President End of the Year Board Report 06/2011
To: The VSC Governing Board From: Missy Ewing, President
Date: June 7, 2011
Cassandra Picchi and I conducted a quick changeover after the May board meeting. I also received passwords that evening to access all of our electronic forms of communication (email, Facebook, website, web hosting).
Over the next week, with the help of my husband, I reviewed all of our electronic communications. I found some issues that needed to addressed, especially with our hotmail email. I found appox. 5 members that hadn’t been receiving emails from us for an extended period of time. I also found several unanswered emails from non-members. I have worked to rectify the situation, apologizing and refunding membership dues where appropriate. As of 6/3 I have refunded $70 of membership dues to 2 VSC members, taking the money from the president’s discretionary line item budget. I also updated our Facebook group, our official VSC email addresses, and moved our website to WordPress, a much easier, semi-templated website design system.
I sent out emails asking all the old board members that are leaving their current positions to conduct changeover meetings with their new board counterparts.
I met with Denise Carrero and turned over to her all the material I could find for the 1st Vice President position.
I met with Lisa Spencer and went over all of the newly updated electronic communication systems with her, as well as having a general discussion about the duties of the Communications Chair.
I attended the Budget meeting and am very excited about the discussion and budget that was set that night. At the meeting I gave Amber Laughton all the material I could find for the 2nd Vice President position.
I met with Heather Aliano and received from her all the VSC property that was still in her possession from the auction. I’ve scheduled for a meeting for Monday, June 6th with Dawn Harmon to conduct a changeover meeting with her.
I’ve coordinated with three groups on base looking for volunteers – Kara Cormie from the SB County Foodbank, Jim McLean from the Christmas Eve dinner for working airmen, and Lynn Warner from Force Support for the Tops in Blue dinner.
I helped Amber with the gift bags for the Membership Appreciation Dinner and spoke at the dinner to encourage volunteer participation and recognize our board members.
I contacted Heather Miller, a civilian working in CE Management Solutions to get us a new base storage location. There is an office on the 2nd floor of building 8339 that they believe would suit our needs. I’ve turned in a building request letter and our request will be reviewed at CE facility request meeting on July 5th.
I have a meeting with Staci Nelson, the new Community Manager with Balfour Beatty for Tuesday, June 7th to discuss how our two organizations can work together to support spouses in our community.
I have had conversations with Col. Keith Balts, Vice Wing Commander, and Jane Darrah, from the Pacific Coast Club, to establish a working relationship between the base and the spouses club. I’ve also sent an updated board roster to CMSgt Johnson at her request.
Teresa Highley has let me know that she will be resigning soon, due to PCS. Cassie Ries has volunteered to become our new Operating Treasurer in the coming months.
Respectfully Submitted,
Missy Ewing
VSC President
Parliamentarian End of Year Report 06/2011
To: VSC Governing Board Parliamentarian End-of-Year Report From: Brenda Lutton, Parliamentarian Date: June 2011
June – December 2010 Parliamentarian position vacant
January 2011 Attended regularly scheduled board meeting
Updated the application for the 2011-2012 Executive Board and Committee positions
February 2011 Attended regularly scheduled board meeting
Formed Nominating Committee for general election
Board members personally notified membership via telephone regarding upcoming elections.
Application for the 2011-2012 Executive Board and Committee positions posted on the VSC website and at locations around the base.
March 2011 Attended regularly scheduled board meeting
First Nominating Committee meeting postponed due to lack of applications (March 1st), held first meeting on March 8th
Slate of officers presented to the general board of governors via email and to the general membership at the March Auction event.
March 2010 version of Constitution, By-Laws, and Standing Rules were delivered to the 30th Space Wing Private Organization representative for review. The copy in the binder did not have full signatures. (This version was originally delivered to Private Organization office in March 2010 via hard copy and electronic copy).
Validation letter (Statement of Intent) delivered to Private Organization office.
Email sent to the general membership with information on the elections and slate of officers.
Constitution, By-Laws and Standing Rules sent via email to general membership for upcoming vote.
