First Board Meeting Proposals
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Theater Administration
Forum Name: Running Your Theater
Forum Discription: General questions about how to make it work
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3360
Printed Date: 5/19/24 at 12:32am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: First Board Meeting Proposals
Posted By: tonyboling
Subject: First Board Meeting Proposals
Date Posted: 8/17/08 at 9:54pm
So I'm about to embark on my first board meeting and I was sent a letter with the agenda and then an email with a bunch of proposals to discuss and one of them has me quite nervous and I'd like your opinions.
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml - -
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml -
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml - All repeat participants in CSJ adult productions must be CSJ
members. Dues must be paid prior to the first rehearsal for a show.
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml -
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml - Discussion
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml -
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml - More than half of the performance and technical crew in the
2007-2008 season were not CSJ members. Many of them were repeat participants
from previous productions. file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml -
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml - Okay so right away I don't like this idea at all. It seems so exclusive. I can't of any CT that requires membership to participate. CSJ is the result of 2 older CTs merging about 5 years ago or so and neither of those groups required membership to participate either. file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml -
file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml -
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Replies:
Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 8/18/08 at 12:09am
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Here groups usually state, you need t o be a financial member to be covered by Insurance. As a furphy to get participants to pay up. Which in fact is a load of rubbish! Personally I purposely avoid paying membership, if they demand or suggest this & become adamant about it - I walk! Not because I won't pay, but because of their attitude. I agree one needs to be a financial member to be able to vote, but if the group prefers to collect a few coins to that of willing participants, I keep just walking.
In my mob membership fees are of no importance, but people are. Not these days, but I used to be a member of upto half a dozen theatre groups & willingly paid annual membership fees each year, because they didn't demand it, or resort to scare tactics. I even paid to those who give males free memberships.
I remember once while I was directing a production, I was constantly reminded to collect membership fees from the cast & crew. So I paid the fees out of my pocket, then sent a bill to the treasurer for out of pocket expenses. I never got the money, but it did stir the committee up, to rethink their attitude. they came to realise those doing the shows, are actually putting in more, than some members who just pay & are never seen when work is to be done.
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[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}
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Posted By: jaytee060
Date Posted: 8/18/08 at 11:07am
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You know what? In a time when its increasingly difficult to find volunteers in the theatre, it seems really dumb to insist that someone
has to pay to work for your organization.
In a time when people either don't have the time or the desire to attend meeting and serve on committees, it seems even more dumb to insist they pay up to do so.
My own organization has fought against the stigmatism that our theatre is a "closed" or "exclusive" group. Paying to participate is just another was of
restricting who is WELCOME in your theatre. Do you really want to do that?
How about let everyone play who wants to play but only dues paying members are allowed to take part in the decision making. ie; Voting members. That makes a lot more sense to me.
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"REMEMBER ME IN LIGHT"
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Posted By: tonyboling
Date Posted: 8/18/08 at 11:43am
I'm honestly embarrassed that this is even on the table for us. There is another group in town that split off from our group cause they didn't wanna do standards and preferred to do more edgy shows which is fine, but they're really perceived as a closed group even though you don't have to be a member. You basically have to just work a show and let them get to know you. The perception is that they're exclusive though because they do have a closed "Board" that consists of the founders.
If we were to start requiring a pay to play policy I think that'd utterly ruin us.
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Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 8/18/08 at 3:59pm
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How much are they expected to pay?
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Posted By: tonyboling
Date Posted: 8/18/08 at 4:23pm
Originally posted by jayzehr
How much are they expected to pay? |
They'd need to be a member so $24 a year for a single and $36 a year for household.
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Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 8/18/08 at 4:29pm
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24 isn't much, but as an actor I'd be offended just on principle. I'm going to put in hours and hours of free labor and I'll have friends and family buying tickets who probably wouldn't come to the show otherwise.
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Posted By: 75director
Date Posted: 8/18/08 at 5:36pm
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What a horrible idea!
It sounds like a great way to get someone to come in and do one production and never do anything again. And who's going to track that? If it's been 5 years since they did something, are they "new" again? Or do they have to wait 15, 20 years before they would be considered "new"?
What is the point of making someone be a paying "member" to participate? Is it to raise money? Is it to boost numbers for a grant report? Just to have "members" do thing for the organization does not seem like it's acheiving anything.
If I were shopping around for a show to do, I know I would not pay to be in it. Especially since my skills will then be part of the product that generates revenue for the organization. I could see the need to feel like you are doing things for your "members" but that's not the way to attract and retain VOLUNTEERS. Requiring someone to be a member or serve on the board or some other key committees (annual giving campaigns, long range planning, etc) would make sense but not regular volunteers.
Good luck at your meeting!
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Posted By: skoehler
Date Posted: 8/19/08 at 12:26pm
What a bad idea. The $24 a year per person would not do a damn bit of good to your bottom line. Even if you do several musicals a year with huge casts you're talking at the most a couple $1,000. I have found that whenever we do a large cast show with lots of new people, we will usually sell that in tickets to friends and family.
