January 2020 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:29251] Restricted Funds, Their Accounting, Donate And Media Buttons On Webpage
by n2cop＠ec.rr.com 02 Jan '20

02 Jan '20

Dear Fellow ODV Members: My appreciation to Diane, Treasurer Niswander and others for debunking the myth about everything thrown into one big pot. As someone who has been in and around non-profit development for the past quarter century, if someone contributes to a specific cause, that donation must be honored and used for the mission for which it was stated. Breaking trust by deviating from the intended use is a slippery slope that will cause the member donation spigot to dry up quickly, not to mention foundations who make grants. Those of us who deal regularly with charitable donations watched with eager anticipation how the courts would deal with the Robertson V. Princeton University case. For those interested, an excellent summary can be found through this hyperlink. Bottom line: use the money as it was intended and ensure your members know it was used properly, or your organization could face a challenge to return it to the donor. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/the-gift-adviser/2015/6/3/looking-back-a… By the way, I agree with Vice Director Zygielbaum that the main page of the website should prominently display an area where donations can be made. While I have the floor, I will also put in a plug as Board Liaison to the Public Relations Committee (PRC) that the upcoming redesigned website should also have on its main page quick access to outside media support materials. We on the PRC have heard from several reporters who know little to nothing about Amateur Radio that they have found it difficult to find information they needed in a timely manner to complete stories, even during daytime hours when staff is available. Another assignment for Mintz & Hoke. 73 de Bill Morine, N2COP Vice Director – Roanoke Division Representing ARRL members in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia <http://www.arrl-roanoke.org> www.arrl-roanoke.org Facebook Page: ARRL Roanoke Division ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio™ From: arrl-odv <arrl-odv-bounces(a)reflector.arrl.org> On Behalf Of Arthur I. Zygielbaum Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2020 12:46 PM To: Middleton, Diane, W2DLM (CFO) <dmiddleton(a)arrl.org>; arrl-odv <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:29250] Re: FW: Re: Contributions for ARRL LoTW and DONATE button Diane, et al., Having recently completed my year-end donations, I found that I had to work harder to donate at the ARRL site than at others. Maybe I'm missing something obvious (which I can blame on age and procrastination) but I had to do a keyword search using "donate" to make a donation. I think it would be great to have a "donate to ARRL" button right on the home page. If establishing additional restricted accounts will enable additional donations, I think that is a good thing. People who donate to LoTW provide funds that offset funds that would otherwise come out of a general fund. Also, the donation page needs to clearly state the benefits of donations to the organization, the specific fund, and to the donor. One shouldn't have to dig down to see an engaging "ask". While suggesting all that, I appreciate the good job Diane does in providing focused feedback and appropriate financial information. 73, Art K0AIZ On 1/2/2020 7:49 AM, Middleton, Diane, W2DLM (CFO) wrote: Good morning ODV – Let me start by saying that I am extremely disturbed by such inaccurate information floating around about how donations are handled. Donations are diligently recorded. Anything less would be unacceptable and certainly would never pass an audit. While all monies are deposited in the same cash and investment accounts, we maintain detailed accounting records of all funds. On a monthly basis, in the financial reports that can be found on the ODV section of the website, there is a report titled “Income Statement Detail”. The last tab labeled “Fund Activity” details the year-to-date receipts, uses and balance of each fund. These are internal reports and should not be shared with the membership until they have been audited. However, each year the last two pages of the audited financial statements, which are also part of the annual report, provides the same information (adjusted for unrealized investment gains or loss if applicable) for public review. What you will see on these reports is that we use all donations to spectrum defense annually. Our cost to defend our spectrum, between Jon Silvering’s efforts and legal fees, alone, exceed the amount of contributions we receive designated for spectrum expense each year. What we do not currently track on a regular basis is the cost of staff expenses related to spectrum defense that is incurred by other departments such as the Lab and Development. On annual basis we could put together a rough estimate of all these expenses. As far as a LoTW donation button – several years ago we heard similar things from users and at Dave Patton’s request the “ARRL operating programs” line was added to the donation form. It would be rather simple to expand this description to include “LoTW” for clarity. A link could also be provided on a LoTW page to link to the donation page on our website but because we do not have a single sign on process, the donor’s information would not be auto-filled. I truly hope this clarifies any concerns about the accounting of donations. I am happy to address any questions anyone may have about our processes and reporting. Happy New Year. Diane Middleton, W2DLM Chief Financial Officer ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio ® 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 (860) 594-0225 From: arrl-odv <mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org> <arrl-odv-bounces(a)reflector.arrl.org> On Behalf Of Michael Ritz Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2020 12:37 AM To: arrl-odv <mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:29242] Re: Contributions for ARRL LoTW and DONATE button Here is what I heard: Somebody asked the same question of me about contributing to the Spectrum Defense Fund early last year. They wanted to know how much money was already in the fund, and how much had been spent in the last year fighting for our allocations. The answer I got back from HQ was that the League doesn't really track donations, it all goes into one pot, and bills are paid the same way. There really are no numbers. That was the end of the discussion at the time, but it did surprise me somewhat. Maybe it's the accounting software, I don't know. I suggest you contact Diane, or maybe somebody on A&F as to exactly how the accounting for this works. I know here in the State of Oregon when the legislature passes a new tax bill, or increases fees for something, no matter what the funds were to be earmarked for in the bill, in the end the money all goes into the state's General Fund, and the truth is the Governor can spend the money on whatever she wants to. My guess is that a lot of government works that way! ;-) 73; Mike W7VO (No longer one of the "new guys"!) On January 1, 2020 at 8:06 PM Mickey Baker <fishflorida(a)gmail.com <mailto:fishflorida@gmail.com> > wrote: Judging from what's being posted on the Logbook of the World group, <https://groups.arrl.org/g/ARRL-LoTW> https://groups.arrl.org/g/ARRL-LoTW, a number of LoTW users wish to donate specifically to LoTW. There's no fund set up to do so. Technically, this would be a very easy task to set up, to add a category at <https://www.arrl.org/arrl-donation-form> https://www.arrl.org/arrl-donation-form for LoTW, make sure it goes to the correct account. A DONATE button could be added to the side bar ads sold for LoTW. This would bring in an incremental number of contributions from members and non-members, particularly DX users of LoTW. Being new, I may be wrong, but this seems that it could be done operationally, without board action, if we post a show of support here. How can we do this? Is there any reason NOT to do this? As you can read from the link above, people are asking how they can help LoTW! Let's encourage this as soon as possible! 73, Mickey Baker, N4MB New Director, Southeastern Division Palm Beach Gardens, FL “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead." Robert K. Greenleaf _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org <mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org <mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv

