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The possibility for a museum related to The Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club has moved from Jim Kruse’s emailed idea to serious discussion to successful fundraising. Despite a concrete plan, members have supported the concept through donations to the Building Fund. A solid plan can only increase the fundraising and take the idea into reality.

Goals:
Take initial ideas and discussions of the Vision and Feasibility Committee and incorporate them into a strategic plan and business plan for the Building/Museum before spending any of the $87,000.00 in donations on a location. Utilizing these funds in the most cost effective and long-term beneficial manner should be primary.

Critical to this process is building on the purpose of the Club to define what the museum could and should be for future generations. As stated in the organization’s constitution:

A) The purposes of this organization are to promote a closer relationship and good will among the members of the Club, to encourage the study of gaming chips and tokens by the acquisition and study of all types of gaming exonumia, to assist new collectors and to encourage others in the study of gaming exonumia, and to maintain close liaison with other historical and numismatic associations.

Questions to ask include:

• How will a museum support the purpose of the organization?
• How will the museum fit the professional definition of a museum in order to maintain its nonprofit status?
• How will a museum sustain itself financially?
• What are the day-to day needs of such a facility, both physically and in terms of personnel?

The goals and desired outcomes for the museum component as well as a business and program model formally adopted by The Board should be well in place before a site is chosen.

Process:
The elements outlined below will be defined through group discussion in a two day workshop held August 18 & 19, 2006. Members of the Board of Directors and members of the Vision & Feasibility Committee will participate in this workshop. Sandra Harris, Deputy Director of the Hearst Museum at UC Berkley, (former Exec Director Neon Museum, Liberace Museum) will act as the facilitator of the workshop. Her 15+ years of experience in strategic planning and museum design, will be invaluable as she leads the participants through exploration of options and decision making.

Outcome:
The final product will be a written plan with supporting documentation that includes visuals such as a PowerPoint presentation and/or DVD which will serve as the basis for future fundraising. When the project is complete, The Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club will have the legal and professional guidelines in place to establish a museum.

I. 5 Year Strategic Plan

Mission Statement

Vision Statement based on initial work of the Committee as noted below :

• Developing a vision for using the proceeds from the Building Fund (this would include, but not be limited to, whether we lease, buy or acquire space from a corporate donor, whether the space would serve as a club office, museum, store, and/or storage for donated items and other club property);
• Evaluating the feasibility of obtaining that vision (estimation of acquisition and projected operational costs and possible income sources).
• Location would be in the Las Vegas, Nevada, area.

Core Values

Goals

II. Business Plan

Critical Financial Considerations

• Grant Opportunities
• Private Donors
• Corporate Donors
• Raising an Endowment
• Earned Income

Program Considerations

• Intended Audience & Visitor Experience Plan
• Functions (research, exhibits, meetings, retail)
• Relationship with UNLV and Other Museums

Facility Needs Assessment (Current and Projected)

• Collection Storage, Care & Security
• Library & Research Space
• Exhibition Space
• Retail
• Offices

Baseline Operating Budget

Staffing Assessment with Org Chart and Job Descriptions

Research on Local Competitors

Research on Possible Locations and Feasibility of Phased Space Acquisition Plan

The following is the final memo from Jim Pierre, Chairman of the Vision and Feasibility Committee, to the committee members following meetings in Las Vegas earlier this year. After returning from this trip Jim became very ill and as many of you may know, passed away in April. The memo has been edited from its original form and comments added for clarity and context. The opening line is somewhat profound. We miss Jim very much and the committee will move forward with Jim Pierre listed as Chairman Emeritus. Respectfully submitted, Mike Skelton.

Hi Team - I have finally returned from an extended trip which included Las Vegas, Arizona and California (and recovered form a small bout of illness).

Here is an update on the Building situation. While I was in Vegas for the "Super Show" there was a coincident meeting the CC & GTCC Board, so Mike Skelton & Mike Quinlivan were also in town. Bill Judge, Tyrus Mulkey, Mike Skelton, Mike Quinlivan & I looked over the properties that Bill evaluated. There was one that was a standout.

This property is located on Convention Center Drive about a block off the strip and within walking distance of the Las Vegas Convention Center. It is almost directly across the street from where the new 500 will be going in. (There are redevelopment projects on the drawing board for both the old Royal Hotel and the Greek Isles Hotel, which are across the street from this location.) It is about a block south of the Riviera.

The property is a small strip mall with spaces ranging from 990SF to 16500SF. The most appealing space was 1900SF at $1.20/sf/yr. That figures out to $27,360 per year. I am sorry that there was not enough time to bring everyone into the decision making progress, but the attractiveness of this site urged expedited action. The 5 committee members in attendance were unanimous in their approval of this site. (There was a definite consensus on this location, but there was no official, binding vote taken on this space by the committee or the Board. Everyone who saw the location agreed that this was an extremely attractive location for us, with reasonable costs.)

