Task Force Working on Simplification

I guess I don't fully understand. I alsway understood that International dues were a set amount for an active member, and that there were only active, senior ( who paid the same dues as active) and honorary members ( who paid no dues)  Are you saying that dues for each district and division are also paid into the International Office, I thought they went directly to each level of the organization.

Please clarify

Rob,

As District Governor I often find myself being asked complex questions that require my searching the Kiwanis Web Site, reading through our International Bylaws or even making a telephone call to International to find answers.  I am glad to see in a recent blog on the Kiwanis One Website where you addressed how burdensome and hard to understand some of our rules have become that you used dues as an example since many of the inquiries I get  relate directly to dues and our current collection standards which can be a bit tricky to understand.

One club in our district for instance holds a major recruitment campaign during the spring and fall of each year.  They have expressed to me their concern that members they recruit at their spring recruitment fling near the end of the Kiwanis year have to pay the same $56.50 first years dues as new members they recruit in the fall at the beginning of the Kiwanis year and then these same members have to turn around a few months later and pay another full years dues.  

Another issue that has been shared with me was by a club treasurer at how dismayed he was at how hard it was to collect dues from certain members on a timely basis and how his club in the past had actually carried members who later dropped only to leave the club holding the bag.  He wanted to know if a club could go back and file a corrected membership form for previous years and be reimbursed accordingly.  I couldn't answer his question and told him that I couldn't find any such form on line at the website or any other information on the subject and referred him directly to Kiwanis International.

Personally I find dues to be somewhat of a quagmire.  With individual clubs adding things like annual foundation gifts to their dues as well as things like meals and other administrative expenses it is almost impossible to give a prospective member an accurate estimate of what it costs to belong to any one club without first making a call to that club and asking for a breakdown.  And even when the time is taken to make a call is many club treasures struggle with explaining exactly how their club dues are structured.  Many of these clubs have not kept adequate minutes of board meetings and they have passed the torch to many generations of officers since their due structure were set.

This concerns me as there is the possibility that though these clubs may have originally voted to set their dues at a particular amount specifically for particular purposes, inadvertently through lack of understanding and continuity these funds could now theoretically be being focused on alternative purposes.  And then what of the risk of clubs who collect membership dues throughout the year only to find that when these dues are payable that due to cash flow issues and failed fund raisers that these funds may not available to be paid on a timely basis.

My suggestion is that an amendment to the bylaws should be proposed at International Convention that would allow Kiwanis International and our International Council to set the dues structure consistent throughout the organization.  Furthermore these dues should be collected directly by International for processing either in advance or on a monthly basis through electronic funds transfers.  Many corporations successfully use this method for collecting payables including many mortgage and insurance companies without issue and find that it allows for more consistent method for maximizing cash flow.

In addition it could be a great recruitment tool if we were in a position to tell prospective members for instance that dues are $7 per month payable via electronic funds transfer but can be paid in advance if they would prefer.  This would be a lot less work for our club treasurers and would eliminate a lot of the confusion concerning dues.  In addition it would give International a much more consistent cash flow and an accurate monthly count of actual membership numbers.

Let me know what you think.

As Secretary of a Kiwanis Club, I believe that it is inappropriate for KI to assume that their records are correct if clubs do not return the form by mail by the 1st October when they are handling the dues payment. As you are aware the mail is very uncertain, and there is a large backlog at KI. I believe that the date should revert to the post-mark date and not the " receive at KI date"  I further think it is inconsiderate to present an invoice on your records and insist that there can be no change. When you consider that KI is often behind in its records and there are many incorrect entries therein. I would like to suggest that a database is established and allow the Secretary of each club in the World access to their club's data, permit them to update their members and all the other information relative to thier club and allow them to create the invoice on-line and pay on-line. I believe that KI would then only be required to check and monitor the payments records of the clubs. For those Clubs that cannon pay on-line then they will have to resort to the mail .

How do our dues and organizational structure compare to other service clubs that our members could belong to  --- Rotary, Lions, etc ?  Have we become too top heavy in organizational management -- as an Individual average member I join a local club for its fellowship and hopefully its service within my community

 For the average Kiwanis member what is the need for a division, district structure --- how do they help me be a better Kiwanis member? What do they provide other than another layer of expense that only a few have the time or finances to participate in?  

Just a couple of thoughts on a dreary morning.

