Heidi J. presented report
CLOSING REPORT C.A. WORLD SERVICE CONFERENCE 2016 FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT
INTRODUCTION AND OPENING COMMENTS
Opening Comments
We would like to thank the Fellowship for the very generous donations that enable us to the good financial health of Cocaine Anonymous. In our treasurer’s opening report she expressed her happiness that our finances are in the best shape she has ever seen. That does not mean that we can now rest on laurels and start spending money imprudently. As your finance committee we have reviewed all committee requests. A great deal of consideration has gone into supporting your efforts.
Although we are in good financial health we must remain prudent and cautious in our spending because the existing funds provide support for Cocaine Anonymous until our next CAWS Convention.
We would like to remind everyone that we recently changed from the fiscal year (July-June) to an annual year (January-December). These Budgets are a tool to help the office manage our funds. We will be voting on a revised 2016 Budget to get us through December (changes were made to more accurately reflect changes in current income and expenses) as well as voting on the Proposed 2017 Budget.
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Committee Introductions:
Acting Chair – Heidi J.
Trustee – Jay P.
WSOB DAL – Allison M.
Treasurer – Laurie R.
Secretary – Caryl S.
Member – Maya B.
Member – Caroline B.
Member – T. W.
COMMITTEE WORK THAT RESULTED IN MOTIONS
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Caryl S. makes motion
To approve the international finance guidelines, the Netherlands version.
Seconded.
Tony D. – Would you like to speak to the motion?
Caryl S. – Not at this time.
Tony D. – Seeing no debate, prepare to vote.
Vote 52 – 107 for and 1 against, motion passes.
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Heidi J. made a motion – To approve the revised 2016 WSO budget.
Seconded
Tony D. – Reread motion. Are there any questions? Prepare to vote.
Vote 53 – 118 for and 1 against, motion passes
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Heidi J. makes motion – To approve the proposed 2017 WSO Budget.
Seconded
Tony D. – Reread motion. Is there any debate?
Paul S. – In the 2017 budget, it looks like NAADCP line item has been changed from 2016.
Please explain this change.
Heidi J. – The changes are due to travel costs as location is different each year.
Paul S. – Is this now going to move to the PI budget?
Heidi J. – No, whoever goes will have access to the funds.
Dawn M. – Line 500240, outside professional…. Why is this so different from 2016 to 2017?
Laurie R. – We looked at what was actually spent, and then moved funds to a different line item and then lowered this specific line item as it wasn’t being used.
Tony D. – Seeing no more questions, prepare to vote.
Vote 54 – 120 for and 5 against, motion passes.
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REFERRALS THAT RESULTED IN MOTIONS
None
REFERRALS OR ITEMS TABLED UNTIL NEXT YEAR; AND ITEMS THE COMMITTEE WILL CONTINUE WORKING ON THROUGH THE YEAR
Referral Number FIN 2016 –2
Please revise the ‘Financial Guidelines’ to allow for Areas outside of the United States to utilize online banking facilities.
Response: The Finance Committee will be working on this issue during the coming year. We believe we have started this process however it has not been completed.
REFERRALS OR ITEMS REFERRED TO OTHER COMMITTEES; WORLD SERVICE OFFICE, OR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Referral Number FIN 2016-1: Add or increase a line item amount to allow for the World Service Office to carry out translations of our World Service Manual for all Areas recognized by The World Service Conference that do not have English as their first language. The amount to be adequate for said translation works to be carried out by the World Service Office without the requirement for participation the individual Areas. The current number of required / outstanding translations to have adequate funding to be completed within the next two years and an ongoing line item to allow for newly required translations to be commenced immediately upon the recognition of new Area.
Response: Translations and the translation expenses are the responsibility of the World Service Office. The Finance Committee does not dictate to the office which projects they work on or how to spend their money, they tell us when they have special projects that we budget for. This has been referred to the WSOB.
REFERRALS THAT DID NOT RESULT IN MOTIONS
NONE
NEW COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AS OF THIS CONFERENCE
Chair – Heidi J.
Vice-Chair – Caryl S.
Secretary – Maya B.
WSOB Treasurer – Allison M.
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CLOSING COMMENTS
The CA Finance Committee continues to focus on our four main Fundraisers: the new “Donate” button on www.ca.org, the Single Contribution Envelope, the World Contribution Plan, and of course the “S.M.A.R.T.” Program.
With the new “Donate” button online, one can donate any amount, any time one wants. This also takes care of converting any foreign monies into USD.
The Single Contribution Envelope is an expansion from the previous Birthday Envelope. One can now contribute for one’s birthday, sponsor’s birthday, in memoriam of a loved one, or any other reason one wants!
The World Contribution Plan is great for those who want to contribute on a consistent basis, but don’t want to have to think about it. One would provide the World Service Office with a credit/debit card and a dollar amount and the office takes care of remembering to charge the card each month.
The S.M.A.R.T. (Save My A$$ Recovery Transfer) Program is for those, like me, who like to have a little more control. One would simply go to one’s own bank account online access “Pay Bills” section and add CAWSO as a new vendor (unsure if this is an option outside the US). This way one has the option to set up a recurring payment or make individual payments. This is a quick process, it took me less than five minutes to complete, and I am happy to help anyone who would like to use it. The Finance Committee would love to hear from anyone outside of the US to see how we could get this to work for their Area as well.
In closing, I’d like to thank the Finance Committee for all their hard work. We also want to thank the Committees of the WSC for their passion and excitement for the work they do here. We ask, beg, plead with the delegates here to go back to your Area’s and remind them of the wonderful work that is done at the WS Conference. We would have liked to be able to give all committees what they asked for, but cannot do this without funds moving up to the WS Office. Please pitch our different individual contribution plans. We have four different plans to fit everyone’s needs. If individuals in our meetings knew about these options, they may be able to directly donate and support our WS Office, and therefore the WS Conference Committees.
I especially want to thank our outgoing Treasurer, Laurie R. for her great work as our Treasurer. She is passionate for our fellowship and dedicated to her job as treasurer. She has worked diligently to get us toward financial stability. We look forward to working with our new Treasurer Allison, and are confidant C.A. can continue to grow and stretch. We also want to thank our outgoing Trustee, Jay P., who has brought a wonderful energy and insight into our committee.
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We have some work to do during the year, and we will continue to work throughout the year in quarterly conference calls and electronically.
Respectfully Submitted:
Heidi J., Chair
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Tony D. – Any questions for the committee?
Julian N. – About the donate button, is there a transaction fee that WSO gets charged when I use this option?
Linda F. – There is a fee that is charged to WSO for the use of credit cards used on this feature.
Jade H. – does this work with ….
Heidi J. – Yes.
Jim S. – Are you working on the ability for international payments from the EUR? Heidi J. – We are still working on this. Trying to fine viable options.
Kevin M. – What precautions are taken to ensure people who are not members don’t donate using the ‘donate button?’
Jay P. – There is a question asking the person if they are a member or not.
Kevin M. – Why are you not using PayPal as the fees are smaller.
Heidi J. – We have a PayPal account. We will look into this for foreign donations.
Kevin M. – The Amazon Smiles program is a donation type program, but WSO rejects these donations.
Heidi J. – I don’t know about this. That is a question for the WSO.
Tony D. – Seeing no more question, please thank the committee.
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