Mike Skelton, Tyrus Mulkey & I also met with David Schwartz of UNLV. There is no possibility that we will be able to obtain any space from them. "If we had any available space, there are lots of things we have that we would like to exhibit." (The entire campus is short on space. David’s other telling comment was, “The only thing more precious around here than money, is space.”) We agreed to work together and serve as resources for each other in the future. (In fact, I have already had an inquiry from Dave regarding the Four Queens 1995 UNLV chip.)

In other news, Sandra Harris has resigned as Director of the Neon Museum. In a separate meeting with Mike Skelton, she offered to help us, maybe even do some consulting work, if it became very involved from her time stand point, which I understand. She also said the Convention Center Drive site was better for us than even the Museum corridor. Location, visibility and independence from any one casino or benefactor were positive factors. (These same comments were expressed by David Schwartz of UNLV.) We can go to everyone with our hand out! She stressed that if we really pushed a "retail" component at the location, we could offset most, if not all of our overhead cost.

Next step: Evaluate the feasibility of operating this property, which includes investigating overhead expenses, staffing expenses, alternative funding sources, estimated sales income possibilities. (Of course with Jim’s illness and untimely passing, this was put on hold. We have some preliminary figures on the space cost, but Mike Quinlivan (who was sidelined for a while with his own illness), Bill Judge and Mike Skelton will be meeting with the building owner the last week of June, to discuss detailed costs associated with this location. The original 1900 sq ft space is still available at this time. Once we have all the numbers, a detailed and thorough cost analysis will be completed. The next step will be driven by the results of this analysis.

• Jim Pierre
• 2615 Dogwood St. SE
• Auburn, WA 98092-7971
• CC&GTCC # R-3622, CM-12

The initial meeting of the V&F Committee was convened by Chairman Jim Pierre on Wednesday, June 16th, 2004 in the Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas. The members of the committee are Bill Judge, Jim Kruse, Tyrus Mulkey, Jim Pierre, Nate Pincus, Mike Quinlivan, Eric Rosenblum, Mike Skelton, Wayne Thompson & Chuck Tomarchio. All members were present.

• Developing a vision for using the proceeds from the Building Fund (this would include, but not be limited to, whether we lease, buy or acquire space from a corporate donor, whether the space would serve as a club office, museum, store, and/or storage for donated items and other club property);
• Evaluating the feasibility of obtaining that vision (estimation of acquisition and projected operational costs and possible income sources).

In order to establish a baseline for the committee, each member was asked to state his personal vision of the future building. A consensus of opinions showed that, ideally, the new building would provide:

• Library Space to store & exhibit the Club’s growing reference library;
• Museum Space to store and exhibit the Club’s collection of casino memorabilia. This would allow the Club to accept tax free (as a result of it’s 501(c)(3) status) donations of individual items and collections & show loaned collections;
• Storage Space for the clubs display cases, promotional items and records;
• Meeting Space for small groups such as the Executive Board, Committees, etc;
• Retail Space to sell Club promotional items and duplications from the Club’s collection. (It was underscored that the Club does not want to go into competition with it’s dealer members, but that some form of income would be required to off-set the operational costs of the facility. The details of the retail function were not resolved.)
• Location would be in the Las Vegas, Nevada, area.

It was also agreed the “ideal” would be far too expensive to undertake in the near future, and that a phased approach needed to be undertaken. A process that would involve seeking loaned or donated space initially, moving to rental space, then ultimately to the purchase of our own building was discussed. Initial possibilities that were suggested included seeking some display space at UNLV or the “mob museum” downtown in the old Post Office. Initial contacts have been made, but no significant discussions have resulted.

Because, ultimately, the Club might choose to seek financial support from the Gaming Industry and political agencies, it was decided not to pursue individual casinos for space at this time. It was felt that other casinos would be reluctant to donate money or memorabilia to a display in a competing casino.

Other issues which must be resolved before any plan is finalized include the basic insecurity of using non-owned space and the relationship of our facility with the UNLV Gaming History efforts.

Jim Pierre, Chair

The Vision & Feasibility Committee is currently investigating leasing costs for various sized properties at various areas around Las Vegas. We are also investigating other expenses such as insurance, utilities, etc.

In February, there are exploratory meetings scheduled with representatives of UNLV Gaming Dep't and a Las Vegas historical group to explore a minimum cost way to begin to establish a presence and validate our role as preservers of gaming history & artifacts.

Below are five chips that are for sale with ALL of the money going to The Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club Building Fund!

The $100,000 chip is $100 with only 100 made. More details can be found here.

The "FISH'N FOR FUNDS" chip is $20 with only 100 made.

The Palms chip from the 10th Annual CC & GTCC Convention is $10.

