The annual Board of Directors meeting of the Fretted Instrument Guild of America( DBA ALL FRETS) took place on Friday, July 13, 2018 at the Millennium Hotel in Buffalo, New York in conjunction with the ALL FRETS convention being held at that location and time. The meeting was called to order at 8:00AM by president, Dr. Jeffery Grosser who confirmed a quorum by calling the role. In attendance were Grosser, vice-president, Cindee Burkitt, secretary / treasurer, Johnny Baier and board of directors members Linda Lehmann, Larry Rutan, Margie Baumann, Paul Stirling, Rob Wright, Madeline Lombardi, Tyler Jackson and Glenn Parks. Also in attendance were guests Stephen DiBonaventura( attorney) and Keith Konopa( 2018 convention chairman).
As minutes of previous year’ s meeting had been published in ALL FRETS magazine and distributed prior to the meeting, Grosser requested a motion to dispense with the reading of said minutes. With no corrections or discussion, the minutes of the 2017 ALL FRETS Board of Directors meeting were approved as presented.
Grosser then turned the floor over to Johnny Baier to present a financial report. Baier began his report by stating that“ 2017 was an oasis and banner financial year for ALL FRETS.” He noted the cause for this was the financial“ windfall” generated by the Diamond Jubilee fundraising appeal that was spearheaded by Karla Temple, Cindee Burkitt, Ron McLawhon and Jeff Grosser. Baier reported that contributions from members – including a $ 10,000.00 gift from an anonymous contributor – had netted the organization $ 27,373.00. Additionally, the proceeds of a bequest from the estate of Harry Stalhammer in the amount of $ 5,000.00 was also realized during 2017. While these funds were not received in time to prevent the need to draw $ 8,000.00 from the cash reserves to timely cover operational expenses, they do represent a significant financial supplement which, Baier projected, would prevent the need for a similar draw from cash reserves in 2018( and possibly into 2019). For review purposes, Baier noted that operational costs for the organization currently exceed income by about $ 10,000.00 annually and that draws from the cash reserves had become routine rather than occasional.
Baier went on to state that current membership has stabilized at approximately 550 members, noting that just less than half of that number opt to receive ALL FRETS magazine in digital form. He stated that while fewer magazines are now printed, the cost per magazine becomes higher. This fact, coupled with the added expense and effort of producing different file formats for the digital magazine as well as additional costs associated with digital magazine publication and distribution, have resulted in an increase in the costs associated with the magazine in recent years. Baier stated that the only way to reduce direct magazine costs would be to only offer the magazine in a digital format( which our current membership has voted against). Based on a question, Baier stated that membership numbers need to be 750 to be close to a break even point.
With all income and expense items considered, in fiscal year 2017 there was an operational gain for the period of $ 30,696.00. Baier was quick to point out that removing proceeds from the appeal, the Stalhammer gift and a draw from the cash reserves, resulted in an actual operational loss for the period of $ 10,197.00 which was consistent with projections made at the previous year’ s meeting.
Moving on to projections for fiscal year 2018, Baier reviewed the various income streams which support operations( donations, convention proceeds, door prize income, magazine income, and membership dues). Baier reminded all that membership dues does not cover the costs of operations and the organization is dependent upon other sources of revenue to minimize losses. Using realized figures from 2017 as a template and adjusting as anticipated, Baier projected income and expenses to balance out at $ 55,835.00. He noted the identical number as residual funds from the previous year’ s appeal would be utilized to close the gap between actual income and expenses. If the subsidy represented by the appeal funds were not in place, Baier would have projected an operational loss of $ 12,835.00 for the period.
Baier commented that the organization’ s current annual expenses( approximately $ 55,000.00) are very close to the level they were when he assumed the treasurer’ s position in 1995. Expenses peaked in the early 2000s at the $ 62,000.00 + level and have been reduced wherever possible in recent years. To complete his report, Baier presented a balance sheet outlining the various assets which make up the net worth of the organization. He noted that the operational checkbook is under his control while accounts earmarked to support operations( the cash reserves) and educational grants( the ALL FRETS Foundation account) are controlled by financial officer, Rob Wright and held by Merrill Lynch in Michigan( as established by previous financial officer, Bill Jackson). With all
28 ALL FRETS JULY / AUGUST 2018