I write this in retrospection of the first general meeting of the season. I thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with folks I have not seen since summer’s hiatus. I usually have a conflict on Tuesday nights causing me to arrive just as David is about to begin. However, on Tuesday night, I arrived in time for the social hour and was surprised to discover that it made a difference. I left the meeting, not only inspired by Art Smith’s presentation, but with remnants of conversations replaying in my head and laughter and camaraderie nourishing my heart.
One of the requirements of my position as treasurer is to give a financial summary of the current standing and present the proposed budget for the year to a general vote at the September meeting. Not my favorite meeting as I am uncomfortable speaking publicly. Despite what I can only imagine to be obvious discomfort, it was approved unanimously. That’s because the numbers speak for themselves.
For those who could not attend here are the cliff notes:
-AAG is debt free. We paid off the final installments of the Magadini and Artstravaganza loans. For a community of roughly 300+ members, owning a building without a mortgage is something we all should be very proud of.
–We have $131,000 in an investment fund managed by L Roy Papp and Associates. This money is from the endowments from Erin O’Dell and Ruth Magadini.
–We tend to maintain a monthly balance of $20,000+ in our operating fund.
The Most Notable Trends I have noticed this past year:
We tend to spend as much as we bring in, which is about $45,000 annually. The building and its related expenses cost approximately half our budget. Our membership dues, income from building rental and art exchange essentially cover the building/operational expenses. Each program/committee tends to pay for itself, that is, the income from each program covers its expenses.
So we are in a positive position in that we are not overspending. And, no program is a burden to the guild. However, there is a downside and that is we don’t have extra to establish new programs, events, or implement plans to grow the guild. This is a vital piece and it is our weak link. One easy way to resolve this is to get a friend to join. If every member gets a friend to join, we would double in size, add dramatically to our bottom line and really have impact on the Arizona Art Scene.
The Scholarship Program and Fund:
I am deeply proud of our scholarship program. During this past year I have had the honor to work closely with the scholarship committee and some of the recipients. Having that connection has deepened my understanding of the program and its impact. I recently learned that the program was begun in the 1970’s and has given in excess of $115,000 through 2013
This year’s goal is to donate $8000. So far, we have $6600 so we only need to raise $1400 more to reach our goal …and we have to do that by November. We are so close – can you help?
There are several ways you can contribute:
-You can give a donation by check or cash. Through PayPal, you can pay by credit card on line through our
website. Donations of $1000 or more creates a scholarship in your name, unless you elect to be anonymous.
-You can participate in the Basket of Goodies Raffle
-You can participate in the monthly meeting raffle
-You can solicit corporate sponsors
-You can call me to discuss other ideas you may have
Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to donate, with questions or comments.
Treasurer@ArizonaArtistsGuild.net or 928-300-7185.
~Tess Mosko Scherer