Non-Profits and Budget Disclosure

[MyLittleWonders]

Curious question ... are NPOs required to disclose their operating budget/annual budget? We are curious because our baseball league does not disclose their budget but they are continuing to ask a lot, monetarily, from the parents/families. We are wanting to suggest that they release their budget to the families of the players, thinking it would help everyone to see where the money goes every season. But, we thought we should first know if they are required in case they say "no."

[Dayle in Guatemala]

It's my understanding that they are not "required" to release it, but, it helps with the accountability and it's good integrity to do so. That's my understanding, but, it might be wrong!:001_smile:

 

Are there other parents who feel the same way? If so, get together and go to the head of the league and request the information. If there are a lot of parents wanting it, they are more likely to release it.

[Starr]

I think non-profit laws are by the state but I could be wrong.

[Brilliant]

If they are an IRS-recognized 501© organization, they must provide you with their financial report if you ask.

 

Even if they are not...I would ask before contributing anything other than required fees/dues. If they are on the up & up - why would they object?

[MyLittleWonders]

Thank you all. I think we plan on bringing it up, but weren't sure legally what was required. I agree that they should (and it seriously would help everyone feel better about the fees). We only pay what is required - it just is that everything is required, if that makes sense. And maybe it's normal things that all leagues require, but between sign-up fees, the beginning of the season "fund raiser" and the mid-season "fund raiser," it starts getting a bit much. But, if we knew where the money went (obviously it's not going to pay anyone) and why, it'd probably make most everyone feel better about paying it, and maybe even help people go above & beyond in terms of getting sponsors.

[fhjmom]

Are your board of directors meetings open to the general membership? They should provide a treasurer's report then, or if you can attend the meeting that has the yearly budget discussion/approval on the agenda you could probably learn a lot about where the money is actually going by listening in on that conversation. I know sometimes line items on budgets or categories are not real clear when you are just looking at the paper, but when you see the process that the board went through to get to that number and what all is included, it makes more sense.

 

I do not know the law either (and I probably should since I sit on the board of a NPO) but I totally agree that they *should* provide that information to members who ask.

[MyLittleWonders]

That's a good idea; I'll have to ask if non-board members are allowed to sit in on the meetings (I think we are, but I could be remembering wrong). Thank you for the suggestion.

[Tap]

I would and I would also ask if there are scholarship kids (not by name, but how many) on the team or kids who do not pay due to parent volunteer hours.

 

 

 

We found out on a NPO swim team we used to be on that there were several families who were not paying dues as a deal with the coach. The problem was it was a trade for volunteer hours, that we were ALL responsible for and expected to buy out of if we couldn't perform them. It was more of a sly 'friendship benefit' than anything, if that makes sense. This was to the tune of thousands in fees per year! That stopped as soon as we figured it out. It was finally caught by totalling the amount of swimmers with the fees collected. Once the discrepancy was found, it was just a matter of the bookkeeper (she obviously knew too-and coincidentally didn't pay fees either) creating a public roster (for the meeting only) of who was paying fees.

 

Having the accounting presented, and reviewed by team members is important to keep people honest.

[MyLittleWonders]

Oh wow! I have heard of how expensive swimming can be (dh was a swimmer); I cannot imagine people not paying fees and everyone else having to pick up the slack, so to speak. I never thought of scholarship kids. I do know that our league has "members not in good standing" for families that don't pay fees, but I don't know about families that don't "have" to pay fees or kids that are there on a scholarship type deal. Our league is pretty new (this was the second spring) - though about half of the families (well, maybe slightly less than that) were part of the previous league (there was a huge drama, coup-like thing that happened just before we joined), so I'm not sure how much of all the present drama is a carry over from trying to get things in order. But, going into our second fall and subsequent third spring, I'm hoping things start to smooth out for all involved.

 

Dh confirmed that board meetings are open, so I think we'll find out the schedule and see that one of us can attend the next one (or the next few). The "changing of the guard" takes place the end of August when the new board members take their positions. Maybe we can start getting some information - I think that is all any of us really want - I don't mind paying the fees and the fund raisers if I know where it's going (for instance, what is the maintenance for the fields, two of which have full grass infields, how much is spent to stock the snack bar versus what the snack bar makes in sales, etc.). I appreciate all the information from this thread. This has been our first real foray into organized kids sports and it's been a bit eye-opening. The boys love it, and we love being a part of it, but we also desire to be better informed than we have been over the last year.