CT's constantly fight the "Closed shop" stigma, truth is so do professional theatres. The fact is the stereotype is not usually all that far from the truth, why on Earth would a Board try to make it more of an issue.
The theatre I run used to be a "members only theatre" way back through the 40's. That entity eventually closed to reorganize into a non-profit corporation. The main reason cited for the closure, the perception that the theatre was too closed to the community.
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Steven Koehler
Managing Director
Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette
www.lafayettecivic.org
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Posted By: imamember
Date Posted: 8/19/08 at 12:34pm
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Wow, terrible idea! For your sake I hope the majority of your board isn't approving of this measure.
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Posted By: pdavis69
Date Posted: 8/19/08 at 2:41pm
Just remember as a board member you can always vote no.
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Patrick L. Davis
Fort Findlay Playhouse
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Posted By: KEB54
Date Posted: 8/19/08 at 5:35pm
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Is your theatre not-for-profit? If so, don't you need to keep track of volunteer hours as justification for your 501c3 status? Once they pay a membership fee, what does that do to your standing?
There are several sites, ect. that puts a value on volunteer hours, According to this one, http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/volunteer_time.html - http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/volunteer_time.html in 2007 a volunteer hour was worth $19.51. If you need to come up with matching funds for grants, or to show community backing, these numbers are important. Every hour of every rehearsal and every hour of every show for every actor adds another $19.51 to the pot. Granted it is funny money in that you can't buy lumber with it, but it definately has worth!
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KEB
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Posted By: skoehler
Date Posted: 8/19/08 at 7:53pm
Be VERY careful with this. Board Members donating their services pro bono, for instance a lawyer on the board giving legal advice, CANNOT write off the time. Therefore their time cannot be counted as an in-kind donation. The tax laws are pretty clear on this and I would be very careful about using volunteer hours as matching funds.
Also, most grants will ask about volunteer hours in addition to in-kind donations.
501c3 is not affected by membership, tax wise this is often seen in the same light as an individual donation, thus support of the theatre. You do not need to track volunteer hours, but you would be foolish not to, they are valuable numbers and many grants do ask for specific breakdowns of volunteer and community participation.
I didn't ask in my previous post, but I assume that membership is already a requirement for Board membership, if not it should be.
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Steven Koehler
Managing Director
Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette
www.lafayettecivic.org
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Posted By: LEHCo
Date Posted: 8/26/08 at 2:40pm
We actually do ask all of our members to pay dues ($25/year) if they are cast in or work on a show (unless we specifically invite them, let's say because of their acting experience). The reason is that we need to be able to cover the cost of their costumes, and building sets, etc. We charge very little for our shows, $5 to $8, and don't really make a lot of money. We haven't heard a complaint from anyone, all are more than happy to pay in order to support our group. We are very small, so maybe that is why it's not a problem.
Oh, another reason people are happy may be because the other large nonprofit community theater near us charges twice as much PER SHOW!!!!!! Aaaahhhh!
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Thanks!
LEHCo
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Posted By: stageman 2
Date Posted: 8/26/08 at 3:42pm
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We do have provisions in our by-laws that Board members must be paid members and of course you must be a member to vote but even though we encourage membership, we do not insist participants pay dues. As someone stated, volunteers are hard to find and keep. Our annual dues are only $15 but we still have prominent members of the community who have been coming to our shows for years that have never joined. Go figure.
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Posted By: whitebat
Date Posted: 8/28/08 at 10:34pm
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That is quite a different situation from our CT. We have general membership (pretty much anyone who's been in any of our shows in any capacity) and a board (about 5 officer positions, who try to get to all the meetings and make decisions), and nobody pays any dues. It's hard enough getting anyone (besides the board and 3-4 others) back to do a second show anyway.
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Posted By: Davenport Scott
Date Posted: 9/20/08 at 3:57pm
my CT is a membership organization ($10), but membership is not required to be in or work on the shows. The managing board, directors and assistant directors are required to be members, but no one else is. Members get some perks - workshops are free, they get a pair of tickets, vote on various stuff we do - but we make sure that everyone knows you do not have to join up to participate.
"membership" is a tricky thing, and one that I'm not overly fond of in most structure. It can really give off the vibe of exclusivity if you are not careful.
eta.... we have about 110 paid members, but in reality only about 45 are active members.
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Posted By: dexter74656
Date Posted: 9/21/08 at 6:19pm
My feeling has always strongly been that the actors and crew are giving up so much of their time - and with gas prices, that means a lot to people that are 25-30 minutes away! - that I do everything possible to make sure that they incur as little cost as possible. The only thing we ask them for are their show shirts - which are optional, if they don't want one, they don't have to buy it, and we ask for half the cost of their script *if* they want to keep it - if they don't want to keep it, we ask they keep it in good condition and return it to us at the end.
The only except was our first year as an organization when we had no funds, we asked for half of the costume rental cost.
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