Club Financial Overhaul

[Barbwire]

Thinking about it I would like to propose a third option to presented this Friday. So far we have two
1) Get rid of Dues
2) Don’t get rid of Dues
A third option could be a trial run without dues. For example we vote that next semester we don’t have dues. And then everyone can vote to see if the want to keep this as the standard procedure. This gives everyone time to see what it’s like to live without dues and come to their own conclusions about the idea. If no dues get’s voted, Great! We don’t change anything and add it to the constitution. If it get’s voted down we move on to either reducing dues or putting them back where the were the next semester and just charge 2.50. If the vote goes down in the middle of the semester then same thing happens. Voted in nothing changes. Voted down, it’ll just be a free semester and we’ll reinstate dues next semester.
This plan I hope will please all parties, because this issue can’t go cold over summer and it deals with shoving it in so close to finals.

[Zorina]

So let me make sure I am understanding what you are proposing. You think this week we should present to club all three items and then at some point  vote upon all three items.

Are you suggesting to vote upon the three items the this week or the next week?

[Barbwire]

No I’m more proposing asking for a in club vote, quick and simple, about just doing the third option. That way we can just get it out of the way and let members focus on finals rather then club issues.

It’s my opinion that this idea will include everybody’s interests in the matter.

[Barbwire]

I apologize for not being clear enough : D

[Genevieve]

I think we are coming down to a false dilemma. Either we get rid of dues and depend entirely on an “art sale” or we keep dues and supplement anything needed with an art sale. Or we could, you know, eliminate art sale, keep on doing a bake sale, lower dues, or a whole plethora of options. Saying that this is an debate on dues/no dues is kind of misleading.
I agree for voting next year. Next year will be the time when every person in club will be personally affected by this decision. If what we want is to reduce the gap between paid members and non paid members, assuming it does exist, will be more impactful if we are able to include the freshman. I mean, we don’t have to like freshman but they will be part of the club and their voice ought to be considered.
Oh, and Dylan I apologized if I offended you by calling you an ex-president. I had not realized this is apparently a lame duck session in which we have to wait for Lydia to get inaugurated or something. When does that happen?

[Doallem]

I do not see why art sale is in quotation marks. Anyways, nothing in the core components of the club costs any money to the club. Seasonal parties, weekly meetings, and specialty nights do not cost the club itself money, unless there is something special occurring. Lowering dues is not the point, it is the dichotomy between those who can contribute to the decisions pertaining to the club’s future, and those who cannot. By pushing it back a year, you are taking the person who proposed the whole idea out of the equation. This is my business proposition, and you are trying to take that away, and I find this unfair.

You will not be able to gauge the effectiveness of the new strategy in a semester alone. There are other factors, primarily officer elections, that have no immediate connection to the fall semester. The only way you could get an indicator in terms of that would be to hold new elections this year for the officers this year. If we are too close to finals to vote on dues, we are definitely too close to have a do over on elections.

For the time that I have been keeping up with club politics, it has worked out that the current year’s officers observe the next year’s officers. The present year’s officers still hold their positions until the change of the year. I don’t really get why you’re going at my throat on this anyways, or why you made such a point to call me ex-president. You stood by me during my time in office, but as soon as somebody else is elected my opinion loses all weight.

[Dan of the “N”]

We need to discuss this with the members of the club .The people of the anime club will have plenty of time to make a decision on this issue. I believe that we should present them the information this week. First we tell them our opinions then tell them that they can go on the forum when they have a little free time. They will have plenty of time to read the thread and decide on their answer. They won’t even need half an hour to read these posts. Then next week we put it to vote and see what they think.

Saying they won’t have enough time to read this and make a decision is ridiculous. All of us seem to have time to do it, and we are putting far more time into it than they will need to to make a proper decision.

[Doallem]

I currently am working on a PowerPoint presentation, outlining why I want to bring this up, as well as the 3 options associated with the proposal. The presentation should not take long, and I am aiming to include points for and against each option. Of course, after the slides people would add commentary, rebuttals, refutes, what have you.

[Moderate Discussion]

I think we are coming down to a false dilemma. Either we get rid of dues and depend entirely on an “art sale” or we keep dues and supplement anything needed with an art sale. Or we could, you know, eliminate art sale, keep on doing a bake sale, lower dues, or a whole plethora of options. Saying that this is an debate on dues/no dues is kind of misleading.

A debate between dues/no dues is exactly what this is. The art sale isn't the point. Any type of fundraiser could suffice, as long as we have an actual need for the money we raise.

The point is whether or not we need club dues as part of the necessary functioning of club activities, such as weekly meetings and parties. Since facilities are provided free of charge by the university and because expenses related to the actual episodes we show are basically nonexistent, there seems to be no stable purpose for club dues other than "we might need the money later." But if we need money later, we can fundraise later, rather than collecting income that currently has no intended purpose.

