Event:2018/05/28 Finance

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Finance/Fundraising Meeting - 28 May 2018

Attendees

  • Laura, Brian, Jenny, Robb

Updates

  • Beneficial account just about opened - jenny will drop off paperworkz tomorrow
  • Leases:
    • Cafe Lease sent out for signing but they haven't signed yet
    • GCEA lease sent for signing but not signed by Almaz yet. POI not submitted
    • All other leases have been signed including 3% annual rent increase. Laura has also been following up on the need for current POIs. Some still outstanding (Phat Beets, TIL, CCL)
  • RRF-1s & SI-100s for OOC:
    • Brian met with Maria and did first run on RRF-1s and SIs. Should be able to resolve this Tuesday or Wednesday.
      • SI-100 for Omni (OC) filed late - $50 penalty assessed - still need to file current statement they say. Need to look into records
        • Task: Brian will check the Drive for needed numbers, or will use the handouts from Jenny.
  • Jenny registered Omni with Paypal Giving Fund to receive Village GoFundMe donations
  • Rent amount updates
  • Laura has updated Member Collective Handbook: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lQrDIBz1zg5xUl2quCA3RBWvINBnABb6UkWHoVsq400/edit#
  • Brian will add notes for volunteer connection websites to this doc, notes to be discussed at next meeting - Brian Task

Discussion

Village

[LINK TO SPREADSHEET]

  • Question has arisen if VIllage should have access to the office. Use computer and printer but haven't stored anything. Could use the basement computer area which now has a printer set up (by Ed). A color copier can be set up. Also, have been makiing hundreds of copies and using all the toner. Sensitive info and valuable items are stored in the office. And generally use of the printer by different people is leading to it being broken.
    • Jenny may craft a proposal for delegates re: omni office restricted access, following in-person discussion w/ needa
  • Bobby was banned from Omni, needa sent an email to mediation requesting process and with concerns about Omni process. We agree that she can't request a process for Bobby. Laura will respond and share draft before sending.
  • Brian working on figuring out total gofundme remaining amounts for Bobby's truck related gofundme account. Will communicate with Jenny as needed.
    • Brian created a Gofundme TAb in Jenny's village/omni grant money folder. Will use that to track the Bobby's Truck Gofundme money.

Sudo Mesh contribution

  • Looks like the general consenso is to contribute $100/month to sudo, or alternatively $50-sudo/$50-omni with a percentage of donations to omni / commons wg for any events held in the ballroom (via proper request/consenso protocol). Thoughts?
    • Contract would be with Omni, as they're sudo's fiscal sponsor
    • Sudo currently making ~$1700/month from memberships, so this would all be going to omni anyway
    • laura: think Omni should make a lease with sudo mesh for $100/month, and apply to sudo's payment accordingly
    • Brian: Add to sudo agreement that if sudomesh stops contributing, the reduction doesnt apply
      • robb: if agreement w/ sudo mesh is nullified, auto nullifies the reduction
    • jenny: can draft, if brian can sign for omni ^_^
    • laura: should be a proposal to become a tenant, and should include if SM wants to be a member collective

BAAM

  • Per Ken, going to close lab in CCL
  • Discussing if they want to become a member collective, and use basement office room

Hiring Bookkeeper?

  • Laura shows resume of someone who would be interested in working, $25/hr for a month until monthly hours was determined then rate would be renegotiated-
  • can we hire jenny as an independent contractor whilst still being an officer?
  • laura: concern is that this would be the first community member getting paid (after occasional A/V staffers)
  • laura: is the process that we should use if we agree we should have a bookkeeper to open up the position for people to apply, including Jenny, etc?
    • brian: good things to think about. do we have any budget for this?
    • jenny: may be something we can't seriously consider until we consolidate the mortgage
      • robb: seems that for nonprofits paying an accountant/bookkeeper is the first paid position
    • robb: could also be a stipend - payment for those learning the ropes
  • robb: besides bookkeeping, what other roles would we want to consider making paying positions?
    • jenny: booking (eg julio), janitorial (eg phil)

Research

Hiring Bookkeeper

   Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?

   Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)

   Type of relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business?

The IRS also uses a 20-point test to evaluate such classification issues. Click here to see it, courtesy of our friends at BizFilings. So what are the consequences of improperly paying employees as contractors? Plenty! If the IRS reclassifies your workers from contractors to employees, your NPO will be held liable for both the employer’s and employees’ share of payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), plus very expensive penalties and interest. Then the state comes along to take their chunk. This type action, especially if it applies to multiple years, can put any business out of business. For more information, see the IRS’s page on the topic. Type of payment. By type of payment, we mean things like straight salary or wages versus bonuses and commission. The IRS calls the latter non-linear compensation…and it isn’t too fond of it in a 501(c)(3) setting. For-profit organizations can do this all day long. But for nonprofits, the IRS considers this an open door to unreasonable compensation. For example, Charity, Inc. hires two employees who will be in charge of managing fundraisers. They will be paid a small base salary, plus a percentage of the money raised at the event. Sounds reasonable, but the IRS says, “No…not reasonable!” Employees should be paid according to the job description of the position. Not only is non-linear compensation usually unreasonable by IRS standards, it also opens the door to potential fraud, or at least improper conduct, as the employees have everything to gain by pushing the limits on fundraising." 

                   You have cash flow challenges that require day-to-day decisions about what to pay and what to hold

                   You have a complicated and unique financial system, or

                   You want your finance staff to be part of your management team

Building in-house accounting staff may seem like a good goal -- and for many organizations it is -- but the important part is to build a relationship -- either externally or internally -- to meet your financial information needs."

Donor Management Tools

Action Items

  • Talk with needa about appropriate use and chaperoned access of office - jnny
  • Laura respond to Needa's mediation request
  • consolidate and make proposal to omni delegates re: sudo mesh tenancy - jnny
  • Research ramifications of paying officer as a contractor - jesse mtg w/ sudomesh, jenny will reportback
  • Determine what our budget might be for a bookkeeper - jnny
  • start a process doc re: hiring ongoing contractors for eg bookkeeping - brian willing to help but not bottomline
  • Do all the donor acknowledgement letters for year thus far - Jenny will geek out on automation and Laura will do when she gets back
  • make invoice for cafe caracol (last, deposit) - $1150
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