scheherazadesghost

O well they didn't lose their non profit status federally or with the state AFAIK. They are delinquent status with the CA DOJ's charity registry. I was surprised how often it happens honestly. Any sense of timeline is unclear to me, but I might as well be in Ouagadougou, I'm so far away.

Good for them. Glad to hear it, and wishing them an excellent season ahead. I intentionally don't speak to my opinion of other corps' safeguarding practices because it's been oh so fun doing so with just Vanguard. But I've found red flags or gaps at every corps I've reviewed so far. 🤷🏽‍♀️ But Boston's competitors may not be so fortunate regarding rest/recovery... and how fun is to beat a competitor who isn't working at their peak performance? Yawn from me, since I'm the furthest from being competitively-minded one could possibly be anyway. The power and beauty of the shows are enough for me, flaws very much included. Buuut, drum corps shouldn't be given the luxury of using anecdotes anymore when its decades' long legacy is firmly planted in overtraining. Staff who exacerbated or turned a blind eye to clear signs over overtraining syndrome in me and others are still working in DCI/WGI right now. So, respectfully... show me the data. 🤓 Members and their loved ones deserve it. Arts education nonprofits collect and share this kind of data all day every day.

Because mismanagement on the organizational level has been known to filter down to member experience issues. I personally argue that they aren't separate at all, having gained plenty of experience with both. Good thinking. Point of clarification, as I've seen this wrong on reddit: they never lost 501c3 status federally or with the state. They lost a "good standing" status with the CA DOJ's charity registry for not filing required yearly paperwork, audits, and fees. The registry is a requiered transparency safeguard intended to enhance public trust. According to the DOJ, the status means they shouldn't be soliciting or operating. Apparently, my interpretation of what's on the DOJ website isn't the same as VMAPA's. Perhaps they've already started ironing it out with government entities... which is ideal before the status turns from delinquent to suspended. Delinquencies happen, and in cases with other delinquent CA orgs, donors have been the first to bring it to the attention of the orgs. There is a subtle but crucial differentiation btw over arching np status and the CA DOJ status, about which nuance begs for additional clarification. I probably shouldn't say more since my DCP presence is being watched like a hawk. If that's the only hiccup, and pending the DOJ's processing timeline, sure, all they have to do is provide the required audits, pay fees, and update their paperwork. Leadership and the alumni association are certainly trucking along at full speed for that 24 season, for sure. VMAPA will be providing a go/no go status to DCI long before September. I strongly believe that their whistleblowing/safeguarding game needs a reset before they consider fielding another season but what do I know?

The conventional training involved with drum corps exceeds that of most Olympians. And the drum corps industry expects members to "prepare their bodies" for the season? Let me be clear, there is no healthy way to prepare a body for overtraining! Some just adapt to it better. I've seen "overtraining" broadly defined as 30+ hours per week of max heart rate paired with inadequate rest/recuperation time. There are two stages of training before "Overtraining Syndrome" (OTS) kicks in called functional overreach (good, in moderation) and nonfunctional overreach (bad, first indicator of potential OTS.) Functional overreach is eustressful, or the "good burn," or the efficient challenge that muscles (and the body) need to grow and adapt... but it should only be sustained for short periods. All of this has been known by exercise scientists since before I marched. 🤷🏽‍♀️ I have anecdotal evidence of long-term digestive, hormonal, and neurological side effects of OTS that still flair up for me, but here's the harder evidence: https://irunfar.com/overtraining-syndrome-part-one "While these findings are troublesome, perhaps most frightening is a recent study by Collins and colleagues (2003) that has shown changes to DNA structure in the muscle cells of chronically overtrained athletes." Overtraining leads to muscle tissue damage, as well as metabolic and neurological effects "OTS can result in irreversible changes to multiple body systems, causing permanent changes to not only running capacity, but one’s overall quality of non-running life." https://www.twaamc.com/overtraining-syndrome.html check every single one of the symptoms for me https://www.naturalathleteclinic.com/blogs/sports-conditions-blog/treating-athlete-overtraining-syndrome OTS forces the body into chronic flight-flight-freeze-fawn responses. For marchers that enter drum corps already experiencing latent vulnerability (as I was), adding OTS to their life can be incredibly harmful and risky. Worst of all, one reporter who marched in the last five years disclosed to me that they developed an addiction to prescription pain killers on tour that extended beyond their drum corps life. I, and at least one other alum I marched with, was using maxed out amounts of OTC painkillers starting early in 2004. The real barrier I'm experiencing at the moment is helping alum of the activity to acknowledge they were possibly affected by OTS (or nonfunctional overreach,) given the nature of the beast. If we can't acknowledge it in ourselves, how can we possibly help future members? Not on-topic enough? One downstream effect inefficient management is we get to watch as injuries flair up each year, but there's no accountability for them within the institution. Saying "they're young and they'll recover" is outdated and verges on neglect. My symptoms of OTS are only just now waning finally... and my last partial season was 2005. According to math, that's, like, nearly 20 years of symptoms or something. Last season, I watched Vanguard field an incomplete guard practically until finals week. The pinwheel drill move by the drums in the closer (gorgeous) with guard members in each quadrant was a dead giveaway. There was always at least one member out all season in that drill move. I also saw how the injured guard members were treated (briefly) and know from my experience as a dance educator that it was unacceptable. The alum I hold closest to my heart have only one message: Please rest the members more than when we marched. Y'all are worried about money... meanwhile I'm all can we, like, not hurt the members anymore, pl0x? k thnxbyee

