David Crandall and Angela sent our membership the proposed budget for operations for 2023/2024. Our meeting today was to do the final review, with the goal to vote to approve the operating budget for 2023/2024. David shared that there are very few changes to line items comparing this years proposed budget to last years budget. There were no issues raised about what is being proposed for an operating budget for 2023/2024. It is predicted that costs per member are approximately $52/member/month.
Angela let us know that our surplus that was accumulated during Covid are still greater than the 6 months of operating costs which were set as the minimum surplus that should be available to cover operating costs during the fiscal year. The Board of Directors is suggesting providing a $10 credit to each member for a total dues of $42/month, up from $35 for this year. The following is a summary of the discussion about the proposal for dues.
John Yacavone: If plan is to increase membership, then the monthly figure would go down?
Dave Crandall: Yes, that’s our hope, but we plan for the membership we have, while hoping for a net gain.
Steve Whitman: Spoke against using the surplus to offset dues/month/member. He shared that have paid dues in the past and ought to put them to use in our operations to expand our membership. To reduce the dues is to take away future opportunities. I see that we have allocated $5,000 to PR/Marketing. This is a good plan, but should it be higher?
Angela Nelson: Last year, we had an $8,200 surplus in the operating budget. We agreed to transfer $4,100 to Charities and use the other $4,100 as a cushion for this year. We haven’t used any of that surplus so in the 23-24 budget we are trying to bring that down by $4,100
Steve Whitman – three years ago operating surplus was about $20k and now down to $8,200
Angela Nelson – it has come down a little but there’s still a surplus that’s about $8,000 even after we sent $4,100 over to Charities.
Steve Whitman: Next question – I think we should spend the dues on operations and if we have surpluses, maybe give a break to new people for the first month or two; or use the money to do something special with marketing/advertising. I think we cannot spend enough – look at the boost we got from Lebanon Times, and the superintendent speaking of the value of Rotary in the schools.
Hank Clarke: Board members thought a $20 dues increase would scare people away.
Bruce Bergeron: Shared that the Finance Committee thought some money should go back to members, and some said leave it in. We used some for Charities and some to reduce dues for this year and next. Also, current budget keeps dues to $42 knowingly using up some surplus. If all goes well, we will still have a surplus of $8-10k for a 6-month reserve for operating expenses.
Ahmad Haidari – If the strategy is to increase membership, I have a mixed feeling about raising dues and not spending money to increase visibility. Maybe some strategy about dues for new members. Maybe we should freeze moving money to Charities so we can continue using it for our publicity.
Bill Secord: Living on a teacher’s retirement pension, each year the thought crosses my mind as to whether I can continue to spend $1,000/year. I think keeping dues as low as possible is smart. An early break is good but reasonable costs continuing is also good.
Dave Crandall: We tried to come up with a thoughtful compromise re: what would work best for the club.
Angela Nelson: Obviously the Publicity budget is set for $5k but it was not planned to continue to be that high. If in future years if PR budget went down to $2k and 40 members (6 more), dues would still be around $41. Even with 6 new members and leaving $5k for PR, we would still be around $47. Basically each new member drops down by $1.
Hank Clarke: We are subsidizing lunches if we guarantee 25.
Angela: We plan for 19 attending and paying for 25. We want members to come to meetings but even when they don’t they should at least still subsidize the meals/space. $2,900 in the budget for this subsidy.
John Yacavone: Re: Kitchen: I meet with Sam 2x/year and specific situations. $250 is our basis despite the huge increase in food supplies over the last 1.5 years. Sam says they are breaking even. Sam also allows us to bring in 30 people without paying any more than the $250; more than 30 = $10 more pp.
Steve Whitman: One other question – What is the budget going to be for publicity and advertising that isn’t for events (comes from Charities)?
Dave Crandall: It’s $5,000 for 23-24.
Bruce Bergeron – in addition to the $5k we want to spend, the PR committee is also working on ideas that may cost more. We have some people who have said they would like to help fund additional activities beyond the $5k as long as we have club buy-in.
Dave Crandall: We will do a presentation shortly to the Club about what a PR campaign would cost.
Rich Wallace: We have over the years tried to work with Golf and Brewfest. If we have outside help, we can perhaps tie our branding across all publicity.
Dave Crandall: Question – What about offering complimentary membership for the first two months? Where would it come from? The excess?
Angela Nelson: Yes, if we have spent all line items first. We would subsidize International and District dues for a couple of months.
Ahmad Haidari: (1) No blind spot for existing members. Honest assessment that we aren’t going to lose any members because of the dues increase. It is good to know how our members feel about dues. The plan is awesome, and I agree with it. (2) I think people who come to eat should pay $15.
David Crandall: Every month the BOD reviews our financial reports. We will continue to assess and modify the budget throughout the year.
Steve Whitman made the motion to accept the budget and plan for dues as presented by the BOD. Hank Clarke seconded the motion. The motion passed in the affirmative unanimously with no opposition.
First, thanks to Ed for being a great president getting the business done with a little humor on the side.
Phil has appreciated the volunteerism in the past and hope this year everyone will support Brew Fest, need everyone to work on sponsorships and ads, registration, pouring, and other Day-Of duties.
Jim Damren talked about the importance of sponsorships. He is asking every member to reach out to businesses to request sponsorships and/or ads. If you need forms, let us know. The form was sent by Marilyn Bedell for Jim previously. The email listed which members obtained sponsors last year. This listing is to help members avoid asking the same business multiple time. Take a look at the list and don’t go after the ones already having a member's name attached. There are many, many businesses not on our list. All sponsorships and ad will require “camera-ready” copy which may take some time for the advertiser to get to us. So don't delay making requests now.
Deadline probably around the first of August, so we have only ~5 weeks to go.
Marion – there’s a marketing location in Eventbrite but I haven’t gotten fully into it yet. We have a QR code is on the new poster. The code will take people directly to Eventbrite
Next Brew Fest Meeting will be June 26th at 1 PM at Service Credit Union.
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