Also, I agree with Dan that this is a relatively simple issue that takes little time to digest for those who care to do so. It's also a rather low-stakes vote — we're not putting people's safety or livelihoods at stake here. A week is plenty of time to think the issue over and examine the fairly exaustive discussion in this thread. We should resolve this issue now so that we don't have to come back to it later.

[Barbwire]

I think we can all agree that money is not an issue with whole dues thing. It might be down the line, but in the hear and now it’s not. I will state again though, voting so close to finals is great idea. People a stressed out, busy studying, and have other matter they are paying attention to that a study vote my be looked over and only the people involved in this discuss will vote/care. This is most definitely not all of the club. Do a power point presentation I club will only grab maybe a fourth of active members because again members might be busy, or not show up in time for such a presentation.

There I think the third idea is best. Vote to get rid of dues IN CLUB next semester as a trail run. Then at the end of the semester hold a debate and vote. This let’s members that might be ridding the fence about the idea make a clear cut decision.

In reference to Doallem if you think we are taking away your idea, I do not understand why you see it as such. We are not taking away you idea just expanding it to where it will be better for all of club. This is the point of getting rid of dues is. To better club. Personal stakes in it should be a part of the issue if we vote now or later. If you feel cut out we will be happy to get in contact with you next December or when ever the vote is being held and set up a time you can come back to club and give yourr stance. I feel like this is very reasonable because we’ll work in whatever way we need to to help you fit it into you schedule.

I want to this to be the best for club. Therefore I want to give club members time to think about it, experience it, and not have the finals crunch hanging over their heads. Adding more to most members already full plate is probably not advised.

[Doallem]

And why can’t we just let the club decide what’s best for them? Give them the three options, and the support for each one. As for how many see the presentation, you are not going to be able to simultaneously get all the members of club together, regardless of proximity to finals week. You indicated we have 40 paid members, well we normally only have 20 to 25 people at club every week. You said we should plan a time for everybody to get together and talk about it, but really I think club is the only time that would work best.

It is not like I am the only one sitting here thinking this should occur. And yes, I know, we are not representative of the whole club, so give it to the club to decide whether this step should occur now.

[Barbwire]

I was never trying to imply that I was taking the choice away from club. I am simply stating out of the three options which one I think is best. I never once said that we weren’t going to present of the other options and a possibility. I’m only showing my support of one idea over the other two.

[Doallem]

Except the way you’ve been proposing it, unless I just read wrong, is that we would present all three, but only vote on the third

[Doallem]

There were a few things that were brought up in meeting pertaining to the topic, and I would like to address some of them. The first was the idea of expanding certain privileges beyond paid members. If I understood correctly, the proposition was to open all but officer elections to everybody. I want you to ponder for a moment, why are you paying $5 for the opportunity of a single vote?

Additionally, many are concerned about hoodlums showing up, messing everything up, and then leaving. Concern was presented both here on the forum and in club. However, I have found that not even all of the paid members (usually about half) end up voting as it is. This leads me to believe that the hoodlums you worry about likely will not care enough to vote. If they do care enough, you would deny them the opportunity, and as a result they probably will not come back. On that note, I ask why our mindset is to question why these people would be allowed to vote. Instead, ask yourself why it is they would not come back, and fix it. Perhaps if you let them take part, they would come back. Some answered this, by opening privileges to all, but I still respond, why are you paying money then?

The idea of suspending club dues has two issues. First, those who brought up the idea suggested that it occur for one semester. You need three semesters to get an adequate idea of whether or not it worked, unless you were to do away with this year’s election results and have the election again, permitting unpaid members to run. The other idea is that it admits there is a chance we still need club dues, when we do not. Every core aspect of club comes free, and for the things that do not, it has been proven that you can raise enough money. Unless it all gets spent on gas.

[Moderate Discussion]

Every core aspect of club comes free

Just to expand on that last point, here's how I understand the financial breakdown of this year's club expenses.

 

Money raised:

     Dues: $170

     Art sale: $230

     Total: $400

Expenses necessary for the primary functioning of club:

     Facilities: $0

     Maintaining equipment: $0

     Downloading shows: $0

     Advertising: $0

     Reserving rooms for parties: $0

     Food for parties: $0

     Games/shows for specialty nights: $0

     Total: $0

Expenses related to accessory (unnecessary) use:

     Prizes for parties/specialty nights: $30-$40 (estimate)

     Pinata: $30 (anticipated)

     Gas for Anime St. Louis: $230

     Total: $290-$300

 

Please correct any of my numbers that are wrong; however, I stand by my categorizations of what is or is not necessary. The primary concern of Anime Club is to build community by providing interesting people a place to gather and to show anime which we all enjoy. While hosting parties and specialty nights fits this mission, prizes for contests are not necessary to enjoy those events. I enjoy the pinata, but club could function happily without it. As for the gas, I understand that this was the first year going to convention and some things still need to be worked out. I simply am trying to illustrate that we do not need a continuous source of income because the best things about club are free.

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