April 2011 Attended regularly scheduled board meeting
Elections held at the April Thrift Shop Fashion Show (general membership event). Slate of officers was uncontested and election held by acclamation.
A motion was passed at the general membership meeting to change references in the Constitution, By-Laws, and Standing Rules from “welfare” to “charitable”. (ex – Charitable Treasurer)
May 2011 Attended regularly scheduled board meeting
Received March 2010 version of Constitution, By-Laws, and Standing Rules back from Private Organization office. Changes required prior to approval (new submission will also include “charitable” wording updates). Changes will be presented at June 2011 Board of Governors.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Lutton
Parliamentarian
Operational Treasurer End of year report 2010-2011
To: Missy Ewing Date: 3 June11
From: Teresa Highley, Operational Treasurer RE: End of Year Report for Operational Treasurer
It was a rough start without a proper handoff from last year’s operational treasurer. I have learned a lot this year.
Federal taxes were done via e-postcard per CPA Susan Delkerry’s (with Walker Wilson and Hughen, 1201 E Ocean Ave # J, Lompoc, CA 93436-7083 (805)736-7534) advice after reviewing our last two years’ worth of tax returns. She also gave me information needed for the new requirement of the state e-postcard for 2010 returns.
I found multiple erroneous dates in the Operational Treasurer’s binder regarding when taxes are due. For non-profit organizations, taxes are due on the 15th of the month, five months after the end of the organization’s fiscal year. Therefore VSC taxes are due on October 15th. If for any reason an extension is needed, an automatic three month extension can be done online – IRS form 8868.
Funds from the Thrift shop were not requested before the August kickoff. When I discovered the error, I felt it was too long after the fact to give them proper credit for sponsoring the first 50 E-4 and under. Because of the way the membership forms were handled at the kickoff and afterwards, we do not know how many members that was. I will send a request to the Thrift store this summer for the 2011-2012 membership kickoff. I would like to see proper advertisement for their contribution also. The request will ask that they cover the actual number of E-4 and under memberships that we have received by the end of October. I expect that it would be much less than 50 members.
No checks will be given out without proper receipts and under no circumstances, will a signed blank check ever be given. No IOU’s shall be accepted.
Recommendations for next year:
- I would suggest looking into being able to accept credit card payments for dues and club events, especially the larger events. I think many individuals would be appreciative of this service. One option would be to share the credit card processing account that the Charitable Fund is supposed to have and purchasing or renting a wireless credit card machine. Otherwise there may be an online option that could be explored.
- I recommend keeping an accurate count of members attending the monthly events so that we can see the cost per person for the final income/expense total.
- A recommendation passed on from last year’s report… Ways & Means tried a new event this year as a fundraiser, the Fall Festival. This event brought in approximately $200, but could have raised much more if it offered less activities/food from the VSC or relied more heavily on donations (such as a bake sale with donated bake sale items) were used.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa Highley
Ways and Means End of the Year Board Report 06/2011
To: Missy Ewing, VSC President From: Missy Ewing, Ways & Means Chair Date: June 7, 2011
End of Year Report for Ways & Means Chair
Unfortunately, I joined the board too late in the year to have time to plan a Fall Festival, although we have much of the supplies needed to throw one. I would recommend organizing one for next fall (September 24, 2011 would be my suggested date) and have worked with the Thrift Shop to help us gather supplies to make scarecrows.
My first experience with raising money for the VSC was in November at the Vintner’s Festival. We “baffle” off prizes that the vendors donate. However, I didn’t realize how big of a role I would need to play in the organization and selling of baffles prizes and tickets and was not prepared. We did end up raising $219. I recommend that the Ways and Means Chair come early to the event next year, gather the donated prizes and make some sort of visual aide to help sell the baffle tickets. The Chair, or appointed person, needs to be prepared to sell the tickets and push the sales and speak in front of the Vintner’s Festival throughout the night. We sold the tickets for $1/1 and $5/6 and I would recommend doing that again.
