Minutes of Business Meeting - January 29, 2016

January 29^th, 2016

Ashirvad - Loyola Hall, St. Marks Road

8:35 - 9:50 pm

ATTENDEES

CLUB OFFICERS

Esther Roshini Chandy       SERGEANT AT ARMS

Mahaveer Jain                    TREASURER

Raghunandan Damle          SECRETARY

Varun Dev CC                     VP PUBLIC RELATIONS

Joseph Dass CC CL            VP MEMBERSHIP

Prakash Tamhankar            VP EDUCATION

Cherian Thomas                  PRESIDENT

MEMBERS (19)

Abhishek Karnwal

Ashish Varghese

Godfrey Soans

Karunakar Dev

Mahesh Vittal Rao

Mohiddin Shaik

Payal Pankaj Bhulani CC, CL, ACB

Prashanth Nair

Rahul Bhuyan

Ratan Shetty

Raveendra Babu Mandava

Richard L D’Souza

Robinson D’Souza

Santhosh Kumar M.

Shilpa Samuel

Srija Jampana

Vijay Vasudev Kalkundri

Vineeth R

Yogesha Yarahally Chowdegowda

AGENDA 1 – NEW FINANCIAL POLICY

A draft of a new Financial Policy and Procedure, prepared by the new committee, was read out by the VP Education, Prakash Tamhankar. Printed copies of the policy were handed out to every member. The eight items in it are listed below with a summary of the discussions pertaining to each.

1.    As per Club constitution, the treasurer is the person authorized to manage the club funds. All club funds need to be with the treasurer/in club account at the first opportunity at all times. The President, as a CEO of the club, acts as the alternative in extreme situations.

-       Richard D’Souza expressed concern about funds being exclusively managed by the Treasurer. It was agreed that funds should be in joint custody of Treasurer and President.

-       Robinson D’Souza inquired why this financial policy is required when Toastmasters International already has a financial policy. Prakash answered that TMI’s policy is at a broader level and does not cover details that are covered in this policy.

-       Vineeth mentioned that TMI has guidelines for financial policy but allows clubs to have additional club-specific policies.

-       Robinson agreed to the above provided that the policies are not in conflict.

-       Joseph mentioned that this new policy would avoid ambiguity when the committee changes.

-       Robinson D’Souza said that this policy should have been circulated prior to the business meeting to give members time to assimilate it.

-       Cherian answered that it is a draft policy which is being shared today so that the process starts. The committee would like the club to pass it in one month.

2.    The treasurer shall publish the budget within the first month of the term to the club membership and get approval of the club membership during business meeting.

-       This clause was accepted by all present

3.    The treasurer shall also publish the monthly revenue/expense status to the club membership.

-       The committee explained that this clause is unique to our club and is intended to improve clarity and credibility of the club through transparency.

-       Godfrey mentioned that this information should not be visible to the public as Toastmasters is a non-profit organisation. The committee clarified that it would be visible to members only.

-       Robinson said that clause 3 does not seem properly phrased and asked Esther’s opinion, as a chartered accountant. Esther clarified the clause and it was agreed to replace the word ‘membership’ with ‘members’ in clauses 3 and 4.

-       Raveendra inquired whether we could have a variable membership fee and ask members who re-join after a gap to pay a higher fee. This was vetoed by the majority.

4.    The treasurer shall get any deviations to the budget up to twice the term membership fee approved by the executive committee during committee meeting.

-       Cherian stated that this clause should be used only for extraordinary circumstances.

-       Robinson and Richard said that the wording of this clause was not clear. Does membership fee refer to individual membership fee or total?

-       Cherian said the committee would reword this clause.

5.    The treasurer shall get any deviations beyond twice the membership fee approved by the club membership during business meeting.

-       The members found this clause to be superfluous and the committee agreed to remove it.

6.    The treasurer shall maintain the savings/current bank account for normal financial operations with a bank in India and publish details to club membership to facilitate online transfers. The transfer of the bank account to the new treasurer at the end of the term shall be the responsibility of the outgoing treasurer.

-       Members mentioned that this clause is already there in TMI guidelines.

-       It was inquired about the meaning of ‘bank in India’ and the committee clarified that it meant an Indian bank, not a foreign bank.

7.    The treasurer shall move funds beyond twice the term expenditure into fixed deposit accounts as strategic funds. These fixed deposits shall be for a period of 5 years or above (based on best returns), to be renewed subsequently for similar terms, with interest payable into the savings/current account on quarterly/semi-annual/annual basis. The principal amount in these fixed deposits shall not be utilized for any expenses without the approval of the club membership in a business meeting. The interest received shall be utilized for the club expenses, keeping the club affordable for the members.

