Section 3: Finances
|
|
|
FINANCES
SOME NOTES ON A TREASURER’S DUTIES
A League treasurer serves as the chief financial officer of her League. A typical bylaws description of the treasurer’s duties: “The Treasurer will collect and receive all revenue, will be the custodian of these funds, will deposit them in a bank designated by the Board, and will disburse the same only upon approval of the President, or, in her absence, one of the Vice Presidents. The Treasurer will present statements to the Board at its regular meetings and an Annual Report to the membership at the Annual Meeting.”
True, but only the beginning. In most Connecticut Leagues, the treasurer also serves as an ex-officio member of the budget and/or finance committees, prepares the books for periodic audit, and, whenever a League has specific “project” accounts, informs committee chairs if their expenses seem out of line with the budget or are anticipated to exceed the budget. Most treasurers are in charge of collecting money at League events or naming a designee to do it for them.
In Leagues that have a separate education fund, it is the treasurer’s duty to make sure that money destined for the ed fund never gets mixed with the money destined for the League, and that income and expense records are rigorously kept separate.
In all Leagues, the treasurer keeps track of membership dues. In most Leagues she works with the membership chair to keep accurate lists of members and dues paid and owed. In some Leagues the treasurer will then help the membership chair complete the annual membership census update for the LWVCT and LWVUS every January.
HOWEVER — In more than half of Connecticut’s Leagues, the membership chair works on recruiting and retention and has nothing to do with actually maintaining membership records. In those Leagues, it is usually the treasurer who keeps track of names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, who completes the annual membership census for the LWVCT and LWVUS every January, and who inputs membership data changes into the LWVUS database and informs the LWVCT office of those changes on a regular basis. It is therefore increasingly crucial that anyone who is being nominated for a position as treasurer have excellent computer skills both with spreadsheets and with using the internet, and be willing to work with the LWVUS and LWVCT to keep membership data current on all levels. PER-MEMBER PAYMENTS
What is PMP?
Every local League pays an annual Per-Member Payment (PMP) to the LWVCT and the LWVUS for each member it has (other than National and Life/Honorary Members). Your League’s PMP obligations are based on your January 31 membership count. However, those PMPs do not become due until the following July 1. For this reason (and to encourage membership growth), many Leagues give more than a year’s membership to any member recruited after February 1; alternatively, you might want to experiment with a reduced “first-year” or “introductory” dues rate.
In 2007-2008 your PMPs were set at $16.50 to the LWVCT and $26.80 to the LWVUS.
Note: A detailed explanation of the per member payment can be found in the President's Packet and under Frequently Asked Questions in “Tools for Leaders” both found in the member section of the LWVUS website, www.lwv.org.
When to Pay PMP
PMP may be paid in full at the beginning of the fiscal year in July, or on a regular semi-annual (for LWVCT) or quarterly (for LWVCT or LWVUS) basis. Both the LWVCT and LWVUS send balance-due statements to Leagues that pay semi-annually or quarterly.
National Members: PMP and Rebates
Most Leagues recruit their own members, but from time to time the LWVUS will assign a member to your League. This happens whenever someone pays dues to the LWVUS but lives within your League’s basic geographic area. Such members are called “National” members or “Nationally-Recruited Members” (NRMs) and will show up on your League’s LWVUS roster with an “N” prefix on their membership status. Your League has no PMP obligation for those members, although the LWVUS and LWVCT do ask you to put them on your mailing and/or e-mail lists, send them your bulletins, and in general try to keep them apprised of what’s going on. All this costs money. The LWVUS therefore provides a $5 rebate to local Leagues for each nationally recruited member assigned to you. The amount of your League’s nationally recruited member rebate is deducted by the LWVUS and shown on your first invoice every July. LWVCT EDUCATION FUND POLICIES FOR LOCAL LEAGUE PARTICIPATION (Amended 8/13/96)
1. Revenue Sharing: Local Leagues will receive 15% of any unrestricted corporate contribution to the LWVCT Education Fund from a corporation whose headquarters are located in that local League’s community. This 15% will be held in a reserved fund for the use of the local League. Those local Leagues having their own Education Funds will be sent their 15% share.
These funds are made available for specific local League voters’ service and other educational activities and publications. The local League need only submit application forms (available from the LWVCT office) to the treasurer of the LWVCT Education Fund.
The LWVCT office has up-to-date figures on your League’s accumulated funds. At the completion of any specific project, a final account must be sent to the LWVCT office explaining how the Education Fund money was spent.
2. Hold Harmless Agreement: If any corporate donor decides (on the basis of Education Fund solicitation) to contribute to the LWVCT Education Fund rather than the local League, the local League is guaranteed the amount it previously received from that corporate donor, up to the total of any unrestricted contribution. Therefore, local Leagues should notify the LWVCT office of corporate donations received during the last two years in order to establish a corporate donation history. The purpose of this agreement is to prevent local Leagues from losing what was a regular source of income from a corporate donor.
The Hold Harmless Agreement will terminate after one year unless the local League continues to actively solicit the corporation for a donation on at least a yearly basis and reports this to the LWVCT office.