As a Kiwanian, past lt. governor and past governor I have recently been apprised of efforts that would expand the terms of International officers to two years. As a result efforts are presently underway in the Texas-Oklahoma District to be a test case for this at a district level. Having recently attended the district midwinter conference it was observed that many members are adamently opposed to the idea. Even though the board approved submitting a by-law change to the delegates of the 2008 district convention they were operating on incomplete feed back from the members. At least two division are unalterable opposed for various reasons--the most resounding one "we have enough problems finding Lt. Governors now and it would only compound the problem." In addition, the feelings were expressed that presently there are no prohibitions against multiple terms  so why the change? Further, it would create a barrrier  for those who might wish to be governor but can't devote the 6 years (governor elect, governor and past governor) necessary to serve. Question to anyone who cares to answer---"If it is broke, show me--if not, why try to fix it?

I am a Canadian.  Canadians have officially been part of Kiwanis since 1916.  Yet, it is often very difficult and frustrating to order supplies from Kiwanis International.

In my own club (Kiwanis Club of Ridgetown, Ontario) our secretary ordered various supplies from KI.  Some items were not in stock and had to be back-ordered (although these actually arrived first).  We ended up getting three separate deliveries.  Each had separate charges for freight, duty and taxes.  One delivery was sent Freight COD.  And we received separate invoices from KI for the merchandise, the freight charges (on the non-COD deliveries) and the duty and taxes.  This process not only adds significantly to the cost but also to the hassle factor,

Many commercial enterprises in the USA maintain Canadian shipping sites.  One sends their order (by mail, e-mail, website, telephone or fax) to this Canadian site and it is sent out from Canada - no hassles.  Of course, there is a shipping and handling charge but it is significantly less that the current costs (frequently as much as 40% from what I have heard).

I know that many Canadian clubs simply refuse to order anything from KI, getting essentials at International conventions and ordering anything else locally.

Would it be possible for Kiwanis to do this for Canada and perhaps for some other countries with a significant number of Kiwanis clubs?  Has anyone ever looked into it?

Randy,

Kiwanis International shares your concerns.  It's frustrating for us that it costs so much for our members outside the United States to order merchandise from us.  The freight charges coupled with your governments duties and taxes can make the shipping bill larger than the cost of the merchandise.

Your idea about maintaining a Canadian shipping site is a great one, and we've actually looked into this.  Unfortunately, our organization does not do enough volume in your country to make it worth their while.

We are continuing to work towards finding a solution for this problem as we never want to make it difficult to be a Kiwanian.

Thanks for your sharing suggestions and concerns, they are greatly appreciated.

Jeff, COO, Kiwanis

Thanks for your response.  Until then, we will continue to source as much as possible locally and pick up as much of the rest as possible when we attend the International Convention.

A relatively simple streamlining item would be to consolidate the billing for Honorary members with our annual KI/District dues payment.  We have 8 or 10 Honorary members and get the invoice for $8 (magazine) sprinkled through out the year--which means authorization to pay $8 from the board, writing a check, 41 cents postage (going up), secretary's time, etc.  It would be much simpler if all Honorary members were billed annually with the club's roster/invoice.

To: Jan Burch:

I had made much the same comment only with a lot more detail and I am including it along with the reply I received for your information.

The Kiwanis Club of Ridgetown traditionally makes use of the honorary membership for a number of reasons.  These are:

To honor non-Kiwanians who have made significant contributions to our club.  For example, we have so honored the lawyer who set up our charitable foundation and gives us legal advice from time to time – all free.

To maintain a connection with long-time members who for reasons of age and health can no longer attend meetings or otherwise participate in Kiwanis activities.

To maintain communication with local elected officials – our mayor, local councilors, members of federal and provincial parliament.

We believe that these are all valid uses of the honorary membership category and it is appreciated.  Honorary membership in our club is noted in bios and on websites and appreciation has been communicated both verbally and in writing.

Under Kiwanis International bylaws, honorary memberships must be renewed every year and our club does this each October and all honorary membership requests are sent in together.  

THE PROBLEM:

We are receiving requests to renew honorary memberships in batches from Kiwanis International.  We might receive some in May, some in June and some in July.  It seems like KI processes these requests whenever they had time.  Consistency is lacking.

THE PROPOSED SOLUTION:

We believe that honorary memberships are a product of the board that requested them and should run from October 1 to September 30.  We would propose that honorary memberships ALL be set up for the current (October 1 through September 30) Kiwanis year, regardless of when received and/or processed by KI, and that the flat fee of $x.xx be charged for the FULL OR PART of said current Kiwanis year during which it is received and processed.  Statements warning of expiration of honorary members should and could be sent then ONCE only, in a mailing with the annual club roster sent in September to each Club Secretary.  There shouldn't be multiple expiry dates and/or notices mailed out.  This is costly for KI and entirely unnecessary.