Holy moley do I welcome the good news. Who wouldn't? That's the thing though. And I know this firsthand. Two members, marching right next to each other, can have wholly different experiences.

Why we haven't all dropped what we're doing to address reports like this is beyond me. The members are literally the only people that matter. Student, customer, stakeholder. A member experience audit is needed just as much as any financial audit. My anger aside, thank you for sharing @MikeN. I'm humiliated to hear (again) that a recent alum left their season feeling this way. Unacceptable.

Nono, don't hop on the mods necessarily. We communicated and I didn't object. I'm thinking about MAASIN. But not feeling pushed to that extreme yet. I don't think folks understand how dedicated I am to an in house solution.

I'm already in hot water so I'll let someone else answer your questions. There are ways to make wise, responsible donations to orgs that are in the process of regaining public trust. Provide and request as much detail as possible. Provide full names, bios of your fraternity bros/my fellow alum, even images. Share that publicly if it feels appropriate. Then 1. provide as much detail about how you want the money to be spent as you can. The categories for VAA's fundraiser are food, housing, travel, and scholarships for the 2024 tour. If you have a more specific prospective allotment in mind, detail that. Or, 2. be their darling and tell them it's unrestricted, but require semi-regular updates. Then put in writing that you expect the required donor acknowledgement letter in a reasonable timeframe. Also, you can reach out to VAA or VMAPA and negotiate any of this directly. They don't bite. These are fundamental np donor safeguarding practices. And to be completely fair, they often require a lot of people power. Every successful np I've been with has a dedicated role or two just for donor cultivation. It's what today's responsible donors demand when competition is stiff.

sad trombone, the post of mine you've responded to is now hidden. 🤷🏽‍♀️ MAASIN or the law truly are the only options. I've exhausted all other channels, besides those painstakingly crafted by a few alum. Even those are incredibly delicate. Retaliation and censorship are never good signs. I retain testimony from more than one other alum that both are happening.

I appreciate this distinction and the apt metaphor. Thank you, I'm sorry I missed your comment. We all can understand how risky it is (for everyone on the road) to drive without insurance. I live rural and see it all the time. Meanwhile, I'm super curious about the timing between the first delinquency letter and the start of the Texas Affiliate.

Since we're talking about my home team, I'll just leave this here: https://www.sportscasting.com/troy-aikmans-biggest-regret-is-how-he-overtrained-throughout-his-cowboys-career-i-just-got-obsessed/ "Aikman clearly wishes he’d had somebody to guide him toward a more sustainable model of conditioning. Who knows how many seasons that might’ve added to his legendary career?" And lest I am accused of being OT, I've always said that mismanagement in any area can easily affect the member experience negatively.

I can only speak to the statement being made.

