Bonfiglio/27th dispute

[IllianaLancerContra]

12 hours ago, Tenoris4Jazz said:

Just an FYI for you folks wondering about the expense ratio of an active corps...

The Academy 2016 (the year they went to Finals)  54.9% of expenses on admin

Blue Knights  2019  14%

Blue Devils  2017  25%,  2018  26.9%,  2019  26.4%

Blue Stars  less than 4% for the years 2017-2019

Bluecoats  2019  10.1%

Cadets have only submitted a 990 form for 2020, which isn't comparable, but 50% of their expenses for 2020 were repaying debt to YEA

Carolina Crown  2019  27.6%

Boston Crusaders  2019  8.7%

Phantom Regiment  2019  8.8%

Cavaliers  2019  26.4%

Troopers  2019  21.8%

Vanguard  2019  17.5%

That is an average of 16.5% for 10 full touring drum corps

for comparison...  The United Way   2019  $256.7 million in expenses, admin is 2.6%

Basic questions from a guy who doesn't know much about the financial side of Drum Corps:  What does 'Admin Costs' cover?  Director, office admin, rent of office space?  Or does it include instructors/designers as well?  And how is this determined as in many Corps various people wear several hats - Director may also help cleaning drill.  And finally - are the definitions of admin costs consistent over all Corps?  For example, is what Academy calls admin costs the same as what Blue Stars call admin costs?

[skevinp]

1 hour ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Basic questions from a guy who doesn't know much about the financial side of Drum Corps:  What does 'Admin Costs' cover?  Director, office admin, rent of office space?  Or does it include instructors/designers as well?  And how is this determined as in many Corps various people wear several hats - Director may also help cleaning drill.  And finally - are the definitions of admin costs consistent over all Corps?  For example, is what Academy calls admin costs the same as what Blue Stars call admin costs?

Excellent points to consider before people start smearing individual organizations.  

What gets classified as administrative may be different from corps to corps.  Not to mention that a percentage is not an amount.  It would seem irresponsible for us to refer to a percentage as how “much” someone is spending.  

As one example, if your non-admin spending is much smaller than another corps, I would think that will make your admin percentage look much higher even though the actual amount may not be.  

[Bob984]

5 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Basic questions from a guy who doesn't know much about the financial side of Drum Corps:  What does 'Admin Costs' cover?  Director, office admin, rent of office space?  Or does it include instructors/designers as well?  And how is this determined as in many Corps various people wear several hats - Director may also help cleaning drill.  And finally - are the definitions of admin costs consistent over all Corps?  For example, is what Academy calls admin costs the same as what Blue Stars call admin costs?

To be honest, just like from business to business, things will vary substantially from corps to corps.  There are world class corps who operate on an income that is triple another world class corps.  Some would immediately say, "ah, hah!!" when seeing that on the surface.  But maybe the one corps also has to travel over twice the road miles that another corps does.  Maybe their insurance costs are greater.  There are many factors.  As long as the members are well fed, housed, traveling in safe buses, treated well, and provided quality instruction....and the corps bills get paid......I think it is ok to leave it at that.  I do think some corps have a tendency to "spend now....worry later", and that's not good.  For example, if you are strapped, I don't think that you have to say yes to a staffers desire for an $80,000 prop in the show......you may also find it wiser if you do have the money to fix an old truck in the fleet that is breaking down frequently....perhaps that should take priority.  The truth, though, is fiscal mismanagement nearly always bites a corps in the tush, and especially in these days....I do think if some are not a bit more frugal, it could be bad for them.  In the DB case, we are not talking about funding for a drum corps, but funding for a foundation to raise scholarship funds for kids who wish to march somewhere....yes, they are both "non-profits", but the similarities pretty much end there.   Even with that, I know of no corps that is spending or ever spent over 76% of their funds on "administrative costs".....

[fsthnds]

18 hours ago, Bob984 said:

My guess is that didn't happen when she was first hired, which I believe was as staff coordinator...I'm sure she was screened, but at that time her court thing (which was civil, not criminal) I don't think that there was  a verdict yet...and then quickly she was director, and just as quickly CEO.......I honestly hadn't heard about this until recently, so I doubt the board had knowledge, either, or to the real extent of this (ie way more than a family squabble over a name/trademark).....I just hope that they move soon........

This case had been around since 2016. Many people in the activity knew about it for years. Including people in SCV and even WGI

[Terri Schehr]

On 12/27/2021 at 5:24 PM, Continental said:

This case needs more Judge Judy. 

She’d get to the bottom of this STAT! 

[Terri Schehr]

19 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

54% wow. and Db had 76%. 

No wonder a person Jim knew who resigned from the BOD of The Academy four or five years ago was so disgusted with their admin costs.  I heard him complaining about it in Indy one year.  