We do realize the logistical problem that might produce for Kiwanis International.  An alternative solution might be to have all honorary memberships run from January 1 to December 31.  This would give KI time to process these requests, while also maintaining consistency.

Also, would it be possible to move KI into the 20th century, if not the 21st and put new member add forms on line?  This would make things much easier for our club secretaries and I’m sure it would also make it easier for KI.  An option could be given to make payments on-line by credit card or to have these billed.

The reply that I received:

I’ve met with our fulfillment staff and the reason we do it this way is because we receive honorary member submissions from clubs every month of the year.  Therefore, to do it all at one time of the year would short change clubs that have paid for a full year, say, March to March.  Since many clubs don’t know if they want to keep some honorary members in the fall, this may be a problem.  Additionally, to accommodate clubs that submit honorary members in the middle of the year we would have to build a pro rata billing systems to partly charge them and carry them to the notification point in the fall.  A club could submit an honorary member in August pay a partial amount and then get a re-up notice two months later.

As for your suggestion on on-line new member adds and on-line payments, we completely agree with you and will be building it into the design of the new system we are currently integrating into our organizational processes.  Look for the changes around the fall of 2009.

My question has to due with the club accounts.  We currently have three - an administrative account, an activity account or service account and a money market account.  The administrative account is structured to accept dues, fees, interest, etc. and expenses are anything non activity related.  The activity account is structured to receive all fund raised monies and the expenses are related to  the cost of the fund raisers, sponsored programs, youth services and projects,etc.

For our club, monies not used in a year are transferred into a money market account to accrue interest and carried forward into the next year.

We have found that sometimes, the administrative account is short because if all dues are not collected by the time we need to pay the membership dues, we get into a scramble to put enough money in the adminstrative account to pay the invoice.  Our clubs dues just barely cover membership dues and our club does not want to raise its membership dues.  We are a small rural distressed coastal community and will lose members if the dues increase. We do participate in club drawings and that sort of thing, but it is tough on some to pay for annual dues, pay for a weekly lunch, pay for drawings, etc. the list goes on.  

Obviously the service fund makes more money with the fund raisers.

My question is...once the monies have been transferred into the money market fund, can either the administrative or activities fund use these carry forward funds?

Or, do they need to be strictly tied to one or the other fund.  

Thanks for your feedback...I'll check back

Donna,  

Extra monies not used from the admin. and service accounts at the end of the year can go into a money market account but you should continue to account for the funds in that account separately.

When the public supports the fundraising of a Kiwanis Club they trust that they are supporting the charitable works of that club and expect that monies raised will go to those things that better the community.

Based on what you wrote it sounds like you usually turn over most of the money in your admin. account so my assumption is that most of the monies raised are left over service money anyway.

There is one thing that you can can pay from either the service account or the admin. account and that's the fees you pay for liability insurance.  Kiwanis rules allow clubs to pay all but .25 cents of liability insurance fees per member out of the

service account.  This can be several hundred dollars for the average club!

Thanks, Jeff for your comments.  You really verified what I thought was correct.  Our club is just struggling to accrue enough funds in the admin fund to accommodate not only paying for dues, but supporting Kiwanis Int'l projects, Lt. Gov. costs, training costs, conferences... that sort of thing.  We will look at the insurance fees.  We do move the money market interest into the admin account also, but lately interest is nothing...

Here's one for you...if a club member, or anyone for that matter, chooses to donate money to our club and they specify the donation go to the admin account, is that acceptable?  I know typically people want to donate to childrens projects, but sincerely, we are trying to build the admin account so that we are not forced to raise club fees. Some of our members are willing to pay a little bit extra so that we don't lose members who cannot afford to pay the dues.

Is keeping the admin fund solvent a common issue? Do other clubs actually have cash carry forward?

I can tell you, our fund raisers make plenty of money for our service projects and we have great club participation with our events and projects. And, our club is the largest and most active in our area.  We are just trying to keep the people we have without making them feel the financial burden or risk losing them because of club costs.

Thanks for this forum!

Donna,  

Sorry for the late response, I just noticed your comment.  If a member would like to donate money to the admin. fund that is perfectly acceptable.

There are other clubs that experience issues with the balance in their admin. account, mostly because it's a cash in, cash out, account.  Many times this can be solved by adjusting the way in which the club bills their members.  For instance a club could move their internal billing process up by a month and by the time the annual roster adjustment comes due from Kiwanis they know who is remaining with the club and have often collected most of the money.