The Last Dance Trade Session chip from the Palms 2nd Annual Casino Collectibles Show is $10 & only 300 were made.

The Friday Night Get Together chip from the Palms 2nd Annual Casino Collectibles Show is $10 & only 250 made.

Please mail a check out for the correct amount to:

• Doug Smith
• Treasurer CC&GTCC
• P.O. Box 691085
• Houston, TX 77269-1085

Once the check arrives the chip/chips will be mailed out.

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There has been discussion for several years among the club members about how nice it would be to have a location where meetings could be held, materials stored and just have a place to call home. Some have even suggested a casino chip museum could be located in the new home. The problem was money, how much and how to get it. Since maintaining a building, even if it is leased space, is rather expensive the Board of Directors decided that before any plans were made it would be necessary to see if there was enough interest in this project to raise the needed funds.

It was determined that while it may not be enough to complete the project it would be necessary to get at least $50,000 just to get things started. In April 2002 the Board of Directors approved setting up a committee to work on collecting the necessary money to accomplish the goal.

In the first year, through the hard work of many club members, the donations to the building fund totaled about $20,000 and are being kept in a separate bank account. Once the $50,000 total was raised a different committee would decide how to proceed in locating the permanent home. This could include purchase of a building, leasing space or working with a government organization such as the City of Las Vegas or a University. Committee members have met with the Mayor of Las Vegas and his people in an attempt to develop something a lot faster than we ever thought possible. These meetings have been very productive and will continue as the project comes closer to reality. There have also been meetings with various casinos concerning our needs.

When this project is completed we will have a place we can be proud of, a place that belongs to the membership, and probably most important, a place where future members will be able to honor the memories of all of the great members and collectors that started and built this great hobby and club.

On March 9th, 2004 CC&GTCC President Mike Skelton announced that the Board of Directors voted unanimously (5-0) to transfer the necessary funds from the general account to the Building Fund account, in order to bring the balance to $50,000.

At the 2004 CC&GTCC Convention the Vision and Feasibility Committee was formed. This committee will be charged with looking at projected acquisition costs, whether we build, but, lease or acquire space from a corporate donor or government agency. They will project and budget anticipated operational costs associated with the new Club Headquarters building.

Furthermore, the committee will be asked to begin shaping our initial vision of what sort of features and displays our building should contain. The budgeting process will give us a road map of where we are headed and some idea of what we can anticipate in spending in order to see this become a reality. The vision work will allow us, for the first time, to put our ideas on paper. Combined, these two processes will allow us to approach potential corporate donors with a plan of action, specific requirements and a visual of what we hope to accomplish. Once again, our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status will be extremely beneficial to us in acquiring tax-deductible donations. It also gives the membership a more precise idea of what they can look forward to someday. Members of the Board and of the Building Fund Committee have met with city and county agencies in Las Vegas and we continue to work with them on possible donated space. We have had recent meetings with other non-profit organizations in Las Vegas on the possibility of being included in upcoming projects with them. All of these possibilities will continue to be explored by the Board and the new committee.

The current Building Fund Committee will continue their mission of raising funds from a variety of sources. The work of this committee and their volunteers has been instrumental in getting the Club to this point and will continue to be an indispensable asset to this overall project. The Board thanks the committee members and the volunteers for their hard work. Special thanks to all of the club members and corporate donors who have generously given to the Building Fund and supported the committee’s fund raisers. The Board of Directors is fully committed to seeing this project come to life and being something we all can be proud of. We ask for the membership’s full support on this important, long-term project. There are enormous talents within this organization and with everyone’s help we will see Jim Kruse’s original idea become a reality.

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The Museum Fund Committee is comprised of the following club members:

• Mike Skelton (Chairman)
• Jim Pierre (Chairman Emeritus)
• Andy Hughes
• Bill Judge
• Mike Quinlivan
• Jim Kruse
• Wayne Thompson
• Eric Rosenblum
• Nate Pincus
• Chuck Tomarchio
• Neal Silverman
• Carey Burke
• Travis Lewin
• Gene Trimble

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As of February 29, 2008, the Museum Fund account has a balance of $108,753.

If you would like to make a donation to the Museum Fund, you may do so by contacting Mike Skelton.

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The Building Fund Project had its inception in this email from its first Chairman, Jim Kruse...

