An update on finances
Written by matthias 13 years agoHello to all and a warm "BeWelcome" to our new members!
I'm Matthias, a long time member of hospitality exchange networks and right now the treasurer of BeVolunteer, the french organisation legally running BeWelcome. I'm preparing the financial report for the general assembly of BV in early November and drafting the budget for 2012. You'll find details on BeWelcome as soon as it's approved by the GA and available.
But before I like to give you an overview on how we're doing financially. Especially because our donation bar doesn't work exact. (A change will be discussed and probably made at the GA.). And overview how much and for what purposes money is needed can be found here:
http://www.bewelcome.org/wiki/finances
The good news is: Thanks to all your donations there is already enough money to pay the cheques for the rest of the year and also survive the next months.
In short: No donations needed right now. In this moment I'm very sure financial troubles or unpaid bills
won't be an issue. Actually we don't need that much money and if we fail in raising even this small amount, something else is wrong.
In one month, when we have the approved plan for 2012, the next treasurer will be back to ask you for donations for the next year. Right now the exact amount is unclear, as we try to reduce some costs (i. e. for servers, banking fees), but it's probably the same or even a bit less than 2011. While it's good to be on the safe side for some months, there is no reason to raise and save a lot of extra money with no plan what to do with it. If there are unexpected or extra costs (i. e. need for a stronger server), we'll start an extra donation campaign. Usually people are more tempted to donate if they now exactly what for.
Hopefully this is some useful and interesting information for you. If something regarding money isn't transparent for you or just look weird in your eyes, don't hesitate to ask questions. I'll like to thank you for all your contributions, not only donations but also volunteer work, hosting, spreading the word, software coding, discussing and so on. We'll have a lot of work to do and - much more important - a lot of great experiences ahead of us.
Matthias,
current treasurer of BeVolunteer