considering re joining

[dilligaf29]

Really? ask for my donation to research to have full access but give the organization a break?!?! Volunteers or not the site has a responsibility to show how they spend the DONATED MONEY. This post has been up for 31 days with out an answer, the people voted to run the site may have lives but that's an awful long time to go unanswered

have u sent out any pms or just complained on here ? like i said people have lives . btw y so angry

 

[aresangel]

Hi @bill120mph

I did reply to you and answer your questions to the best of my ability. Unfortunately there is only a little continuity between the board from one year to another. I can tell you again for certainty, the money goes to running the clubs events, getting tools for the club members to use such as the par meters, possibly a gryffon saw. We provide water tests at meetings for the members, we pay for the halls, we sponsor the December meeting with catered food, we pay for guest speakers in the fields of oceanography, reef husbandry and college professors, and run a frag show for hobbiest.

Now I cannot say what research we donate to or what other charities because I literally just got elected a month ago, but I don’t know if we even do to be honest or if we call all the testing and equipment the club provides as research for the hobbist.

Anthony has been away since the holidays and been working. I offer my answers again , as a board member, again, in hopes you find them acceptable.

I am sorry we do not have published treasurers reports and I am not sure if that is the club policy.




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[bill120mph]

Hi @bill120mph

I did reply to you and answer your questions to the best of my ability. Unfortunately there is only a little continuity between the board from one year to another. I can tell you again for certainty, the money goes to running the clubs events, getting tools for the club members to use such as the par meters, possibly a gryffon saw. We provide water tests at meetings for the members, we pay for the halls, we sponsor the December meeting with catered food, we pay for guest speakers in the fields of oceanography, reef husbandry and college professors, and run a frag show for hobbiest.

Now I cannot say what research we donate to or what other charities because I literally just got elected a month ago, but I don’t know if we even do to be honest or if we call all the testing and equipment the club provides as research for the hobbist.

Anthony has been away since the holidays and been working. I offer my answers again , as a board member, again, in hopes you find them acceptable.

I am sorry we do not have published treasurers reports and I am not sure if that is the club policy.




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@aresangel I did see you reply, I did not know you are a Board member(that should be listed on you profile along with your position?) well I do recognize that the club does spend money on meetings and speakers and does have tools and equipment available to its paid members, I as a person who does not participate in meetings and such would like to know where the other money goes.

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

holy cow, don't donate. If it comes down to it and the club desperately needs another $20 to keep running I will gladly double my donation. I am sure most of the current members would be happy to do the same.

 

[aresangel]

@bill120mph. I understand. I am not sure how the badges work. I know I got the “officer” badge when I became a board member. Other than that I have not updated my signature because I mostly use tapatalk for the boards and I don’t see them anyway [emoji3]

To be honest, and I am a member of other 503 clubs (Essex county rabbit breeders association), membership dues don’t go else where often unless membership requests donations to specific causes. Same way with eagles and other organizations.

The perks of the rabbit club is I get to sell rabbits at topsfield fair. Only reason I am a member there. Those meetings are terrible (especially compared to our awesome meeting where stuff gets done!)

I personally joined this club because I appreciate the advice I got from the people on the boards and wanted to show appreciation (plus get in those free grow out contests). Plus now we have a frag show members get in for free.

Now when I get some stuff that I Frag or my anemones split I can toss them up on the forums and get some money back.

Your preference to join or not comes down to you. Anthony may say something that contradicts me with the donations. I believe I will see him Sunday so I will get his butt back on the forums if that is the case!

Btw you should try to make the meetings, they are fun socializing and trading and learning in person.

Tim


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[bill120mph]

have u sent out any pms or just complained on here ? like i said people have lives . btw y so angry

@

have u sent out any pms or just complained on here ? like i said people have lives . btw y so angry

No I did not, I tagged the treasurer which was the advice I was given, I posted in the membership forum and not reef talk, I waited 31 days , and tagged the treasurer multiple times and looked at his last log in dates each time and did not get an answer even tho he was notified by the tags.
Sorry if this next statement seams rude but I am only looking for specific information from those who have the power to give it and I don't care to have a discussion about it with others.

 

[bill120mph]

@bill120mph. I understand. I am not sure how the badges work. I know I got the “officer” badge when I became a board member. Other than that I have not updated my signature because I mostly use tapatalk for the boards and I don’t see them anyway [emoji3]

To be honest, and I am a member of other 503 clubs (Essex county rabbit breeders association), membership dues don’t go else where often unless membership requests donations to specific causes. Same way with eagles and other organizations.

The perks of the rabbit club is I get to sell rabbits at topsfield fair. Only reason I am a member there. Those meetings are terrible (especially compared to our awesome meeting where stuff gets done!)

I personally joined this club because I appreciate the advice I got from the people on the boards and wanted to show appreciation (plus get in those free grow out contests). Plus now we have a frag show members get in for free.

Now when I get some stuff that I Frag or my anemones split I can toss them up on the forums and get some money back.

Your preference to join or not comes down to you. Anthony may say something that contradicts me with the donations. I believe I will see him Sunday so I will get his butt back on the forums if that is the case!

Btw you should try to make the meetings, they are fun socializing and trading and learning in person.

Tim


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I appreciate your trying to answer, and I to joined and paid for my membership because of what I was learning here and I still check in to see whats going on. but the root of my question may be out of your position and I do really appreciate you trying.

 

[bill120mph]

holy cow, don't donate. If it comes down to it and the club desperately needs another $20 to keep running I will gladly double my donation. I am sure most of the current members would be happy to do the same.

