audiodb Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Perhaps this thread should be renamed "Accounting Discussion Erupts". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Perhaps this thread should be renamed "Accounting Discussion Erupts". And if corps directors were more concerned about Accounting, and turned the design team over to concerning themselves with art, performance, music, drill, and pageantry, then many of these folded corps over the years would still be solvent! The Corporation, and the facilitation it provides, should take TOP priority for any director over the artistic performance. Accounting might be boring to some, but it is the vehicle which keeps track of making sure the people under the charge of the director have food, shelter, transportation, etc... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 (edited) To be tax deductible the funds have to go to a 501©(3) organization. You should receive some form of acknowledgement from the organization stating how much you gave and the date. If that letter doesn't reference that the organization is a 501©(3) chances are very high that the amount is not deductible. SHHH!!!!! Caught Unholy Hell when I posted that I emailed a corps when I never received an acknowledgement (used that word). Was accused of a bunch of wierd #### when I just wanted to make sure they got the check and it wasn't stolen. I haven't looked up the code section for this lately - but I relate it to buying a suite in a stadium. I did have a client who had a suite at Lambeau Field. The cost of the suite was tax deductible since he used it for promotional purposes (taking clients, etc.). But we had to reduce the suite fee by the cost of the lowest ticket in the stadium - which was actually in the club seats. The cost of the club seats was lower since you had to pay separately for the ability to purchase the seat - and the adjustment was ridiculously low compared to the cost of the suite. This cleared an IRS audit - much to the dismay of the auditor since I'm sure the suite cost is what triggered the audit. Brother in law wanted to try this for his business in NC as he finally got season tickets to the Redskins. Big problems were the distance (couple hour drive) and fact that no one in his part of NC gave a crap about the Skins. Edited September 13, 2011 by JimF-LowBari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Perhaps this thread should be renamed "Accounting Discussion Erupts". And if corps directors were more concerned about Accounting, and turned the design team over to concerning themselves with art, performance, music, drill, and pageantry, then many of these folded corps over the years would still be solvent! The Corporation, and the facilitation it provides, should take TOP priority for any director over the artistic performance. Accounting might be boring to some, but it is the vehicle which keeps track of making sure the people under the charge of the director have food, shelter, transportation, etc... Just to be clear....I agree that the accounting discussion is valuable, and hope that a moderator will move it to a separate thread so that it can continue without dragging Revolution's name along for the ride (pun not intended). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 (edited) Just to be clear....I agree that the accounting discussion is valuable, and hope that a moderator will move it to a separate thread so that it can continue without dragging Revolution's name along for the ride (pun not intended). To be just as clear... John R, the director of Revo, is the person in this thread who tied the rope of that corps to any discussion concerning Accounting practices when he admitted that the corps was running off of expected performer dues as well as admitted that he did not hold the members who failed to pay-in-full accountable; and he also admitted that Revo sought funds to rectify the poor accounting practices by making an appeal to the responsible parties to over-pay to cover the irresponsible parties. So, since he engaged in the thread concerning the finances of his corps, that makes it perfectly reasonable to discuss Accounting issues within this thread. Edited September 14, 2011 by Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Would you say that a corps that had two, full season's finances in the bank prior to leaving for tour would be in a "sound" financial position? This presumes that the savings aren't raided and that, at the end of the season, there's still a full season's funding in the bank. This would indicate that the corps is always raising funds for two season's from now, not next year's tour. How realistic is it? Would you then describe the finances of a corps that attained that goal as excellent, good, fair, or poor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Would you say that a corps that had two, full season's finances in the bank prior to leaving for tour would be in a "sound" financial position? This presumes that the savings aren't raided and that, at the end of the season, there's still a full season's funding in the bank. This would indicate that the corps is always raising funds for two season's from now, not next year's tour. How realistic is it? Would you then describe the finances of a corps that attained that goal as excellent, good, fair, or poor? Two-years ahead in the bank? Ehhh... possible; One-year ahead more realistic. This could be attained with a huge influx of cash for an existing corps, or built to that status prior to touring for an up-start corps. And I think it is both a sound financial position and an excellent idea. Over the past few days I have been doing some research and ran across a recent DCW article; it appears that there is a team of people out there who are willing to be patient enough to build this type of financial process into their organization. Here is the link: http://www.high-velocity-media.com/Magazines/premiere_issue/premiere_issue_mobile.php?page=70 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 None. But your idea is intriguing in a way not connected with "educational" funding ala low-cost college loans via Sallie Mae or other program. I would use the monthly payment coupon idea even if it is run through a local bank. It's a convenience for parents to pay monthly, and the monthly fee to the bank for servicing is dependent upon the number of participants. A medium-sized metro area could have enough schools for a local banker to take on the service, and it seems to me that a low-cost DCI financing package for 4000 or more marching members could work. One could presume that many, if not all, parents would take advantage of it for a level monthly payment option to financing Johnnie's drum corps. If the prior year's bill is in arrears, then Johnnie doesn't march. I don't see this as needing approval from any government agency, but I certainly know that paying for "pay-to-play" fees at a public school is, in fact, a tax deduction if it's paid to the school system. DCI could act in that roll and maybe make a few nickels on the side. This is not a blanket enthusiastic recommendation but I think the idea has merit. How many parents (or MM's) use discretionary cash to pay drum corps fees today anyway? Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that much of it is paid via credit card then paid off over the year? Finding a cheaper way for parents to pay and giving DCI, or a local bank, a small fee for service doesn't sound totally unworkable. IMO banks wont touch it without interest or fees. for a non profit or not, the bank will want a profit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olde Tymer Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Evidently Revolution lives. http://www.revolutionypa.org/announcements/?newsID=93 Good luck Revolution! We hope to see and hear good things from you this season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatCorpsGuy Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Interest...it looks like there's new leadership, too. Well, hopefully they're going to shore things up and come out strong this year. Best of luck, Revo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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