For example... My opinions regarding internal culture redacted by request here. Nevermind that I have been an arts education np fundraiser, educator and director outside of drum corps with nationally and internationally known legacy nps, and continue to participate in dialogue in hopes of supporting sustainable growth and alumni engagement. Nevermind that the CA DOJ's charity registry status and communications with VMAPA are publicly available, I essentially said "hey this is upsetting, what's going on here?" It's increasingly emotionally laborious for me when my attempts to help from the outside are misinterpreted, yet few alum can actually accept that the institution harmed me and others first, leaving us with lasting effects on our adult lives that go beyond a bum knee, arthritic hands or a bruised ego. (Seriously, web search the long term effects of overtraining and you might as well discover my picture next to what you find. Then pile on the effects of bullying, harassment, and medical neglect to that, which were all internally corroborated by VMAPA.) To this day I still get elder alumni responses like, "yeah my instructor was mean too" or "didn't we join Vanguard cause we wanted to do something difficult?" The harm described in my report make those responses look like a toddler's booboo. It took me nearly 20 years to understand the difference. Seriously, if your first response is "it couldn't have been that bad" you might want to check yourself before your wreck yourself cause I have receipts. I need them because people across this industry are too quick to gaslight survivors. None of my report would matter to anyone except me if I didn't also have testimony from alum who report that members, staff, and alum faced similar risks and retaliation as recently as last season. In both corps. Providing critical feedback at a critical time is more hurtful apparently. And yet I'm still here trying because our younger alum deserve better.

🥺💔 There were plenty of us even when I marched. From all over. If that has diminished further since I marched then it's a real shame. Am supposing that higher tour fees make that likely.

VMAPA claimed yesterday in a closed alum Fb group that they plan to be out of debt early, by the end of this month. Totally agree with the essence of your statement though. I still strongly believe that VMAPA should reopen all positions to the public for application. And bring in an outside recruiter to oversee the process. Prevent any further JSS potentials. That's how SoA found their current CEO...I know bc I originally applied. 💯 I'm only just now realizing how few people understand this. Burnout in the sector is a serious problem. It's why I left.

This would also help Vanguard more fully embody the non profit model... and increase access for prospective members from marginalized communities.

Ultimately, the difference between our interpretations of these regulations is problematic nonetheless though, which I think we all can see. Prospective experienced donors/sponsors won't look as far as into it as any of us. They'll see "delinquent" and bounce, which, as a former np development manager, continues to be a big red flag for me minimally.

The delinquency letter to VMAPA from CA AG Bonte dated 9/9/21 (on the first page of this thread) literally says: "A delinquent organization may not engage in any activity for which registration is required, including solicitation or disbursing of charitable assets." The registry website reinforces this regulation on several different pages. Relying on CA's bureaucratic slow down to find the time to clear the delinquency is not a winning strategy.

Until I'm given evidence to the contrary, I will continue to believe that this was an administrative oversight that occurred due to the loss of institutional knowledge from high staff turnover. Couple high turnover with few leadership roles filled by people who have robust experience successfully running nonprofits and you might get into this type of situation. Pair all that with a broken whistleblower system and enough outright denial that it's broken despite qualified alum (who have navigated the established wb process) trying to point that out. Again, the state provides so much guidance about how to climb out of delinquency status. That's the relatively easy fix here, assuming it was a simple, but massive oversight. Restoring transparency, trustworthiness and accountability that primary stakeholders can rely on is another thing.

In the January Q&A with alumni, alumni association, some board members, CFO and then-CEO present... JVW stated that they do conduct yearly third-party audits, but they aren't made public.

All good. Honestly, adversarial collaboration is my jam so... I'm seeing you say it's not illegal and that's all unless I missed something. But I don't understand how delinquency doesn't mean what the DOJ says it does, which is that delinquent orgs can't operate or solicit. The DOJ clearly defines it as such so I hope it is understandable why I'm still confused. I'm not "choosing" to believe this. I'm leveraging the facts as I read them on the state's website as a former long term non profit professional, just like any major funder would.

Alum fundraiser donations are restricted, meaning they're only supposed to go to food, housing, travel and scholarships for the next season. Bingo revenue is what's clearing the debt, projected to be zeroed by next month. Just providing what I know for clarity.

Please feel free to be less insulting and clearly line out for everyone here why this is. The only thing I've done in this thread and elsewhere is explain why I'm concerned about the documentation I've found as it refers to the stated regulations and laws in California. VMAPA = delinquent status with The State of California's DOJ Delinquent = no soliciting or operating Do you actually think I want to be right about this? Or any other instance of institutional abuse that's been reported to me over the last year? Please feel free to prove me wrong. That would make my day. Edit to add: assuming you could do so respectfully without insults. But before you call anyone a troll, consider that we are facing an organization, with grown adults running it, that is censoring critical feedback about finances, member treatment, and staff treatment. We, separately, have taken a hundred other steps outside of DCP before arriving here.

They are. 🤷🏽‍♀️