Austin International Folk Dancers
Organizational Manual
AIFD’s current health tracking status (maintained by the AIFD treasurer).
For over 40 years, AIFD held its weekly dance programs at various facilities for no rental cost. That included the Zilker Club Hut, the University of Texas and Hancock Recreation Center. The only other notable costs were for recordings of music and sound equipment to play them. These were obtained through donations from AIFD members. In the late 1980's, when the City of Austin experienced an economic downtown, the Parks and Recreation Department proposed significant cuts its budget, including the closing of Hancock on Saturday nights. Eugene Bradford, President of AIFD at the time, negotiated with the City to allow AIFD to continue its weekly dance programs for $13/hour. AIFD began specifically requesting a contribution of $2 from attendees to offset that cost. In 1992, the rate charged by Hancock increased slightly to $15/hour, but the requested fee was not increased.
In 2000, the open box used for collecting fees was replaced with a locked box, resulting in a significant increase in fees received. During this time, AIFD converted its cassette tape collection to digital format and purchased a notebook computer and other pieces of equipment, some of it to replace equipment stolen from AIFD’s equipment box at Hancock. In January of 2003, the rental cost of Hancock doubled to $30/hour. The membership was surveyed for several weeks before that increase and, as a result, AIFD kept the same hours of operation (7 – 11 pm) but increased the fee to $3.
In 2004, declining attendance and a significant increase in AIFD’s liability insurance policy through TIFD resulted in expenses again exceeding income. Consequently, the Board moved AIFD’s bank account from an institution with significant fees to a “non-profit friendly” bank with no fees and increased the weekly fee to $5. Since that time, AIFD has found it increasingly difficult to collect enough money at its weekly dance programs to cover the rental fee. During the first half of 2011, the rental cost of Hancock was $120 an evening. AIFD netted on average $121.53 each evening that it used Hancock. Considering the cost of the purchase, replacement and maintenance of AIFD equipment and recordings, attendance at AIFD dance events was not enough to keep AIFD from using its financial reserves to meet operating expenses. Consequently, unless this changes, AIFD must at some point either cease meeting, meet in other (predictably less desirable) locations or find other sources of revenue.
On the positive financial side, when AIFD dancer Janet Cook passed away in 2002, AIFD received $10,000 to be used to promote folk dancing. When AIFD dancer Phil Harris passed away in 2010, AIFD received $2,000.
The membership is not made aware of the financial health of AIFD on a regular basis. Instead, appeals are made in response to episodic events such as the desire to convert the recorded repertoire to a new medium or the need to purchase new equipment.
AIFD Boards have not prepared formal working budgets. When income exceeded expenses by a healthy margin, this was not a problem. However, in recent years, AIFD has increasingly not collected enough money at weekly dance programs to cover the rental fee for that evening. At some point, it may become necessary for the Board to prepare an annual budget and submit it to the membership for approval, along with revisiting the current “honor system” of payment and/or raising the weekly fee, in order to maintain the group’s financial viability.
Any budget needs to be based upon actual income and expenses for the previous year, with adjustments made for anticipated or known changes in attendance, rental fees, recording purchases, equipment purchases and special events.
The Board should approve all expenses in advance. Also, since AIFD has a sales tax exemption certificate, the Board needs to inform all persons making purchases for AIFD that reimbursement will not be made for sales tax (unless payment of sales tax is absolutely unavoidable).