Explanation of Donations

As Secretary, I handle the renewals for the master roster of the club. And I've been noticing that a number of members have made donations along with their renewals. This is great. Except for one thing. Most folks who donate seem to want to donate for a specific project or purpose. This would be great except that we are a 501C3 Corporation. As a 501C3 we must have a yearly budget, wherein we have to list how much is budgeted for each item, and how much we actually spend. Once approved, we can't change it without a membership vote. And we can only exceed that budgeted amount slightly before we have to hold a membership vote to approve spending in excess of the budget. So in order to dedicate you donation to a specific project, we would have to hold membership vote just about every time someone donates funds. It would quadruple the job of our Treasurer in short order, and would significantly drag out our meetings. In some cases there is a work around. For instance if you know the Shack Project needs some connectors, you might buy them and donate the connectors. Or if repeater maintenance needs parts, you could purchase them, and donate parts instead of cash. This way your donation is sure to reach the right project.