Reggi93

Or from a different point of view...is the accusation that as finance chair (was he finance chair?) he was part of the problem at SCV and therefore shouldn't be trusted to serve anywhere? I'm just not sure what the topic at hand is. I also don't know what this particular board member's role was in the issues that plagued SCV and caused their hiatus. Clarification on all points is welcome.

Would this be news if this former SCV board member went anywhere else besides BD? Wait...is this actual news? Often times Board members feel they have run their course with the orgs they represent and look for other charitable opportunities. Maybe there was one at BD and he had a conversation with a colleague or vice versa. Maybe BD thought he would be a great contribution for their board. Just because he stepped down from SCV under a particular set of circumstances doesn't mean he can't or shouldn't contribute elsewhere.

Yeah I'm still annoyed and when I'm annoyed I go off half cocked. So I may have been incorrect in part of my assessment of the cadets accusation that Mr. Lesher is leveraging but I think my biggest issue here is the bigger question of "what's the point?" DCP is generally a vacuum. Nothing here makes big waves. All this is is a soapbox for us to complain or love on drum corps. Want to go viral and get your word out? It's not going to be here...go to reddit. This platform is a place where RL can come and promote his latest controversial Fire or gotcha moment and have it stoke his ego with no real impact. And if that's what he wants to do so be it I guess. At the end of the day this is an echo chamber that goes nowhere and serves nothing but his ego with the interactions he gets....my responses included. The question I have is "Did you reach out to Cadets?" Did you frame a question like "Hey I was working on something (burning SCV to the ground) and I discovered that you may not fully be registered under the BCO in PA. You (insert board member/CEO) may want to look into how to correct this so that your org doesn't run afoul of the great state of PA. Good luck to you this year!" Just something to consider... I'm gonna go make dinner for my family now.

Interesting that PA requires non profits to essentially double register. I've worked with NP's in multiple states and have not come across that in any of them. But I've never worked in PA. However, what I find interesting is that nowhere can I find what the penalty is for not having this BCO-10 form or BCO-23 form filed. The closest I can find to a penalty is a warning that if you are soliciting without a BCO registry...make sure you register. And maybe a late fee. So at this point, unless you all sleuth out some penalty I can't find no matter how I phrase the search, my personal conclusion is that they are a legal tax exempt nonprofit entity that needs to update their BCO registration. But I can't seem to find anything that suggests something more nefarious.

Again, your next question to the state of PA should be whether they differentiate what is a charity and what is a nonprofit corporation and if ALL nonprofits are charities and vice versa by their definition.

They are listed in the State of PA as a Domestic Nonprofit Corporation. Again, use the above link and search for Cadets arts and entertainment. Again I don't know why my image URL's refuse to work here or I would post it myself and save you from doing that search. If you search for them under the charity search engine that you used, it does not come up and DOES surface the YEA listing that is expired as you found. I found that to be the case in my own search which prompted me to look under the business and charities search engine ( the link I provided above). If you also go to the IRS and search with that EIN you will find that they have an active Tax exempt status with the FED gov.

I'm super annoyed right now. Pennsylvania apparently does not consider all nonprofit organizations (or corporations as they like to call them CHARITIES. Several states differentiate NONPROFITS and charities according to some bureaucractic definition. If you did HALF of your due diligence you would have found that CADETS ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT INC (NOT YEA) has a legal and active EIN and Tax exempt status with the federal government via the IRS and furthermore you would have found that CADETS ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT is listed as an ACTIVE Non profit corporation with the state of Pennsylvania as of 03/2020 with the latest update to that registry being done YESTERDAY. Now apparently I'm an idiot that can't figure out this whole URL insert thing but here's the link. JUST SEARCH CADETS and you'll find your info. https://file.dos.pa.gov/search/business

I mean, why would the organization say anything on social media about this? That would be disastrous. Legal is most likely telling them to stay mum

Also should state that my knowledge came from writing SVOG applications, supplementals, and appeals for 2 different organizations. I have nightmares. LOL

For anyone curious...this is the last dataset for SVOG recipients. https://data.sba.gov/dataset/svog/resource/e99e8853-d322-4533-9231-a52b149d7444 I can speak in a lot of depth about several covid relief based programs that aided organizations in the activity. PPP loans went through 2 rounds to assist with employee salary (W-2 only) and a percentage of overhead. They were fully forgivable if you completed the process on time and stayed within the program parameters. SVOG went through a primary award and a supplemental round. Then there were a couple of appeal windows in there for those that felt the calculations and awards were incorrect. My org benefitted greatly from our appeal. Vanguard DID receive an award. There is a required single audit of the entire org required to close out the award process and be forgiven of any potential penalty. I absolutely cannot speak of any hiccups they may be experiencing during all of this and if they are at any risk with this award. My orgs have both closed out and audited the award so we are clear. The algorithm of the award process reduces the grant award if an org was granted a PPP award. In order to stay clear of any PPP entanglements I advised my organization to stay away from W2 employee salaries when allocating SVOG money in the budget. I did not see the meeting nor did I read the reddit thread to truly understand what SCV was stating in regards to SVOG nor do I want to speak in any way that would signal smoke where there is no fire so I won't begin to surmise what they are speaking to or dealing with when it comes to the SVOG award they did receive.

