[Oabs] OABS Update: Budgets, and banking, and money (oh my)!

[Lillie Pennington]

If I may say and allowed to. I feel this organization deserved the  criticisms that it received. This issue with the bank should have been researched beforehand. I know that the aphiliate has not had to do this in a while but the rules and conditions of setting this up are not just made up on the fly. This whole account process should have been done a long time ago and it is not completely the former treasurers fault. We need to take responsibility for our actions in this organization. Several members of this organization seem to believe that the organization and themselves deserve a free pass on certain issues. We are rapidly becoming the organization that could not instead of the organization that could have been. We have no social media or other ways of recruiting new members. It has been two months since our correspondence secretary position has been worked out. Yhis should have been worked out by now. I write this on a public list because I feel that the membership should know. I have spoken to various people in the organization about my feelings and have been shot down and called a liar. I am sure the meeting I was supposed to go to the last time I dared to speak up would have reinforced this philosophy. I am not sorry for what I have said here and hope this is a wake up call. Thank you.
Sent from my iPhone

> On May 11, 2014, at 7:43 PM, Kaiti Shelton <kaiti.shelton at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi OABS,
> 
> It's been a while since I provided an update, but this weekend brought
> an interesting, and somewhat unfortunate, development.
> 
> I was doing the paperwork to file our tax ID number with the Ohio
> Secretary of State in preparation for the meeting to set up our
> account with Emily, when I got this lovely little email telling me to
> finalize everything we would need to send in a check or money order
> for $125.  I canceled that application, because I thought there was no
> way the state would charge that high of a fee for a non-profit
> organization---I really thought I just hit the wrong button when
> filling out the business section of the application, and accidentally
> listed OABS as an LLC or something.  So, I then called the Secretary
> of State's office to get some confirmation, and the fee to register
> with the secretary of state is indeed $125 for non-profit
> organizations.
> 
> I've talked to Eric, and he is going to speak to Sherry about getting
> filed.  We're going to use the $80 from our fundraiser at convention
> last year, and the affiliate is going to loan us $45 which we can
> repay at a later date.  It is going to suck us dry and put us in an
> almost 50 dollar hole, but it is a bullet we are going to have to bite
> if we're going to get a bank account started.  Half the reason it
> stings so badly right now is that we're just trying to get started,
> but this is a one-time hardship we will have to face in order to have
> easier times fundraising in the future.  It is really going to make
> what we do with both committees even more important, but especially
> our bookmark fundraiser and anything we might do at convention this
> year.
> 
> Now, this leaves the gray area of this fundraiser we have going on
> right now.  As some of you might have seen on Ohio-Talk, we are
> banking vicariously through the generous support of the Cincinnati
> Chapter, who has allowed us to use their account as our fiscal agent
> until we have an account of our own.  I have instructed members of the
> affiliate on how to make out checks, however I have not seen any
> emails following up on that.  Emily and Deborah, if either of you know
> anything, would you amend my update?  I know the division was getting
> quite a bit of backlash on a few calls I attended for things that were
> largely out of the group's control, but still were nonetheless
> frustrating for all involved.  I think we need to keep a close eye on
> this, and if indeed we have not received any checks or purchases
> towards this fundraiser then we need to discuss how to proceed.
> 
> Thanks all, and keep up the work.  I know many of you are either
> preparing for finals, are just catching your breath after finishing
> them, or are gearing up for summer classes and events.  Feel free to
> update the group on what your plans are over the summer as well; I'm
> sure we'd all love to hear what our fellow members are doing.
> -- 
> Kaiti Shelton
> University of Dayton 2016.
> Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
> President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
> Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma
> 
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