"With all of the talk about dues, long term club goals, etc. I feel it's time to present an idea I've had for about three years. In my opinion this is a goal that could tie all of are other long term goals together and create a lasting legacy for our club and hobby. We need a building. Now before you think I've lost it, please let me give you all my thoughts on this far out idea. This is not something we can accomplish in a year or two, this is a very long term project, but a project that is totaly doable. Remember we are a nonprofit organization involved in the presrevation of gaming history. There are many fund raising avenues open to us that most of us have never considered. I'm sure once you take the time to think about this we'll all have different visions of what this building could be. My vision is a permanent shine to our hobby. This could include both a permanent and a rotating display room, a library where everything ever written about our hobby would be available to our membership, an archive area where we could store all of our donated collections, cases, etc. and anything else a first class museum should have. Over the last couple of years I've done a very informal survey, talking to friends and fellow members. We have many members in our club who would love to see all or a part of their collection preserved after they are gone. Almost all of us have spent years and in some cases a lifetime building and loving are collections. Wouldn't it be great to know that there could be a way to keep part of what you've built together for others to enjoy after your gone. OK, I know talk is cheap, how do you start something this monumental? If the interest is there and the majority of you don't think I've lost my mind you go to your board, ask them to appoint a committee. During my informal discussions both Archie Black and Wayne Thompson have voiced an interest on serving on such a committee. We are very fortunate, in this relatively small club we have some very intellegent, highly motivated, and very successfull members. These are the type of people who could accomplish a crazy idea like this. Thanks for your attention and remember, if you're dream, DREAM BIG! Jim Kruse"

The idea was then submitted to the CC&GTCC Board of Directors by Neal Silverman...

"Gentlemen,

Recently on Greg's ChipBoard.com Jim Kruse made a suggestion that essentialy says that the future plan for the Club financial needs to be re-evaluated and should include for possibilities such as the establishment of a Club owned facility.

The merits, which are many, of such a building aside for a moment, the discussion that ensued raised many issues that call for a re-evaluation of how the Club's income is generated. Areas such as convention registration fees, increase in dues, fees for dinners at the convention (which was brought up earlier at the convention as well) and advertising rates for the Club's CC&TN magazine.

Discussions like this are great, but it really needs to translate into some form of action.

Therefore I propose that the President, or the Board, appoint a committee to review and to re-evaluate the Club's fund raising programs, and further to look at a plan for the future that might include Jim Kruse's vision. The committee's mandate should include returning their review and recommendations in time for inclusion in the 4th quarter CC&TN. I would further stipulate that the committee consist be made up of 5 people (certainly any odd number of people, to assure no ties in any recommendations that come forth) and be chaired by the Club's Treasurer (to assure accurate information and that an Accountant be on board).

Respectfully submitted,
Neal Silverman
R-1379"

The CC&GTCC Board approved the project and then announced it formally...

I am extremely excited to announce that the Club Building Project Finance Committee is now active. Chairman Jim Kruse will be spearheading the efforts to establish a headquarters building for the club. This long-term effort has been split into two functions. The early effort will be centered on raising funds with an initial goal of $50,000. Once this goal has been reached, a separate Development Committee will develop the actual detailed plan and budget necessary to acquire and maintain the CC>CC Headquarters building.

The Board has voted to transfer $5000 from our general operating account into a new headquarters building account to get the Finance Committee started. You will be hearing more from Jim in the near future about his plans to raise the substantial funds needed to bring this project to fruition.

This is just the first step in a long and difficult journey. There is much that needs to be accomplished and I feel confident that with Jim's leadership, success is just a matter of time. (Nate Pincus)

At the same time the board formed the first Club Building Project Finance Committee comprised of...

• Jim Kruse
• Neal Silverman
• Dale Seymore
• Wayne Thompson
• Nate Pincus

This is one of the first announcements by committee Member Nate Pincus...

I am extremely excited to announce that the Club Building Project Finance Committee is now active. Chairman Jim Kruse will be spearheading the efforts to establish a headquarters building for the club. This long-term effort has been split into two functions. The early effort will be centered on raising funds with an initial goal of $50,000. Once this goal has been reached, a separate Development Committee will develop the actual detailed plan and budget necessary to acquire and maintain the CC>CC Headquarters building.

The Board has voted to transfer $5000 from our general operating account into a new headquarters building account to get the Finance Committee started. You will be hearing more from Jim in the near future about his plans to raise the substantial funds needed to bring this project to fruition.

This is just the first step in a long and difficult journey. There is much that needs to be accomplished and I feel confident that with Jim's leadership, success is just a matter of time.

Nate

Soon, the donations started rolling in from members and chapters. Shortly, Jim Kruse was pleased to announce...

$10,000- That's Ten Thousand we have raised for our building project. That includes donations, pledges and the seed money the club gave us. Is this a great club or what? Just wait till we really get going! Jim

The excitement began to build, and soon more donations were coming in, and Andy Hughes produced the Limited Edition set of Club Building Project chips to benefit the fund.

Also, the Building Fund had a table at the 2002 convention with many different fund-raising activities including the sale of many items donated items from club members.

Later in October of that year, Andy Hughes announced that the fund had collected a little over $15,000.

More history in the making...come back soon!

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