The next fundraising event was the gift wrapping fundraiser in front of the BX. We decided to reserve the station the week before Christmas through Christmas Eve and I would recommend doing that again. (Ask the BX in August to reserve that time for you.) The BX management, particularly Donna, was very helpful. The biggest hiccup was getting volunteers to staff the table. Because the November social is the Vintner’s Festival and the December social is Christmas themed and was done in town, there wasn’t a good time to address the membership for ask for volunteers. The email requesting help went almost completely unanswered. I ended up calling the VSC roster to get volunteers; however, because I did we ended up fully staffing the fundraiser. This helps us make more money and pleases the BX (if the table sits empty they are going to wish they had let another group have the station). I would recommend making a volunteer chart broken down by day and hour and taking it to as many VSC events as possible in November and December to encourage signups. Also getting the word out early and often by email, website and Facebook should help.
I ended up doing another fundraiser to try to raise some more money in April – a Bake-Off fundraiser. Although I gathered the resources I needed and advertised the event pretty heavily electronically the fundraiser had a very low turnout and only netted $62.73. The time of year is extremely busy, the location (chapel annex) is isolated, etc. I just would not recommend doing this fundraiser again if other fundraisers are successful; on the other hand, if would probably be more successful if it became an annual tradition. Also, the culinary expert judges expressed an interested in us holding a savory cooking contest.
Overall, I thought that fundraising was pretty successful this year, given the lateness of when I started the position and the fact I was given no continuity at the beginning of the year. Volunteers were plentiful, generous, and helpful, as long as someone communicated with them appropriately and the tasks were kept to manageable size.
Respectfully Submitted,
Missy Ewing
Ways & Means Chair
Welfare Treasurer Report End of the Year Report 06/2011
To: Melissa Ewing From: Crystal Ulat, VSC Welfare Treasurer Date: June 3, 2011 Re: End of Year Report – Welfare Treasurer
The welfare Treasury found itself starting off in unfamiliar territory this year after not having the benefit of a 2009-2010 auction. However, because of the allocations made for the 2010-2011 year by last year’s budget committee, the VSC was able to offer many scholarships and donations to the community, regardless.
Sports Fee Assistance Program (SFAP): Heather Schrader, Chair
- This year the SFAP was allocated $2750.00 in scholarship money. Of that, only $1490.00 was awarded. Amounts were as follows: $780.00 (soccer), $210.00 (baseball/football), and $500.00(basketball). A check for $600.00 was initially awarded for the basketball season, but one family with two children ($50.00 each child) did not end up using the scholarship, and thus the Youth Center reimbursed the VSC in the amount of $100.00 (in cash).
- It has been recommended by the SFAP coordinator, Welfare Coordinator, and I that this program be more heavily advertised both at the Youth Center and via VSC publications and media to increase attention to this wonderful opportunity for our Vandenberg youth.
- The budget committee has proposed that this program be allocated $2000.00 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.
Scholarship: Celi Colon, Welfare Coordinator/Scholarship chair
- This year there were six student scholarships ($600.00 apiece) and one spousal scholarship awarded ($500.00) for a total of $4100.00 in scholarship monies. All of the scholarship recipients submitted the required paperwork, and all scholarship monies were disseminated to the appropriate colleges.
- Because of the 2011 auction, changes in the budget, and unused money from the 2010-2011 budget (such as $1260.00 from the SFAP), there were enough funds to award $7900.00 in scholarships for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. This amount includes a very generous donation of $1450.00 from the Vandenberg Thrift Store.
Donations:
- Only one donation of $250.00 was awarded this year. This was made to the “Schoolhouse Association” to help pay for a children’s Christmas party.
- During the course of the year, the board voted to send all future donation requests to the Vandenberg Thrift Store. The VSC and Thrift Store will continue to work together to address donation requests as they come.
Auction:
Credits:
-
- Table donations: $770.00 ($750.00 checks; $20.00 cash)
- Auctionable items: $6644.00 ($1125 cash; $1890.00 checks; $3629.00 credit)
- Debits:
- Paid to auction committee: $517.54
- Credit card fees: $91.46
- The auction had a little bit of a learning curve this year since last year’s Welfare Treasurer could not offer his advice on this matter (since there was no 2009-2010 auction).
