Sunday, August 11, 2012
Attendees
Many in the community are busy this month, houses filled with gear, readying for the Playa! Though a smaller meeting at Magic Mansion, a quorum was present. In attendance were 5 Board members and 5 community members. No officers were present.
Public Comment: The Temple
With a vision of crafting more ‘meaning’ into the event, Amy Z appealed to the Board to help emphasize the importance of the Temple at Apo. One idea is to make it a regular line item in the Profit & Loss report. She felt the temple this year got lost in the shuffle.
Brett suggested that we not mimic the Burning Man Temple experience and that Apo not treat it like an effigy because then it would need to be stored in the case of a burn ban. The board discussed options for temple burn times including Sunday morning at sunrise or extending the event to Monday.
Very few regionals are that organized around their temple – maybe Apo could help make a unique Temple experience. Calling to the creativity within each of you, we’d love to hear your feedback as to how we can do this! Please send an email to [email protected] or come to the next board meeting!
Financial Reporting and Policies
Everyone agrees it is a duty of the Board to help create transparency with Apo’s financials, but it was discussed how to balance pure transparency with too much information that tends to distract and muddle the brains of the best us. Along with the basic Profit & Loss Statement (already posted online), which summarizes the income and expenses, the Board members started the conversation of how to design a Financial Report that includes or takes into consideration the following:
- Have a review process for the line items so the community knows they have passed a standardized review
- Show where the organization stands financially right now
- Communicate the change in costs year to year and what that means
- Explain why the Board has a goal to save 1.5x the cost of the event (i.e. Act of God contingencies), and how to memorialize in the budget reports the growth of this savings, year to year so that new Board members can easily see what has changed when.
A new process for reimbursements was discussed, and there will now be at least two people who review and approve check requests. A check request form will be created, and requests via email prior to purchasing will be a standard.
Motions passed with unanimous consent:
- Prior to officer elections, the previous Treasurer, supported by the finance committee, will produce a reconciliation of Apogaea’s bank accounts demonstrating that the financial records of the organization accurately reflect the official bank statements of the organization.
- By September 30 of each year Apogaea will make available on its website a current statement of the financial condition of the organization. At a minimum this statement shall show: (a) all current assets and liabilities of the organization by category; (b) a statement sufficient to show, by categories approved by the Board, all monies spent by the organization during the current fiscal year; and (c) such other information as may be required by the Board.
- The finance subcommittee, which was previously approved, will perform an audit of the books, which may be conducted internally.
- Within 7 days of completion of any current Treasurer’s term, all financial records within their possession shall be turned over to the Board of Directors; account access and signatories shall be transferred to the new responsible parties; and all cancelled checks, current checkbooks and receipts shall be turned over to the Board of Directors. Any future records which come into the possession of a past Treasurer shall immediately be turned over to the Board of Directors.
The first task of the finance committee will be to conduct the audit going back one (1) year.
2013 Theme Contest
That’s right, it’s time to decide the theme for next year, and the deadline for submission is September 30th!
Next Board Meeting and Officer Elections
Officer elections will be held at the next Board meeting on Sunday, September 16th.
We’d love to see you at the next board meeting, Sunday, September 16th in Denver at the Fusion Factory.