-       A question was raised about what happens if the treasurer leaves the club mid-term.

-       Esther clarified that typically three signatories operate the bank account so the other two signatories can still operate the account.

-       It was unanimously agreed that the three signatories should be the President, Treasurer and Secretary.

-       Robinson said that a standing instruction could be given to the bank to automatically transfer excess funds into fixed deposits.

-       Godfrey pointed out sometimes shorter terms yield higher interest rates.

-       Esther replied that the treasurer and committee would choose the term of fixed deposits to maximise interest.

-       Godfrey asked “What if the committee overrules the clause of not utilising funds for expenses without approval?”

-       Esther replied that the financial transparency that this policy aims to achieve will avoid that because account statements are published to members.

-       Godfrey said that he is opposed to raising club membership fee because the club has always attracted a large number of students and we should strive to keep the club affordable to benefit the maximum number of people.

-       Ratan said that none of the clauses mentioned how many business meetings can be held in a term.

-       Cherian replied that there is no minimum or maximum but normally two meetings are held per term. It was agreed that a minimum of two business meetings should be held.

8.    The treasurer shall be authorized to move funds beyond the term projected expenditure (if any) to short-term fixed deposit accounts for a period not exceeding one year and two days, to get better returns on non-utilized funds.

-       It was agreed that points 7 and 8 could be merged.

-       Robinson asked the committee to take advice from Richard D’Souza.

-       The committee agreed to take feedback and revise the policy.

AGENDA 2 – PREVIOUS BUDGET

Varun Dev, Treasurer of the previous term, presented a financial report of the previous term.

He mentioned that when he took over as Treasurer the bank signatory had not been changed since 2007 and he had a difficult time convincing the bank to change the signatories to the President and himself.

Godfrey said that the bank signatories were changed when Amnol Garg/Jayant Das was the President.

Varun replied that yes it had been, but earlier names were not removed.

Varun presented a snapshot of the financial statement at the end of the previous term, after all dues to Ashirvad hall had been paid till Dec 2015.

AGENDA 2 – BUDGET FOR JAN-JUNE 2016

The current Treasurer, Mahaveer Jain, presented the budget for the current term. The budget is an estimate considering two speechcraft sessions in this term.

He highlighted the fact that Ashirvad hall has informed us that the rent for the hall and charge for snacks is going to be increased.

The budget clearly showed a deficit of Rs. 36,340 after a proposed increase in membership fee of Rs. 100.

Robinson asked if the committee had negotiated with the Director of Ashirvad hall about the increase in rental. The committee said that Robinson would be the best person to do that.

Godfrey suggested bridging the deficit by conducting speechcraft for corporate clubs.

It was inquired when the club fees was increased last. The Treasurer, Mahaveer, replied that it was increased by Rs. 100 in 2012 during Sanjay Hassa’s term, to compensate for fluctuation in dollar value.

Raveendra inquired whether the committee had considered another venue. Cherian and Robinson emphatically opposed this idea as it would have an adverse effect on membership.

In response to a question about how we compare with other clubs, Cherian replied that compared to other community clubs in Bangalore, we are the cheapest.

Robinson offered the following suggestions:

1.    Charge guests a small fee

2.    Negotiate with the Director of Ashirvad hall.

3.    Raise funds through speechcraft. The club has been contacted to conduct speechcraft for doctors in MS Ramaiah hospital.

Yogesha suggested asking for donations from members.

Mohiddin inquired about the fixed deposit of Rs. 5-6 lakhs being held in the account of ex President, George Timothy.

Cherian said that while Mr. George Timothy verbally agreed to transfer the money into the club account, his actions till date speak otherwise. He avoided meeting Cherian and asked him to speak to Mr. Claudius Pereira. However, when Cherian spoke to Claudius on the phone the conversation turned unpleasant.

Robinson said that Mr. George Timothy needs assurance that the money will not be misused by the club committee. He said that the money is not in Mr. Timothy’s personal account but in the name of BTMC.

Joseph inquired what would happen to the money in the event of Mr. Timothy’s death.

Robinson said that the club did lose money once in the past when a former President, who was carrying club money in cash in his car, was robbed of it.

Cherian said that when he asked George what the money was for, he said it was to pay for membership fees of senior members.

Speaking for the members, Joseph said that all members should be treated equally irrespective of their seniority.

Mahesh inquired if we could lease Ashirvad hall for a long term to bring down rentals. Robinson said it is against TMI rules.

Robinson asked Cherian to meet George one-to-one, which Cherian agreed to do.

In conclusion it was agreed that the budget should be passed next week.

ADJOURNMENT

The President, Cherian Thomas, adjourned the business meeting at 9:50 pm.