- This year we were able to process credit card payments, but had some snags when it came to working with the PCC. I secured a Verifone processor through First Data Corp. Rabobank (which holds our account) contracts with this company and put me in touch with Nadine (I apologize for not having a last name); her phone number is 805-863-3305. She asked for our account number and delivered the device to use within two days. I would suggest giving her at least two week’s notice in the future.
- Because we were not able to process the credit cards at the PCC the night of the auction, we took cards manually and ran the cards the next morning from my residence phone line (Theresa Highly was also present). Although this was effective, I would suggest getting with them VERY early in the auction process to ensure that this will not be a problem for next year’s auction.
Some other suggestions and notes for the incoming Welfare Treasurer:
v Most of the following information was taken directly from Erik Olberg’s 2009-2010 End of Year Report. It was excellent information that helped me so I chose to include it and not mess with perfection.
● Read the end-of-year reports that look just like this one. They are in the binder and they contain a lot of good explanatory information. Also take a hard look at the Welfare Treasurer’s job description in the binder.
● The Welfare Treasurer flash drive is in excellent shape and provides a wealth of historical info. Be careful not to lose it, and consider backing it up as soon as you receive it. I have taken to carrying it in the zipper envelope at the front of the Welfare Treasury checkbook.
● All the current Welfare Treasurer documents are stored in the folder entitled Spring 2011. Because this was an unusual year for the VSC Eric chose to store all of his files in one single location (Spring 2010). He suggested that I eventually distribute these documents across the other folders on the flash drive; however, I chose to keep it the way I have it. I found it easier to access.
● The Excel documents entitled “Monthly Reports” and the Word documents entitled “Committee report” will be the primary documents you want to duplicate, rename, and utilize.
● Establish contact fairly quickly with Ms. Louise Brown, who is the Private Organizations Monitor at the 30 Force Support Squadron. Her office is in Bldg 11013, Room 107 and her phone number is 606-4994. Her e-mail address is Louise.Brown@vandenberg.af.mil. She does require the annual budget report. I will do this for this fiscal year, but you will need to send her one at the end of next fiscal year.
● Note that every month there is a $5 charge for the Merchant Card. This is the fee we pay to keep our Merchant Card account open. The Merchant Card lets us process credit card transactions at the charity auction. Statements arrive electronically each month to the e-mail address WELFARE@vandenbergspousesclub.org. Make sure the VSC transfers that e-mail address to you so that you receive those e-mails (and others) when they arrive. The statements are password-protected. The password is 93437. You should call the bank (1-877-273-8191) to update the point-of-contact information. You are best off continuing to use the WELFARE@vandenbergspousesclub.org e-mail address in this case, but the bank does like to have a current street address for the Welfare Treasurer. Note the account number is 355205767880.
● In the past, there appears to be some lapses with our tax situation. Eric (2009-2010) treasurer did file an e-Postcard for the previous year. An IRS e-Postcard is due from the club each year following the close of the Fiscal Year. Submitting an e-Postcard is easy. Log onto www.irs.gov/eo and follow the prompts. The e-mail address I used in establishing our log-in was WELFARE@vandenbergspousesclub.org and the password I used was VSC5514. All they want you to do is to verify some basic facts about the club – nothing more. From my understanding, you only need to do this if our income is under $25,000.
● Because I had no experience with taxes, Theresa Highly (operational treasurer) and I sought out a tax accountant. CPA Susan Delkerry’s (with Walker Wilson and Hughen) was able to assist us (for a fee of $125.00) in filing the e-Postcard for the 2009-2010 year along with a form RRF-1. She had determined that because of our finances being under $25,000.00, our liability in regards to filing more in-depth taxes was unnecessary at this time. Her contact information is:
■ 1201 E Ocean Ave # J
Lompoc, CA 93436-7083
(805)736-7534)
● If the VSC Charitable side were to have assets in excess of $25,000, they would need to file more in-depth tax work. Having said that, I would still solicit the advice of a CPA to ensure that we are meeting our tax requirements. These may include the IRS Form 990 (due by 15 Oct), the CA Franchise Tax Board Form 199 (due by 15 Nov) and the CA Attorney General RRF-1 (also due by 15 Oct), in addition to the e-Postcard mentioned above. Both the Operational Treasurer and the Welfare Treasurer have suggested that the VSC retain the services of an accountant or professional tax-preparer next fiscal year to ensure we meet our filing requirements. Note the yellow plastic section file contains all of our recent tax documentation.