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[arrl-odv:29238] Fw: Obtaining an audience with the FCC
by Richard Norton 02 Jan '20

02 Jan '20

Does anyone know the answer? Is anyone able to help Andre and the AREDN group? 73, Dick, N6AA? ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Andre Hansen <andre.k6ah(a)gmail.com>To: "n6aa(a)arrl.org" <n6aa(a)arrl.org>Sent: Wednesday, January 1, 2020, 12:12:00 PM PSTSubject: Obtaining an audience with the FCC Hi Dick, I hope you've had a fun holiday season. I didn't hear back from you my last email, so I'm hoping you're still supportive of the AREDN defense of 3 and 5 GHz. I understand from Phil Karn, KA9Q, that he and a WinLink core team member were able to get an audience with the FCC in Washington, DC over WT Docket No. 16-239 on encryption. I am wondering if such a discussion wouldn't be an opportunity to educate the FCC on what AREDN is and how it serves the community. They obviously have no idea at this point. How does one get an audience with the FCC? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Sincerely, Andre, K6AH760-685-3769The AREDN Project

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[arrl-odv:29235] The Opinion Of One Of Our Advertisers
by John Robert Stratton 01 Jan '20

01 Jan '20

Christine and Richard Lenoir own Main Trading Company in Paris, Texas and have grown from a seller of surplus and closeout electronics to being able to stand toe-to-toe in Texas with HRO. Although MTC was within 200 miles of Texas Towers in Plano and then HRO, MTC was able to become a dealer for Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu. Hams drive from Dallas-Ft. Worth to do business with Richard, partially because he accepts trade-ins. For years MTC was a mainstay/go-to commercial vendor for most of the Texas/Oklahoma hamfests. MTC in recent years has actually been a vendor at Hamvention. But read his current email. I have been concerned for some time for the future of many non-Tier 1 hamfests, because they have been unable to attract commercial vendors, resulting in lower attendance. Richard's observations are worth considering. * Happy New Year to all!!!* _______________________________________ John Robert Stratton N5AUS Director West Gulf Division Office:512-445-6262 Cell:512-426-2028 P.O. Box 2232 Austin, Texas 78768-2232 *_______________________________________***

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