my executive director yesterday if I could share the full policy and he said yes, so here it is: 2014 0813 Space Use Policy Rev.3.pdf

Yes, we are VERY lucky that we can be restrictive. I thank my lucky stars every day for the support of our parent foundation. It allows us to do amazing things that would otherwise not be possible. Like opening up our property for free to 500,000 visitors per year! (and not having to do weddings or corporate events :)

Best of luck!

Nora

------------------------------
Nora Wagner
DIRECTOR, PROGRAMS

DUKE FARMS

HILLSBOROUGH NJ

DukeFarms

 
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 07-01-2015 07:40 AM
From: Philip Cardella
Subject: Seeking a sample policy for dealing with political and religious orgs

That is very helpful. We are not in the position to be quite this restrictive (we need birthday parties to survive at this point, for example) but this is a very useful model. I love how precise it is and well organized. Thanks for sharing. Do you mind if I use this as a model and alter it to fit our needs? Thanks. 

------------------------------
Philip Cardella
President of the Board of Directors
Imagination Station*Science Center
Lafayette IN
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-30-2015 09:25 AM
From: Nora Wagner
Subject: Seeking a sample policy for dealing with political and religious orgs

Hi - 

We are pretty lucky, and never went down that slippery slope. Here is the language from our space use policy (aka "rental" policy). I love it because it provides a very clear direction of who we let use our facility and who we don't). If you would like the FULL, 14 page policy, drop me an email at nwagner@dukefarms.org.

Hope you find this somewhat helpful!

Nora

REASON FOR POLICY:

The reason for this policy is to provide a clear and consistent explanation regarding how, when and whom can use our facilities. All Duke Farms facilities are to serve the Foundation’s mission. Duke Farms welcomes the responsible use by groups for purposes that conform to the Foundation’s mission “to be a model of environmental stewardship and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land.”

Duke Farms reaps many benefits allowing the use of our facilities by other entities in the non-profit/governmental space. These include:

• Being informed on developing environmental issues, best practices,

• Being able to participate in appropriate mission related events

• Strengthening and expanding our partner base

• Connecting organizations, resulting in other partnerships

• Supporting others within our mission related sphere

• Building alliances

• Creating a forum where partners can learn from one another and share challenges and accomplishments

POLICY:

Duke Farms’ various built and natural environments provide a unique setting for a multitude of non-profit, educational and governmental events. The primary uses of Duke Farm’s facilities include public programs and meetings associated with our own operations. Occasionally, we make our spaces available to organizations whose missions are consistent or compatible with ours or which advance our mission in some significant way. Our facilities are available on occasion to the following categories of organizations:

1. Non-profits with a mission that includes environmental stewardship, holding a class/seminar/workshop on environmental stewardship.

1. Government entities with a mission that includes environmental stewardship,  holding a class/seminar/meeting/workshop on environmental stewardship

1. Contractual Program Partners

Conversely, our facilities will not be available:

• By non-profit entities for any purpose that is not directly related to the Duke Farms

• To profit making companies or for profit making purposes

• For fund raising events by mission unrelated organizations. For more about fundraising events, please see section below)

• As a location for personal use (ie. Weddings, birthday parties, corporate meetings, etc.)

• Ad hoc citizen groups

Additional Eligibility Criteria

Consideration of an event or space use is always given to the following criteria:

• Does the event address a significant and critical opportunity related to the foundation's mission of being a model of environmental stewardship in the areas of native horticulture, wildlife habitats, agro-ecology or sustainable resources?

• Is the event designed to achieve both the objectives of the applicant organization and the program goals of the foundation?

• Is the applicant a non profit or governmental entity with a mission of environmental stewardship?

• Does the applicant organization have the capacity to effectively execute the project?

• What opportunity exists to leverage additional programs as a result of the use of Duke Farms’ space?

Duke Farms’ various built and natural environments provide a unique setting for a multitude of non-profit, educational and governmental events. The primary uses of Duke Farms’ facilities includes public programs and meetings associated with Duke Farms operations. On occasion we will make our spaces available to organizations whose missions are very similar to ours or compliment ours in some way.

Eligibility

By restricting space use to mission appropriate organizations, Duke Farms continues to focus resources on our own operations. If we chose to rent our facilities for corporations or weddings, Duke Farms would be forced to invest capital expenditures to retrofit our buildings for these events, invest in additional furniture, increase maintenance costs, increase staff size and time allocation to manage these events. This would distract us from our true goal: “to be a model of environmental stewardship… and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land.” This model of space use only by mission appropriate non-profit and governmental entities is unique but allows us to expand in the ways that educate visitors.

Requests can be made on a rolling basis and must be submitted in writing to the contact list below. A response will be given within 1 business week. Space use is limited to one event per organization per month; anything exceeding this should be made as a special request with the Programs office.

------------------------------
Nora Wagner
DIRECTOR, PROGRAMS
HILLSBOROUGH NJ
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-29-2015 05:39 PM
From: Philip Cardella
Subject: Seeking a sample policy for dealing with political and religious orgs

Imagination Station is a non-profit STEM Center, and though 20 years old, is functionally in a start up phase, again. Most of the Board, including myself, is new. We are looking for a sample of a policy for dealing with political and religious entanglements. The previous board has a history of having a booth at church outreach programs (frequently called "Block Parties" here). Though I see no problem with having a church (or mosque, or temple, or synagogue or whatever) pay to have a function at our facility, or to hire us for programs on their site (within reason), I do think being connected with an evangelism event puts us into waters we do not want to be in (full disclosure, I am an evangelical Christian myself). Likewise, as we are in Indiana we recently had a crisis with a "Religious Freedom Act" where a lot of businesses put up signs expressing the willingness to serve all people. I think that it should go without saying that a non-profit education STEM Center is open to everyone. I also think putting a sign up that is politically charged (though if I owned a private, for profit business I would actually put up such a sign) crosses a line more or less in the other direction. Though I have these opinions I'd like to have a policy in place that I can point to rather than just saying this is what I think. Can anyone point me in the direction of such a policy? Thanks for your time and patience. 

------------------------------
Philip Cardella
President of the Board of Directors
Imagination Station*Science Center
Lafayette IN
------------------------------