Tip Jar? Not really...

[joehoble]

MDPHarley (Mike),

At the meeting yesterday you mentioned how the club was growing and as such it is getting expensive for the host to provide all the refreshments. I think the idea you suggested is an excellent idea for the host to have a jar to help re-coop some of the costs involved. 1 or 2 dollars is very do-able. Maybe you can post a poll on this idea as well as making a mention of it when the reminder email's go out for the next meeting. By the way, the time has not yet been changed for the next meeting on the NFMAS site. Just thought you should know.

 

[GoldStripe]

I definitely agree there should be something set up. As the club gets larger we may have to elect a treasurer. What do other large clubs around do?

 

[PelagicMagic]

The problem is that if we do become a large club with club officers we will have to do things very differently. For one we might be required to file corporate reports with the govt if we begin to collect money, even if we are not for profit. We will need to keep in house records of everything in case a member is unhappy with a decision and decides to challenge our club/officers. We might even need a more formal and regular meeting area to conduct club business and record the minutes of the meeting and give a written notice of meeting time and location.
I think we should keep the club as is. Mike does a great job and If we were to become formal his job will be 2x as hard. I think we should have a sign up sheet here on RC for what to bring such as sodas, chips, Ice, a cooler and perhaps a few members can chip in 5-10 each to buy a few pizzas this way money is never involved directly with the club

 

[Discdogge]

I personally have no issue either bringing items to a meeting or contributing to the host.
I agree with Pelagic

 

[mpdharley]

My personal hope is that we can stay as a non-dues/non cash holding club. However, as we grow, that may not be possible. It will all depend on the members. For now, I'm hoping that we can get everyone to contribute for food/drinks for the meetings.

Whether that contribution is food or a couple of dollars is yet to be determined. We should; however, have a consistent approach to all meetings so we don't have to worry about it.

I would not like to see us having to figure out whether or not people are bringing food or if the host needs to buy food/drink (and will be reimbursed via a "tip jar") two days before the meeting.

Perhaps we could "elect" a few people to be the food/drink committee!

 

[Lageo04]

Thinking the same thing there Steve, I wouldn't mind one bit bringing something for the meetings or contributing some cash.
Just need a list of things a few days before the meeting and everyone can take their pick of what they can bring.
The large club thing does bring on issues. Been there and done it.
Try and keep everyone happy when there's dues involved. Right now who could ask for more, seems as though everyone's happy with the club, at least I am.
If the club keeps growing then that will be something in the future to deal with. Mike's doing a great job, just hope he don't fall off his bucket podium. :thumbsup:

 

[mpdharley]

I probably should get a more stable podium and just bring it with me! :rollface:

 

[joseph]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7004487#post7004487 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PelagicMagic
Mike does a great job and If we were to become formal his job will be 2x as hard.

Yep! Mike does an awesome job and we don't need to increase his workload any. I am personally against formal dues or any sort of "bookkeeping" for the organization.

The way I see it is there are basically 2 options.

1. Like Steve said, we can keep some sort of a sign up sheet where one person volunteers to bring drinks and another volunteers to contribute the food. This way we could get volunteers lined up in advance.

- or -

2. Create some sort of a donation jar where people, at their own discretion, can contribute a buck or two for food and drinks for the next meeting, keeping the maximum contribution at say $2. Then whoever is in charge of this could take the necessary amount from the jar and bring the food/drink to the next meeting.

There are pros and cons to each method and I'm not sure which would be the best way. Regardless, it should not be the host's responsibilty to incur the additional expense of providing food and drinks for 20-40 people. Either way we need consistent approach so that we are not having to make preparations at the last minute.

What do you think?

 

[joehoble]

I think we can keep it simple with a tip jar. A couple of bucks per person will go a long way. And it is much simpler than member bringing food items.

 

[nikonosis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7004487#post7004487 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PelagicMagic
The problem is that if we do become a large club with club officers we will have to do things very differently. For one we might be required to file corporate reports with the govt if we begin to collect money, even if we are not for profit. We will need to keep in house records of everything in case a member is unhappy with a decision and decides to challenge our club/officers. We might even need a more formal and regular meeting area to conduct club business and record the minutes of the meeting and give a written notice of meeting time and location.
I think we should keep the club as is. Mike does a great job and If we were to become formal his job will be 2x as hard. I think we should have a sign up sheet here on RC for what to bring such as sodas, chips, Ice, a cooler and perhaps a few members can chip in 5-10 each to buy a few pizzas this way money is never involved directly with the club

Your idea sounds the best to me.

 

[PelagicMagic]

Part of my job is conducting meeting with home owner associations, property owners associations and common development districts. The people I work with in these associations are great but in a group where money is involved they turn into blood thirsty sharks. I have seen people squabble over 20 bucks spent here and there. People start to get blamed and their leadership abilities questioned. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to see this happen to our club. All it takes is one time for the tip jar to go light or we donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have enough sodas or food for a meeting and someone gets the blame finger pointed at them and 9 out of 10 times itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s the president who gets pointed at. We also donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to become a formal club because we canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t predict the future standing of our club numbers. We are thriving now but what will happen if we get all organized and all of a sudden our member turn out at meetings drops by 50%? We should post a thread in our forum where members can see a list of what needs to be brought and members can simply post ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œ I will bring thatââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ or have a sign up sheet on our NFMAS site where we can enter our name for the item (Joseph is that even possible to do?) WE should test this for not the April meeting because I wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be able to attend but for the May meeting. I know Publix always has a sale on sodas, something like 3 12 packs for 7 bucks or we can even get the no name brand sodas. There are Ice machines all over town where you can fill a cooler for a few bucks rather than buying bags of ice at the supermarket.

 

[nikonosis]

That sounds good to me.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7010500#post7010500 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PelagicMagic
Part of my job is conducting meeting with home owner associations, property owners associations and common development districts. The people I work with in these associations are great but in a group where money is involved they turn into blood thirsty sharks. I have seen people squabble over 20 bucks spent here and there. People start to get blamed and their leadership abilities questioned. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to see this happen to our club. All it takes is one time for the tip jar to go light or we donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have enough sodas or food for a meeting and someone gets the blame finger pointed at them and 9 out of 10 times itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s the president who gets pointed at. We also donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to become a formal club because we canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t predict the future standing of our club numbers. We are thriving now but what will happen if we get all organized and all of a sudden our member turn out at meetings drops by 50%? We should post a thread in our forum where members can see a list of what needs to be brought and members can simply post ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œ I will bring thatââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ or have a sign up sheet on our NFMAS site where we can enter our name for the item (Joseph is that even possible to do?) WE should test this for not the April meeting because I wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be able to attend but for the May meeting. I know Publix always has a sale on sodas, something like 3 12 packs for 7 bucks or we can even get the no name brand sodas. There are Ice machines all over town where you can fill a cooler for a few bucks rather than buying bags of ice at the supermarket.

 

[joseph]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7010500#post7010500 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PelagicMagic
We should post a thread in our forum where members can see a list of what needs to be brought and members can simply post ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œ I will bring thatââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ or have a sign up sheet on our NFMAS site where we can enter our name for the item (Joseph is that even possible to do?)

Yes this can be done pretty easily.

 

[ScubaTC]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7006367#post7006367 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mpdharley
I probably should get a more stable podium and just bring it with me! :rollface:

2 buckets

 

[ScubaTC]

I agree with Pelagic, but think we should still use a "tip jar" to help cover the expense. Some ppl may not be able to volunteer because they know they will be late to most meetings or running it close trying to get there in time.... so it would be best for them to not bring food, etc. In this event, the tip jar will allow them to still feel they are able to contribute.