3. Finder’s Fee: A new corporate donation of unrestricted funds received through the initiation of a local League will entitle that local League to an additional 15% reserved funds as a finder’s fee for the first year (e.g. if a local League has contacted a corporation which chooses to make a $1,000 contribution to the LWVCT Education Fund, the local League will receive $150 Finder’s Fee during the first year and $150 revenue sharing.)
4. Joint Solicitation: In a community in which there is a local League, any time the LWVCTEF pays a visit to a corporation for the purpose of raising general support (as opposed to funding for a specific project), the local League President will be invited to accompany the LWVCTEF fund-raiser. STARTING AN EDUCATION FUND ACCOUNT WITH THE LWVUS
The IRS defines all state and local Leagues as 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations; donations to them are not tax-deductible. However, LWV education funds are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations allowed to solicit contributions that are tax-deductible.
Some local Leagues have considered establishing education funds in order to attract support from donors who want to give tax-deductible contributions. However, the process of establishing a separate education fund, applying for 501(c)(3) recognition from the IRS, and maintaining the fund’s separate existence under both state law and federal regulation may prove more expensive (and time-consuming) than the results might justify.
To make it easier for local Leagues to get contributions, the League of Women Voters of the US makes its education fund available to all Leagues through the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF). It was established in 1957 as a separate, tax-exempt organization with 501(c)(3) tax status. This service allows local Leagues to obtain tax-deductible funding for educational projects while at the same time relieving Leagues of the administrative burdens connected with creating and maintaining their own education funds.
How to start an education fund account with LWVEF:
In order to use the grant service for funding, the projects must meet IRS and League criteria.
IRS Criteria:
1. The projects must be educational. The project must be completed for the purpose of informing the public in a fair and objective manner. The League cannot advocate a particular position on legislation or urge any action to affect legislation (federal, state, or local). The project cannot involve the development of a League position by consensus or other form of agreement nor can it promote a League position. The project cannot involve work with political parties or candidates for office (other than nonpartisan voter service activities such as candidate debates or voters’ guides). It cannot influence the outcome of an election.
2. The project must serve the general public, not League members exclusively.
3. The project cannot be conducted for the sole purpose of promoting or building League membership. The project’s resources cannot be used to support the membership recruitment or membership maintenance activities of the League. Therefore, internal membership materials do not qualify for funding.
LWVUS Criteria:
USING MONEY IN YOUR LWVUS ED FUND ACCOUNT TO PAY PART OF YOUR PMP
Your League may satisfy up to 50% of its current PMP obligation to the LWVUS through tax-deductible contributions to the League of Women Voters Education Fund. This can be done with (1) contributions made directly to the LWVEF for the purpose of paying the PMP; (2) unrestricted funds held in the LWVEF state/local grants accounts; and (3) unrestricted funds held in accounts managed by state or local League education funds with the approval of the state or local education fund board.
If your League decides to satisfy up to 50% of its current PMP obligation through tax-deductible contributions to the national education fund, please use the LWVUS’s form to withdraw funds from your League’s State and Local Grant account with the LWVEF, or to send check(s) for this purpose. Please make sure these checks are made payable to the LWVEF. Mail the check(s) and a copy of the invoice directly to the national office: League of Women Voters, 1730 M Street, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036.
If your League would like to satisfy more than 50% of its PMP obligation through tax-deductible contributions, please send a simple request letter or e-mail to membership@lwv.org at the LWVUS.
USING MONEY IN YOUR LWVCT ED FUND ACCOUNT (IF YOU HAVE ONE)
A few local Leagues have small subaccounts in the LWVCT Education Fund, although the LWVCT is trying to get those funds used up or transferred to the LWV(US)EF. If your League has funds in the LWVCTEF, you may use them for voter service activities such as voter registration drives, candidate debates, and voters’ guides; or you may use them for public education activities such as open forums on topics of current interest, directories of public officials, or “Know Your Town” booklets.
Unfortunately, local funds being held by the LWVCTEF may not be used for membership drives or PMP payments, or for advocacy activities. If you have any questions about the propriety of a particular use for your LWVCTEF money, please contact the LWVCT office (203-288-7996 or lwvct@lwvct.org).
USING RESTRICTED FUNDS
If your League has been given money under limiting conditions, those restrictions must be honored unless you can get the donor to waive the conditions. The need to honor restrictions is particularly acute when the money has been willed to your League, because if you break the terms in a Will, and if the donor’s surviving family members find out, they can sue you to get the money for themselves, and you will have to pay it back even if you’ve already spent it.
Neither the LWVUS nor the LWVCT is equipped to keep track of such restrictions for you. It is therefore your treasurer’s and president’s responsibility to make sure that your League keeps and transmits to incoming officers all records of any conditional or restricted donations.
GIFT DONATION and RECEIPT
[On behalf of myself and my family,] I, ________________________, hereby give [$____________] [my entire collection of __________________________________________________________________________________ to the League of Women Voters of ____________________________.
I give this [money][collection] subject to the following stipulations: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Signed:
________________________________________________ (print name) _____________________________________ Donor
__________________________ Date
On behalf of the LWVCT of ____________________ I hereby accept the above-referenced [funds][collection][, subject to the stipulations listed herein].
For the LWVCT of _____________________: Signed:
________________________________________________ (print name) _____________________________________ Title: __________________________________________ Duly authorized
__________________________ Date |
|