AND

THANKS FOR THE INFORMITIVE REPLY

 

[bill120mph]

I guess a lot of people don't understand the reason for my question.

Lets say that BOSTON REEFERS website said,
" Together We Have Raised$$$$$ to benefit???????" ... I could list more... but it doesn't

 

[aresangel]

I can tell you that of the purpose, being linked to Boston Reefers has hit all of those items you are asking about.

I know you are talking about bullet number 4 in our purpose. As a club we don’t necessarily need to directly donate to have that effect.

I am a teacher and have run reef tanks at two schools. Through the donations of members and non members I have received fish, corals, and support from this community. I in turn have then educated my 7th-12th graders about the oceans, corals, and oceanography because of this hobby and club.

I don’t think the club NEEDS to donate to certain research or funds to support these efforts. Just bring there and bring a source of information and guidance and a place to discuss ocean policy is a way we support those causes as a club. Discussion leads to change and support as well.

I think you may be taking that portion of the by-laws too literally. Since I have seen first hand how this community and this forum specifically has helped with the education of my students I can say the club does all the things in its purpose.

With that I am heading to bed so any replies will be in the morning. I hope that may have given you more insight on the purpose of the club.

Best-

Tim


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[jasonrusso]

Isn't the registration $20? Does it really warrant this much discussion?

 

[afboundguy]

Speaking as a past board member and past president all the money goes back into the club and honestly the board members tend to loose money from their own pockets to help out the club. The club has to pay for the meeting venues which are usually a few hundred dollars. If the club brings in a speaker they have to pay for the flight, hotel room, food and a honarium (usually a few hundred dollars) which adds up to several hundred dollars even up to thousands depending on the speaker. I know the club's finances aren't as padded as back when I was more heavily involved in the BOD. We used to bring in 6-8 speakers a year which that alone is several thousands of dollars.

The club also has the cost of this forum which is quite costly. The club has to pay for software and hosting of the forum which adds up. The club also has to pay for many unknown behind the scene costs such as taxes and a few other expenses that I'm sure I've forgotten about.

Most of the club's finances don't really come from the membership IIRC. The club makes most of it's money from the auction in April. There used to be 10+ sponsors when I was on the BOD so that also was a good source of income.

 

[Abrooks12376]

Edit

 

[CrypticLifeStyle]

He is, was aggressive about the question. However it is legitimate, and a legal one.
The attitude towards these things needs to stop.

May find some information in a form 990 request OP, which you would request from the IRS personally.

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Maybe if he actually sent a pm to the person that can answer those questions instead of making demands in a public post like a teenager that isn' getting their way, he might get the answers he is looking for.

No one is asking you for a donation Bill, so if you don't want to make one, don't. If all you want to do is start crap, get lost.

 

[aresangel]

I did tell him to tag Anthony. He just listened to my suggestion. I don’t think name calling and complaining about his response is benificial to the conversation. The purpose of this forums are to create a club of opinion sharing and reef keeping practices.

Ultimately his opinions and questions are indeed sound concerns. We as a club should be transparent in the way money is spent and earned and members have the right to know. Additionally requests by non-members interested in rejoining should be answered to our fullest abilities.

Again with BOD turn over the last two years we only have one person who is able to fully answer the question right now and unfortunately he is not in the conversation. We should table the discussion outside of the original requests until @jamesdong009 can settle the discussion. Any prior bod members are welcome to fill in any gaps myself of afboundguy has put in.

Let’s keep the discussion respectful and productive.

Tim


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[jasonrusso]

I guess a lot of people don't understand the reason for my question.

Lets say that BOSTON REEFERS website said,
" Together We Have Raised$$$$$ to benefit???????" ... I could list more... but it doesn't

Be honest with yourself, that is not why you are asking. The $20 seems very important to you so maybe you should just keep it in your change purse.

 

[Bendint]

The money goes to help keep the site going sadly major websites aren't free and help pay for meetings where we rent a venue and have discussions and a speaker which gets the group face to face... other expenses are also paid for by the auction profits as well aresangel is more educated than i on the matter but I will post more info once I get it .. I hope this helps and I hope you become a full time member once again soon
Also I'm curious how would you like us to prove where the money goes? Post all the receipts or just a printout

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[mbian112283]

This thread just confirmed that I will rejoin tomorrow. The information gained is well worth the 20 not including the deals I have gotten with purchases on the forum and chances to recoup money on used equipment I want to sell. Even though I will probably never make a meeting due to location and my own schedule it is nice to know it is available. Also I have never thought of it as a donation as I receive something for my money.

Awesome place, people and info

 

[bill120mph]

Speaking as a past board member and past president all the money goes back into the club and honestly the board members tend to loose money from their own pockets to help out the club. The club has to pay for the meeting venues which are usually a few hundred dollars. If the club brings in a speaker they have to pay for the flight, hotel room, food and a honarium (usually a few hundred dollars) which adds up to several hundred dollars even up to thousands depending on the speaker. I know the club's finances aren't as padded as back when I was more heavily involved in the BOD. We used to bring in 6-8 speakers a year which that alone is several thousands of dollars.

The club also has the cost of this forum which is quite costly. The club has to pay for software and hosting of the forum which adds up. The club also has to pay for many unknown behind the scene costs such as taxes and a few other expenses that I'm sure I've forgotten about.

Most of the club's finances don't really come from the membership IIRC. The club makes most of it's money from the auction in April. There used to be 10+ sponsors when I was on the BOD so that also was a good source of income.

This is good information, but concerns me that the Board has to spend their own money and yet finacials are not available.