Note from President Tammy Boclair:
On a recent conference call, the CoSIDA officers and board of directors asked treasurer Dave Wohlhueter to submit an update on the status of CoSIDA's current finances. Below is his report . Please read it closely and know that your suggestions or input is welcome. -
Over the past couple of years CoSIDA has made a number of financial decisions that have affected the membership: membership fees have gone up and schools are asked to pay a minimal fee for posting job openings on the web site. We are thankful that the membership never rebuked our decision to raise the dues structure.
As costs increased for the printing of the Digest and mailing costs also were higher, we actually were losing money on each membership. We have gotten that part of the budget back in the black.
Speaking of being on the positive side, this past year (2002-03) we took in $4,000 more than we spent. The previous three years (1999-2002) we were in the red, anywhere from $106,000 in 1999-2000 to $23,000 in 2001-02.
We have been able to pay bills because we took money out of our investment account. The investment account is still healthy, as it stands today at about $1.3 million, but in the "good old days" of the stock market, it was worth $1.8 million.
Ed Carpenter, our marketing director, has worked hard to try and secure new corporate sponsors. Unfortunately, these are rough times for all and our numbers are few. We had $23,000 less in sponsorship money in Cleveland than we did in Rochester.
For a couple of years, we sponsored the CoSIDA Basketball Classic that netted us over $100,000 a year, but an NCAA decision has eliminated this type of tournament. One of the benefits of the tournament was the $45,000 we were presenting annually in scholarships. We are continuing our committment in 2003-04. This amount will be trimmed to $25,000 for 2004-05.
Normally, we plan to have an average profit of $50,000 from the workshop, but we netted nearly $13,000 in Rochester and $20,000 in Cleveland. This is money that has always been used in the operating budget. In 1999, we made $80,000 on the Orlando Workshop, after netting $69,000 in Spokane in 1998. Workshops have really been a bargain due to the hard work of the vice presidents and the marketing director.
We stay in the same cities as the athletic directors and they pay much more for NCAA and NACDA conventions. For $75, if necessary, you could go the entire workshop without buying a meal (at least for most people). Our room rates have been negotiated to the lowest amount possible.
Currently, we don't have a sponsor for the Academic All-America program. If we don't have a sponsor in 2003-04, the program will cost the organization about $75,000. In addition, we will not receive the $90,000 rights fee that we would normally get for the year.
The Board is examining all avenues for new money support. If anyone has any new ideas, please present them to anyone on the Board, and we will certainly explore the situation. This pretty much paints the CoSIDA financial picture, which we are confident will improve over the next few years. If you have any questions, contact treasurer Dave Wohlhueter or anyone else on the Board.