Late to the game here but I agree with you. Hire the people that can do their job description. The rest will come. A CEO makes connections, brokers deals, partnerships, and agreements, diversifies sponsorships and revenue and oversees the performance reviews hirings and firings of their team while expanding the reach of their organization programming despite what the programming is. A CFO manages money despite what the mission and programming is. A developer manages donor relations and fundraising campaigns. All of these are the same everywhere. A smart leader then hires experts in their respective programming departments to run those departments. Honestly I feel like having a CEO that wants to run the overall organization without getting neck deep in the drum corps program is a smart utilization of time, money and energy.

I do yes! 🤣🤣🤣

I don't disagree in part. There is definite financial risk in diversifying and some of that is how quickly you grow and expand that programming. As a grant writer I urge nonprofits NOT to seek out a grant you don't have an existing program for unless you are pursuing R&D and seed awards for well developed programming plans. I can't tell you how many times I have had someone come to me with a grant opportunity we would have to create a program for. No thank you. That's how you over extend your future revenue and personnel and risk running afoul of your grant award requirements. I could go way down a rabbit hole about grant writing in this activity but it would be a huge non-sequitur. What came first the full time director/CEO or more expensive/expansive programming? That's a chicken/egg question I guess. But yeah, when you have orgs pulling in Millions (and also spending Millions) the responsibilities of the CEO to create and maintain revenue earning relationships definitely becomes a full time responsibility.

That's what I thought. Also, DCI required this of PIO too Right? And they chose not to comply which is why they lost member status?

Oversight for Bingo should be a PAID position managed by the CFO ( paid) and their staff (also paid) and yes should be local to the operation. That is far too laborious for a VOLUNTEER board position even if that position is Treasurer. A board treasurer provides oversight to the overall finance and auditing process. The missteps that I call out concerning their board was the "greenlight at all costs" checkwriting that the BOD approved from 2019-2022 that collapsed the organization as well as failure to audit their org and stay on par with the State of California. THOSE missteps all lie at the feet of the BOD. Who you hire should align with your mission statement but doesn't necessarily mean "drum corps". Many mission/vision statements now say "performing arts/music education" because the broader description allows for diversification of programming and potential revenue streams. A healthy org hires a person that can help deliver that mission statement and the hope is that person shares some sort of aligned passion and experience for the mission. I never said the bigger problem was Richard's tone and delivery. I never said that was bigger than the topic of SCV at any point. I simply said his tone and centering was getting in the way of a clear message and willing listeners in regards to the HUGE issue that is SCV.

I hear your frustration. I can only speak for the comments I have made and words I have chosen. I do not speak for anyone else on this thread. There is no outline for how whistleblowers should report beyond what is listed as federal law and most of that only deals with retaliation. And even then, retaliation still occurs. Most law regarding reporting and retaliation is obtuse at best and deals more with the Enron's of the world and less with the member abuses and me toos of the world. Even the SOX law only really required outside auditing and double check signing at minimum. I want to make sure that I am being clear here that telling a person that hubris is the great de-railer of cause is not an attempt to minimize the whistle in the first place but to state that one may win greater support without centering oneself in the middle of the report. While the broader goal is to bring SCV to some kind of reconciling with the state, far too often that gets drowned out with a lot of personal desires and self acknowledgement and aggrandizing. It looks less like whistleblowing and more like a personal vendetta. It needs to stay in the realm of whistleblowing versus personal agenda (which is what it appears like more and more). And that NYT book review was interesting in that the author spoke about how we communicate and interpret our world around us and we move in our bubble. That's not even a just summary but it was interesting enough for me to want to dive in further. I wanted to acknowledge that unlike many others, I do often click hyperlinks provided to me. Admittedly I need to actually educate myself a bit further about what adversarial collaboration is before I can comment on it as a method. I take it though, that it is something you believe as a beneficial method.

Yeah but I think they could have if DCI hadn't stepped in and shown them ALL the door. I think maybe a couple were allowed to stay via Doug's decision but I'm really not sure.

We are clearly reminded at every possible opportunity of this. I am not going to address that portion directly as of now but I get it, I hear it, I am acknowledging it. While I am currently discussing a broader BOD issue, I WILL say that a toxic board will trickle down and foster a toxic organization. I do agree there. Without the right people at the top, all the buckets below are filled with sludge.

