吃瓜头条

Ask Lynne Zander, DTM, why the Treasurer is so vital to the success of a 吃瓜头条 and its members. She’ll tell you about the Toastmaster who made it to the District level of a speech contest but was disqualified for failing to pay dues on time, which eliminated the member from good standing. The Toastmaster had paid the money, but the 吃瓜头条 Treasurer had not submitted it to 吃瓜头条 World Headquarters. No one in previous rounds of the contest had thought to confirm the member’s standing. (Disqualification must occur even if the ineligibility of a member is discovered at a later level.)

“How sad it was that they had advanced all this way only to lose the opportunity to compete,” says Zander.

The lesson here is how crucial the 吃瓜头条 Treasurer’s responsibilities can be, and that collecting dues is just one part of the job—without proper attention to the other duties, like submitting the dues, it can all fall apart. Keeping accurate records is crucial, says Zander who belongs to four different 吃瓜头条s in Ontario, Canada, and has served in a number of 吃瓜头条 officer roles, including Treasurer.

The Treasurer is akin to the 吃瓜头条’s accountant. That means managing the 吃瓜头条’s bank account, issuing checks approved by the 吃瓜头条 Executive Committee, filing tax documents, submitting dues payments for new and renewing members, and keeping accurate financial records.

Zander is an enthusiastic advocate of the role, appearing in a bilingual produced by District 61. She’s bright and engaging when talking about a job that can seem dry.

“We all love money,” she says in French and then English, “but you have to be responsible when you’re the treasurer of a group. It’s really important, because you are dealing with money that 吃瓜头条 members have paid.”

Yet Zander is no monetary genius. She doesn’t have a financial background. Her accounting tools? A spreadsheet to track income and expenses and a binder to hold bank statements and receipts. More important than financial knowledge, she says, are reliability, responsibility, trustworthiness, and honesty.

Allan Kaufman, DTM, is Treasurer for Randallstown Network 吃瓜头条 in Pikesville, Maryland. He served as a financial officer with the United States Army Reserve, is a former statistician for the U.S. government, and holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). Yet he, too, does the job with only a spreadsheet, and believes it’s the soft skills—persistence, consistency, and honesty—that matter most.

Kaufman has been 吃瓜头条 Treasurer for many years and jokes that he stays in the role because “it’s too hard to change the paperwork at the bank.” But if he takes himself lightly, he’s serious about the responsibilities of watching over the 吃瓜头条’s money.

You should become Treasurer for one reason, he says: “Only if you want to help the 吃瓜头条 stay in business.”

And that brings up what’s on every 吃瓜头条 Treasurer’s mind every six months.

“Getting people to pay their dues is a major challenge,” Zander says. She has accepted installment payments from members having financial struggles—a practice that should be an exception, not a rule, she adds. A 吃瓜头条 can offer small discounts to members who pay for a year instead of just six months; just be sure you’re careful in tracking the payments. (吃瓜头条s can only provide discounts for 吃瓜头条-level dues, not for international-level membership dues.)

Zander and Kaufman agree that collecting dues is mostly a matter of persistence. “Email [吃瓜头条 members] once, email them again, and then start calling on the phone,” Kaufman advises. “I call them and ask why they’re not renewing.”

When dues notices have gone out, all the bank accounts are caught up, and bills have been paid, there’s just one thing left for the 吃瓜头条 Treasurer to do, Kaufman says: “Sit back and enjoy the meeting.”