First of all I must commend all who have contributed to our online environment thus far, all controversy aside.
For a multi-regulator (or admin) forum or club to survive, there must be structure from both members and staff, especially once money starts to be spent / collected. This forum or club has always lacked this structure, and as such has wound up in the predicament before us with talk of sales, personal profits and splitting of the club.
Being a member of corporate management, being trained in corporate accounting, not-for-profit accounting and a member of several professional organizations, I would like to share what I feel would make this online community work. Personally I have a hard time understanding how this online environment has been run by so called industry and economic professionals, as from what I can tell there are several unethical things happening on both sides of the fence.
1. FINANCIALS
Any club or membership which obtains payments from members, MUST disclose it’s financials to its members, be it annually or quarterly, as decided by it’s members and board.
Being what I feel (personal opinion, but an educated one) should be a not-for-profit run organization (this sis supposed to be an enthusiast site after all), this website should have been setup as such with its own financial ownerships i.e. bank account and or credit. Being registered as a not for profit organization is rather simple and this will allow you to deal as an entity with financial institutions.
The use of a personal credit card, though may have been seen as a good will gesture, should never have been permitted by the board (the board discussed later).
Whatever money is collected / expensed, should be recorded in some form of financial software (for ease of use and reporting) so as to know where we are at as a club. Should the organization be running at a deficit, it should elicit the help of it’s membership, or seek out further sponsorship / advertising etc. Should the organization be running at a profit, then any remaining funds at year end should be set aside for future development / upgrade projects or events as decided upon by its membership in a vote (more on voting later).
2. PERSONNEL STRUCTURE
Any group should have voted members of the board (or moderators etc), granted there has been some type of attempt to employ structure, it has obviously failed as communication has not been very forthcoming to members.
Given the current situation at son where one individual seems to be the owner, that person would have the right to collect profits. I do not know in actual fact who the owner is of son240sx.ca as there seems to be some conflicting mentions of domain ownership etc, which I will not touch.
But, if this was a true not for profit club, which it could digress to become, there should be a president, members of the board and a financial board member as a minimum.
Roles of personnel
Financial Board Member – Responsible for the collection of dues, recording all financial information, responsible for issuing payments as required and preparing financial statements to reflect all transactions. This is a very trusted position and should only be entered into by someone with experience in this area.
Members of the Board – These may include moderators etc who issue up ideas for improvement, enforce online laws and ethics on the forums and represent the club at events and social gatherings. These folks may also be responsible for improvements to the site as required. These members or a select individual should also be responsible for communication with members as to upcoming changes or elicit and take charge of voting.
President – The role of the president would be to elicit new ideas for improvement, make final decisions where no resolution can be found, prepare formal laws and forum ethics as required, with the help of the board.
Members paid in full – These members should have continued updates from the board as to changes to the forum, club rules, or any decisions or future changes to the forum of club. As paid members, this is a right, and board members have the responsibility to ensure an accurate and frequent updates as to changes that may affect their membership, or benefits of membership. Voting rights should also be granted to major decisions which affect their membership.
Members or free users – should be able to use the forum but not have voting rights as to changes and upgrades
As stated, I do not know how son240sx.ca was intended to be structured, I would hope it was not for personal gain. I have been a member since 2002, was gone for a while, and came back later on. Even in 2002 this forum had issues. In order to rectify these issues, there needs to be structure. Granted there are from what I understand 600 members, but that is significant enough to cause severe issues without structure.
Communication within the board and paid members is essential. Decisions which affect a club membership must be disclosed and communicated with members.
I personally will not pay into a membership with any 240 base website unless I knew for a fact that my membership provided me with at least some of the rights I have mentioned, and a financial statement provided, as is standard with all professional organizations and clubs. If you someone wants examples of clubs that provide financial statements to their members, feel free to PM me, or use Google. I will not purchase a membership with any ‘enthusiast club’ owned and operated by one individual.
