Jeff Ream Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 3 hours ago, MarimbaManiac said: That's not what I am reading at all. Covid was real, its effects were real, but it has been 4 years since the initial outbreak, and MANY other entities with fewer resources than VMAPA have been able to navigate it and recover in the meantime. Bingo is reopen, right? They got PPP loans, right? Those loans were forgiven, right? Accounting is still something that can largely happen remotely.....right?? Covid is no longer a viable excuse for being dysfunctional. Unfortunately many organizations (like VMAPA) still use it as a get out of jail free card to distract from their incompetence. The issue isn't Covid, it's that the organization is run by arrogant morons. and it appears dysfunction started BEFORE Covid 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 15 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said: First time in the wild I've seen commentary on alum withholding donations: https://www.reddit.com/r/drumcorps/s/5Q5WTF1He1 wow 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: wow This is the nonprofit model functioning the way it should, if true. Alas, when some alum get angry at others who are withholding (or simply disregard them as "random stakeholders that Vanguard owes nothing to")... that shields the org from coming to terms with this intentionally-designed nonprofit mechanism. It should seen as a feature, not a flaw. I think this redditor might be from the same decade as me. If so, the "lots" they're referring to may be as well. Wouldn't want a whole younger gen of alum withholding donations would we? Or do our elder alum plan on living (and donating on our behalves) forever? Edit to add: public scrutiny is described as "essential" here: https://eac-network.org/eac-network-believes-in-the-importance-of-nonprofit-transparency/ Edited December 20, 2023 by scheherazadesghost clarification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Schehr Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said: wow This is what I’ve been worried about. Members being hung out to dry. “Considering they won't actually make it to the field, this is a bold prediction. Reality check, they can't make it through tour on bingo and member fees alone, and they STILL can't solicit donations because the CA DOJ is cracking down on them. They'll fold some time early spring before move in.” 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said: This is what I’ve been worried about. Members being hung out to dry. “Considering they won't actually make it to the field, this is a bold prediction. Reality check, they can't make it through tour on bingo and member fees alone, and they STILL can't solicit donations because the CA DOJ is cracking down on them. They'll fold some time early spring before move in.” We are all worried about this. Not directed at Terri, just further commentary: But if this happens it will be because leadership didn't do their jobs, not because donors are withholding. They have $20k gathering dust somewhere already bc they can't legally disburse it. That has been true since 2020 so it's not on those of us who called it out. Do we donate more money when it can't even be legally used? They shouldn't be headed on tour if they were relying on alumni donations to make it happen. That was my problem with the Feeding Vanguard Forever campaign. I'm sorry, shouldn't something as important as food already have designated funds and not rely on volunteer fundraising? Edited December 20, 2023 by scheherazadesghost 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 On 12/19/2023 at 7:22 PM, rjohn76 said: I have no knowledge of what happened in SCV's case, but I have personally witnessed botched migrations between accounting software because data import/export tools didn't work as anticipated, or because data mapping was completed incorrectly by the 3rd party supplier of the new software. Yes, but it's going on 5 years now. Worst case scenario would be to simply enter starting balance sheet numbers in the new system and go forward with new entries for revenue and expenses from there. If one wants financial history (which SCV clearly is not tracking) then simply pull up the old reports, if one wants to trend them together well, bite the bullet and just make a report from scratch in Excel. Clearly however, no one is tracking anything. At least they do not convey an acumen over SCV's business model. Shutting down the corps and effectively zeroing out all non Bingo Revenue streams created some very big problems with gambling law compliance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 9 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: and it appears dysfunction started BEFORE Covid Fiscal year end for 2019 IRS990 shows a loss of $545K before COVID hit the world (the worse financial performance ever, and by a lot, and in the face of a record revenue year, and Bingo record income). The new CEO was already in place with a plan to terminate the Vanguard A-Corps before COVID shut everything down. Had 2020 still been a normal competitive year SCV was going to make a farce of it. They totally squandered two years to figure things out without any of the logistical complexities to actually execute. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 13 hours ago, MarimbaManiac said: That's not what I am reading at all. Covid was real, its effects were real, but it has been 4 years since the initial outbreak, and MANY other entities with fewer resources than VMAPA have been able to navigate it and recover in the meantime. Bingo is reopen, right? They got PPP loans, right? Those loans were forgiven, right? Accounting is still something that can largely happen remotely.....right?? Covid is no longer a viable excuse for being dysfunctional. Unfortunately many organizations (like VMAPA) still use it as a get out of jail free card to distract from their incompetence. The issue isn't Covid, it's that the organization is run by arrogant morons. That's all spot on. So why is it taking so long (going on 5 years now). The bigger problem is Bingo profitability collapsed while revenues still dramatically rose. While 2022 did see more expenses, I would call it slightly higher than the previous touring year's expenses, so it was manageable . Where SCV took it in the shorts was Bingo net income decreased over $1M, while revenues increased over $6M. Now they have a Bingo manager working remotely from Hawaii, no one on the board is tracking anything or holding anyone accountable to the revenue and expense streams. In order for accounting to happen remotely absolute trust and competence have to be the foundation of the system. Otherwise, those questions I have regarding Bingo Operations are simply going to be hidden from the bookkeeper in the information that is not given to them regarding operations. **************** I'm convinced no one was opening the mail and the board was totally broadsided when I made public the Delinquency Status. It could very well be they don't even know it to this day. There is a lot of lying going on in the internal operations of SCV, and the board is entirely remote, and they cannot validate anything. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoakes Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 On 12/19/2023 at 11:20 AM, Richard Lesher said: I honestly can't attest to why they have the problems they have. They DID have a bookkeeper from an outside firm. Apparently that stopped. I'm not buying their explanation. They had been using Quick Books forever, how changing to a different software all the sudden prevents them from tracking finances for 5 years is pretty concerning. Right? Right. A junior-year intern could work out the software change. (And any platform worth something is going to make a transition from Quick Books as easy as possible.) This is all so unnecessary and so sad. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 1 hour ago, mjoakes said: Right. A junior-year intern could work out the software change. (And any platform worth something is going to make a transition from Quick Books as easy as possible.) This is all so unnecessary and so sad. Agreed. Worse comes to worse if the software is non-compatible then keep old records on QB and new records on new software. BUT…. crappy job of transitioning if (repeat if) the new SW was non-compatible with QB. Someone didn’t do their freaking job checking it out. Sounds like the real excuse is “we don’t know how to use the new software “. 🤔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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