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Sunday, May 30, 2021

Good thinking exercise - almost like having a job!

 I've been getting club business checked off my list pre-surgery. And since the club is a non-profit corporation this has been some good thinking, decision making and planning exercise. Then of course there are the straight unhired labor parts lol.

Insurance review - 

We own a building built in 1895 as a schoolhouse, acquired at auction in 1924 for $250, first used for club meetings in 1935,  renovated extensively in 1940 with a small addition for the town library added in 1960 and maintained ever since and designated a county historic building. 

It would cost over $1.1M to rebuild plus more for building code upgrades. Then there are the contents plus liability insurance. We at least don't have to buy Director and Officer insurance since we are a CA corporation.

This makes our business insurance costly on our budget yet quite important. We had trouble getting information about the coverage we currently have based on decisions of prior officers so we asked for a quote from a second company. A 2 hour phone call gives us a pretty good idea of coverage requirements and options and now we have to make some serious financial decisions.

Bylaw revision -

If the pandemic taught us anything about running a nonprofit organization it was that we have to have flexibility in our governance documents. While the CA Secretary of State ruled that no matter what bylaws said any nonprofit could conduct business electronically for the duration, the pandemic rules are ending soon and we have to adjust our bylaws. It has been an interesting thinking exercise but we are very close to being able to send out the proposed revisions for the required 30 day notice before voting occurs.

Preparing to reopen our clubhouse for meetings and additional renters - 

California plans to open up with no occupancy restrictions on June 15th although there will still be public health guidance which is expected to follow CDC's recommendations. County rules can be different though. 

We were able to continue with 2 renters during the pandemic as we have 2 separate spaces. The addition is rented to an engineering company and the large space was used by a martial arts children's program that obtained and followed county approval. The club met entirely by Zoom.

Now we are preparing to rent to a yoga studio and a dance group as well as hold our own meetings at our building. We are preparing to kick off our return and the completion of re-landscaping the front yard by holding a "patio and porch" party on June 19th. We will have the building open too of course. Then in July monthly meetings will start inside. This makes our meeting planning process more complicated as we have always had luncheons. Now we will ask people to bring their lunch or they can order a box lunch that we will pick up. An ongoing process of flexibility.

Fiscal year planning - 

Our new fiscal year starts June 1st so we are also in the midst of budget preparation, annual plan preparation, etc. and we need to catch up on some things that we couldn't do during the pandemic like an inventory.

And then there is the unpaid labor - 

Later today Hubby and I are heading to the clubhouse to try to clean the coils on the frig and see if there is a simple solution to the frig part running too cold. Plus in trying to find the model # yesterday I saw that is really needs cleaning inside. The only other labor I do is maintain the Little Free Library but other members do the landscape maintenance, small repairs, etc. 

We do have funds to hire the larger things and right now that is to replace the unsafe railings on the stairs to the stage. The building skirting replacement is going into this year's budget plus I'm sure there is more. Our dream is to add handicap access via a lovely ramp up to the front porch but that design and approval process was halted by the pandemic shutting city offices and reducing our income drastically. 

So if you read this whole thing I applaud and now you know why I haven't been posting! Four weeks until bunion surgery and then I'll miss the club's July meeting for sure and probably August as there is no handicap access (waived as a historic building).

8 comments:

  1. Wow, they are lucky to have you and your husband to help care for the club.

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    1. Thank you. We don’t do nearly as much as some others. I was thrilled to learn today that despite keeping our scholarships and charitable contributions to the pre-pandemic level we were only less than $1500 in the red for the year.

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  2. It's always inspiring to hear of groups who work well together to benefit others. Juhli, you sound like a highly motivated, well organized person. As Jean said above, your club is very fortunate to have you and your husband. Happy Memorial Day!

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    1. Thank you. It is helping keep my brain in good working order and that is satisfying as are the friendships I have made.

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  3. The simplest insurance coverage is complex; add in corporation concerns, historic building designation, and any kind of government oversight, (holy guacamole!) it has to have compounded the complexity many times over. The thought makes my head hurt. Consider yourself as receiving a giant (albeit virtual) pat on the back from another reader!

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    1. Aww, thanks. The real issue is what we can afford and what coverage to get for that. We are all clear that if it burned down we wouldn't rebuild lol. None of us would take that on so we would take the money and be like most of our sister clubs with no clubhouse. We do earn a lot of income from renting it when we aren't using it though.

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  4. That's a great deal of heavy thinking. Hopefully all works out well for your club.

    God bless.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. We seem to have made it through the pandemic with a will to keep the club going.

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