● We frequently receive e-mails relating to our PCI/DSS compliance. This acronym stands for Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. Type those words into Wikipedia to learn all about our requirement to remain PCI/DSS compliant with our Merchant Card account. Basically this has to do with protecting card holder information when we do credit card processing at the Charity Auction. This is basically a multiple-choice Self-Assessment Questionnaire. It is fairly easy and requires about 10-15 minutes at most.
Properties Held by Welfare Treasurer (As of 6/3/2011)
2-Manual Credit Card Swipes w/ no plates
All electrical cords and phone cables associated with credit card set up
Extra credit card receipt roll, replacement ribbon
In the past, the End of Year Reports have listed the following items as being properties held by the Welfare Treasurer:
1-VeriFone PRINTER 250 (Serial # 013-578-890)-this is the credit card slip printer.
1-VeriFone TRANZ 380 (Serial # 207-037-935)-this is the credit card terminal.
When I took the position in September 2010, these items were not located in the two boxes I received. Since then, I have looked (along with Cassandra Picchi) through the VSC closet and have asked other members if these items are in their possession. We have yet to locate them. During the auction, Nadine (our contact from First Data Corp) also inquired about their whereabouts. I did inform her that we are actively looking for them.
Respectfully submitted,
Crystal Ulat
Welfare Treasurer
Membership End of Year Report 06/2011
To: Missy Ewing,VSCPresident From: Laurie Stevens ,Membership Chair
Date: June 7, 2011
RE : End of year report for Membership
I stepped into the Membership Chair position late in the year. My actions in this position were limited to just a few months.
This year our membership was 110. I built a database consisting of names, email addresses and phone numbers of all members.
This was provided to the President.Recommendations for next year: Application be revised.
Respectfully Submitted, Laurie Stevens
Charitable Scholarship End of Year Report
To: Melissa Ewing, VSC President
From: Celi Colón, Scholarship/Charitable Committee Chair
Date: June 7, 2011
Old Business:
- I attended Cabrillo HS Senior Night on May 19, congratulated recipients: Keenan Andrew, Ashley Dalton and Vaidehi Buch
- Scholarships certificates were awarded to 6 recipients at the Membership Appreciation and Scholarship Ceremony on May 25, 2011 at Cocheo Park, VAFB. (Keenan Andrews, Ashley Dalton, Vaidehi Buch, Leilani Rey, Sylvia Schultz and Staci Ewell)
- Scholarship certificates were mailed to those recipients that could not attend: Maryssa Hadway, Candee Homer, Nina Edwards and Jacquel Detweiler.
- Thank you letters to the Judging Panel were mailed May 4th, 2011
New Business
- None
Announcements
- None
Respectfully Submitted,
Celi Colón
Scholarship Chairperson
Communications End of the Year Board Report
To: The VSC Governing Board From: Lisa Spencer Communications Chair Date: June 1th 2011
Old Business 1) I have received Communications Binder from Rebecca Bauser and orientation to the Binder.
2) I received orientation to the new and updated Website, Hotmail and Facebook account by President Missy Ewing who spent many hours preparing the communication sources so they were ready and easy to turn over.
3) Two Members who have had a PCS, removed from list. Kicked back email had been investigated by Missy Ewing.
4) Event Reminder
5) Post on Website and FB flyer for Park University Military Family Spouse Scholarship, Submitted by Celi Colon.
6) Mail obtained. Three letters delivered to Welfare Chair and one to Scholarship Chair.
New Business 1) Questions regarding mail. Who do we donate to or have donated to in the past?
2) Member at large is currently under Communications. This role has not been utilized in the past. This role could be very helpful representing the VSC and in future possibility moving this position.
No Announcements
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Spencer
VSC Communications Chair
MembershipChair Scholarship/Charitable Board Report 062/2011
