Is there any legal difference in what we call a “not-for-profit” and a
“non-profit”? Is one an american thing? Is one something that we used to use,
but don’t any more?
Semantically, “Not for profit” implies that we don’t have a goal of profit
(like a corporation does), but we might still end up with some.
From: Adam Thompson
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 10:33 AM
To: [email protected] ; Benjamin Bergman
Subject: Re: [SkullSpace-Discuss] 2013-2014 Financial Update
A very minor nit, but a potentially important one: as a not-for-profit entity,
we can "accrue a surplus" every month; we cannot "make a profit".
Most of us think in terms of profit & loss, not surplus & deficit, but we
should still strive to use the correct terminology so the CRA doesn't have an
excuse to stick their nose in.
Basically just avoid using the word "profit". Yeah, it's goofy, but that's tax
law for you.
-Adam
On March 26, 2014 10:19:28 AM CDT, Benjamin Bergman <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello SkullSpacers,Attached to this email is the information which I presented
at ourlast meeting regarding the previous year's financial status. When
wemoved into our new space in November of 2012, we knew that we wouldsee a net
loss over the next year or so due to the large jump in rent.In the short term,
the plan was to smooth this out a bit with somemembers donating regularly
above and beyond their regular dues. Thelong term plan was to increase our
membership and events until weeventually were covering our costs again.As
you'll see from our income statement, we had a net loss for theyear. It was
probably a bit higher than expected, likely due to asudden, unexpected Hydro
bill as well as fewer regular pledgeddonations than were expected.You will also
see attached is a cash flow projection for the nextyear. This projection
assumes we do the exact same
thing as last year(ie. same amount of fundraisers with the same costs and
profits, samerent and utilities, same maintenance expenses, etc.), just
smoothedout throughout the year. The only exceptions to this are our dues
andinsurance.In the projection, our insurance cost is spread out over 12
monthsstarting in June, meaning it will continue to eat into next year'sbudget
as well. Last year we paid our insurance all at once at about$2000 in June, but
this year we will need to spread it out in order toavoid going into the red mid
June.The dues in the projection are based on today's member count (roughly65
members) as opposed to the average of dues from last year. Therehas been a
great trend recently of new members seemingly every week,so hopefully that
continues throughout the year.As you will notice, the projection shows our bank
balance going below$0 before the next AGM. As
such, we need to take some actions toimprove our cash flow. Some of our current
suggestions are:* More socials - perhaps two or more this year instead of just
onelike last year* Gift card fund raiser - you all buy groceries and gas
anyway, right?3% could go to SkullSpace!* Recurring donation pledges - if you
are not currently giving aregular donation or would like to increase your
monthly donationamount, please talk to a board member* Raising member dues -
this is a last resort option and we will onlydo this after thorough discussion
with the membershipPLEASE consider giving a regular donation and updating your
PAD. Ifeveryone gave an extra $5 or $10 per month, most of our
financialstruggle would be over. (Thank you to those members who are
alreadyregularly doing this.)At SkullSpace 1.0, our financial mandate was to
maintain three monthsof expenses in
our bank account to cover any unforeseen expenses. As a short term goal, I
would like to see us regularly having a net profiteach month instead of a loss,
but by the end of the year I hope we canreplenish a portion of our emergency
fund so we can have a strongfinancial base to enable us all to engage in
awesome projects andevents through the space long into the future.
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