[Tim K]

53 minutes ago, fsthnds said:

This case had been around since 2016. Many people in the activity knew about it for years. Including people in SCV and even WGI

It goes back earlier than 2016. After a disastrous reunion in 2012, DB and JMcW announced that a foundation would be established to fund scholarships to honor their parents. Two scholarships would be awarded, both to young people pursuing careers in education. One recipient would be a music educator, the other an elementary school teacher, honoring their father’s love of drum corps and his career as a teacher. To fund the scholarships, the two sold 27th Lancer memorabilia. I know I purchased a 27th Lancer koozie and a CD. I believe there were t-shirts, coffee mugs, pens, anything you might see in a souvenir stand. This dates back to 2013. My understanding is the use of the 27th Lancer name and not the scholarship is what was at issue.  I’m also thinking that the sale of the souvenirs did not go very well which could be the “expenses.” I don’t know this for a fact, it is just a hunch. I would wonder how much of a market there would be for 27th memorabilia. I know I loved 27th, so too did many of my friends, and while I made a small purchase, it was a one and done deal. I can’t see the sales funding a scholarship for years to come. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by Tim K

[Jurassic Lancer]

1 hour ago, Tim K said:

It goes back earlier than 2016. After a disastrous reunion in 2012, DB and JMcW announced that a foundation would be established to fund scholarships to honor their parents. Two scholarships would be awarded, both to young people pursuing careers in education. One recipient would be a music educator, the other an elementary school teacher, honoring their father’s love of drum corps and his career as a teacher. To fund the scholarships, the two sold 27th Lancer memorabilia. I know I purchased a 27th Lancer koozie and a CD. I believe there were t-shirts, coffee mugs, pens, anything you might see in a souvenir stand. This dates back to 2013. My understanding is the use of the 27th Lancer name and not the scholarship is what was at issue.  I’m also thinking that the sale of the souvenirs did not go very well which could be the “expenses.” I don’t know this for a fact, it is just a hunch. I would wonder how much of a market there would be for 27th memorabilia. I know I loved 27th, so too did many of my friends, and while I made a small purchase, it was a one and done deal. I can’t see the sales funding a scholarship for years to come. 

I bought a T-Shirt and a Christmas ornament. 

[Tenoris4Jazz]

13 hours ago, Smug Trumpet Guy said:

I just Googled average administrative cost of charities and it came out to around 15 percent. I don't think anything fishy is going on, though Academy is spending a lot on it and they always have had high tuition. It seems that your united way comparison is a bit misleading

United Way was held up to intense scrutiny years back, because their senior management was being paid millions of dollars that frankly was out of line.  They are the litmus test in the financial world for large non-profit management, simply because they are 1) centralized at a national level instead of having regional or state non-profits operating independently (like the Salvation Army or the Knights of Columbus), and 2) they have track record of questionable financial controls.

[Tenoris4Jazz]

8 hours ago, skevinp said:

Excellent points to consider before people start smearing individual organizations.  

What gets classified as administrative may be different from corps to corps.  Not to mention that a percentage is not an amount.  It would seem irresponsible for us to refer to a percentage as how “much” someone is spending.  

As one example, if your non-admin spending is much smaller than another corps, I would think that will make your admin percentage look much higher even though the actual amount may not be.  

On the contrary, percentages are the ONLY way to truly compare spending in a situation like DCI.  The idea with non-profits is to spend 15% or less on administrative expenses, no matter how big or small the budget.

For instance, in 2019 the Blue Devils spent $4.75 million dollars on expenses, but had $4.738 million in revenue.  Ideally, a non-profit should not have a profit at the end of the year.  Any excess revenue should be spent somewhere... so if BD spends an extra $250k on something administrative to keep from putting it in the bank, that's a good thing.  The administrative expenses were $1.26 million, or 26.4% though... that's too high.  The Blue Stars spent $1.54 million on expenses, but only 3.7% on administration.  Now, you can look at that and say that BD should have spent 10% of their admin money on something related to the program.  You can also look at the Blue Stars and say only $57,600 was spent on "administrative costs."  Well, their Executive Director and Corps Director make a combined $102,500... why is all of that not categorized as administrative?  

You have to use percentages for measuring spending, because budgets are never equal.  However, you are 100% correct that what is defined as administrative from corps to corps is a black hole financially.  It's a shame there aren't any financial rules requiring a uniform definition of admin costs.

 

P.S.   I have wanted to do a deep dive into corps' finances for years, but I just haven't had the time.  It's scary some of the things I've seen on these organizational financial evaluations. Several groups don't have an independent audit of their finances... EVER!!!  The balance sheet for some units is awash in red ink.  Given that the last 990 forms most corps have filed are pre-COVID, the picture they painted in 2020 is barely telling the truth about how close a lot of them are to insolvency.