[K3pzn-board] Club Van - my hopes for success, but with a bail-out plan

[Steve Beckman]

Gentlemen;

If this van were mine, I know I'd have a great time with it. Field Day 
would become a "Drive In" event. I'd do some VHF Mountaintopping, take it 
to hamfests, bring it to the CCARC hamfests to put K3PZN on the air, and 
use it to stay out of the rain while supporting club public service events 
(the rain we had at the Civil War Century last year killed the motherboard 
in my laptop.)

I can personally afford the maintenance and insurance required. I'm sure my 
insurance rate would be reasonable, since it would be considered a personal 
use passenger vehicle instead of a corporate vehicle.

Can the club afford this project? Right up front I need to say that I want 
the club to be successful with this project -- for the very same reasons I 
listed at the beginning. Additionally it would give us an ability to 
improve our emergency communications support capability. It can provide 
shelter, power, radio equipment, and antenna facilities where they're 
needed, and in one package. However, if the club cannot afford it, then 
there's no point in pursuing it until it becomes the death of us.

My opinion is that we can afford no more than about $800 per year in 
recurring expenses, given our current income profile. Each of you should 
also decide how much you think we can afford to spend on the van every 
year. Especially if the club approves the motion made last month, the BoD 
will have to come to an agreement on what this number should be, as it will 
become a budget line item.

My best guess as to how much this van will cost every year is: $1400 for 
insurance, and $400 for maintenance each year, for a total of $1800 in 
recurring expenses. Let's add a one-time expense of, say $500 for basic VHF 
radio equipment and antennas. Additionally, we could soon face an engine 
and / or transmission replacement, which would be a one-time expense of 
maybe $3K or so.

 From these WAGs, the club is not likely to be able to afford this project. 
I think we all know that vehicles can be expensive, and that the club is 
below minimum wages in the income department. In my opinion, we've got to 
find additional funding sources, and a lower insurance rate, so that this 
project is not cost prohibitive. Right now, we just don't know if we'll 
find a solution in either area. Considering the possibility that we might 
not be successful, I'm suggesting the following "Bail-Out Plan"

Here's how I think we should proceed, assuming the pending motion passes:

1) We immediately form a Van Committee to be responsible for this project. 
The BoD and the ARES group are invited to participate.

2) Let's get $1800 worth of repairs done on the van. If we're successful in 
finding cheaper insurance, then we can afford more repairs, otherwise we'll 
need to set aside $700 for six months' insurance.

3) We put the project on 6 months' probation, while funds are raised. The 
BoD and the Van Committee get until September '04 to find sources of funds 
to support this project for the next three years, such that the club's 
expenses are no more than $800 per year. This means we'll need to have, 
based on my numbers above, at least $3K raised for the recurring expenses 
for three years, $500 for radio equipment, and $3K for an upcoming major 
overhaul. If we don't have $6.5K raised in 6 months, then we sell or 
auction off the van. If we're lucky enough to have our insurance covered 
under some other larger policy, then we can revise our fundraising goals 
down accordingly.

I think our chances of success with fundraising are good. The club has 
already received donations considerably larger than this amount in support 
of other projects. For the organizations that we serve, this amount of $$ 
is really "beer class." For the services we provide, we are a great value. 
However, if the organizations we serve don't agree, the van gets sold in 
October, and the club recovers its cash outlay on this project.

Again -- I want this project to be successful. We have a couple obstacles 
to overcome -- finances being the most critical. We'll also have manpower 
concerns, but the BoD can raise member support and enthusiasm through our 
own positive attitudes about this project. If the pending motion is 
approved, we will have an obligation to make this project a success. We 
should also have a bail-out plan in case this van becomes too big a 
project, which it does have the possibility of becoming.

With this kind of bail-out plan in place, I think there's little risk in 
moving forward with the approval of our pending motion for the time being, 
since we can very likely recover all the funds expended. We can pick this 
discussion up at the next board meeting, to firm it up.

73; Steve, N3SB