Lets not tone police my tone policing. LOL. I believe that I'm NOT tone policing but simply offering some constructive criticism on how to gain some further support for his efforts versus alienating his audience. As a woman, I'm certainly not leaning into the "you should smile more or wear more makeup" trope. I'll gladly have that conversation with him though. I stand by what I said. Centering is a turn off and he does it often.

Nope....It was not an attack. Just some advice that hubris and centering can deaden efforts and turn off audiences. BUT I will address Richard's "why" from a few pages back concerning Purging the leadership at SCV. That is increasingly difficult from an outside position. Now, some may know the details better and I'm honestly glossing over this a bit for truncation but in 2018 when Cadets/GH blew up and DCI stepped in (something grossly missing here), I believe DCI mandated a restructuring of the BOD in order to maintain membership. This is not something DCI does with every org as they did not require this of SOA and I can't speak to PIO or Troop. Back to Cadets, Doug Rutherford stepped in as interim BOD Chair to start rebuilding the BOD and org. What I don't know is who selected him. Was it DCI? Was it a current member of the BOD? Was it a collaboration between DCI and the "mandated to exit" board of directors? Either way, without DCI's involvement, I doubt that BOD would have left en masse. And that is the case at SCV, without a clear mandate by DCI for BOD restructuring at SCV, the existing BOD members that haven't left on their own accord will stay in place and build around them. What I question is whether or not they have the knowledge and self awareness to expand their board with the CORRECT people and skill set. The alarming issue to me is the SIZE of their current board. 8 people is not enough. They are most likely spread thin. They need to be triple that if they are going to run 2 corps, bingo and whatever else they need to do to be fiduciarily responsible and fix the issues. Running that small is just a way to let things fall through the cracks as they have been.

I'm incredibly hesitant to wade into this but I'm going to address a couple of things that popped out to me. More just a curiousity than anything else. 1- SCV's new treasurer is in North Carolina and you point at that as a bad thing. My organization's board is literally scattered across the country. Our Treasurer does NOT live in the same state as the Org. As a matter of fact, MOST of the board doesn't live in or near the home base of the org. It's a digital zoom kind of world and access to financials and the ability to do a job well no longer demand you be in town where the office is so I do question why you paint their location as a detriment as they are not in CA like the old treasurer apparently was. Especially since (IMO) the old treasurer catastrophically failed at their job. 2. The hiring and firing of Brett B- I'm surprised you didn't bring up his past involvement with his BFF's dalliances with a member of their community theatre that got him in hot water (once again IMO) far more than the rumors circulating that he wanted to disband the A corps. In fact, the theatre drama only exposed a lack of due diligence on the part of the hiring committee that to me was a bigger issue. 3. (or maybe 2.5) Also in regards to the hiring and firing of Brett B- Drum corps as a hiring practice is incredibly nepotistic and full of cronyism. We all talk about back room deals. Everyone has a friend that would be perfect and half our design staffs bring their own down chain staff. As orgs transition from kitchen table drum corps to fully realized multi-million dollar Non profits with not only a touring group but community centric programming, educational programming, and god knows what other revenue earning ventures, your buddy from Black Knights or whatever may no longer be qualified for the job. It forces organizations to diversify and look outside the bubble. Hiring Brett B the person turned out to be a disaster. But hiring a CEO that had a performance education and theater background was not so outside the box for an org like SCV that had been expanding into community rooted performance ensembles beyond the A and B corps. Phantom Regiment just hired a CEO that has little to no experience in Drum Corps but comes with OODLES of experience in revenue diversification and Youth Education programming. This is a good fit for an org trying to expand revenue streams and community programming while re-establishing its roots and involvement in Rockford. Build a team around her to worry about the nuance of drum corps. Maintain a supportive BOD that can guide and support someone like her successfully and the fact that she came from outside of drum corps won't matter. 4. Lastly, I understand you're wanting to bring this all to light. But your ego is a turnoff. I don't care that you are tired, or numb, or feel like your website move should get more attention. Do it for the work and less for your standing. When you insert yourself and what recognition you think you should be getting for all of this, it's a turn off and makes me thing you are doing this more for your own grandstanding and less for the good of the organization as you claim.

I've consistently told my peers that if it wasn't for 2021, there would be no 2022 or 2023. I loved those kids for going out and doing it for nothing more than the love of the activity.

I so don't remember this. Maybe I was traumatized and blocked it from my memory. 😂😂 Tony's drill abused me the entire season. I hauled! 😂

Best comment of the night. 😂😂😂

You calling that exchange a double flag yeet is about my favorite thing I've read this week. 😂😂😂