2010 Field Finance Changes
From AFSWiki
Changes to AFS-USA Field Finances Related to Co-Support Funds, Local Bank Accounts, and Chartering in 2010
effective immediately December 2009
Overview
Beginning in June 2009 members of the Field Finance and Volunteer Development Staff have had several meetings regarding our current field finance processes as it relates to the new volunteer structure requirements. In these meetings we have discussed areas for improvements as well as identified where changes could be made to our current processes. Through this process we have engaged Chairs and Treasurers from all levels of the organization to get their input and feedback. This feedback process was conducted mainly through online surveys. In addition, the National Council has been engaged in reviewing the recommendations for change and in the end voted on and approved all the changes outlined in this document. The exception to this is the chartering proposal, which will be discussed by the National Council at their January 30-31, 2010 meeting. We will be incorporating any feedback from Chairs and Treasurers attending the January training regarding the chartering process in the final presentation that will be made to the National Council at that January meeting.
The purpose of this document is to provide you with detailed information about these changes. For the Team Chairs and Treasurers that are invited to attend the January Chair & Treasurer Training we will have the opportunity to go into more detail and have time for further discussion about these changes. For Chairs & Treasurers either on the Chapter level or who are not able to attend this training, we will be arranging follow up conference calls that will be scheduled after the January Chair & Treasurer Training.
In the meantime, all Chairs and Treasurers are invited and encouraged to post their comments and questions in our AFS Wiki database. Please see the link below.
Co-Support Payment Changes for 2010
Previous Co-Support Payment Process
- Teams set “commitments” for the number of hosted and sent participants that the team would host and send in the upcoming calendar year.
- Teams receive co-support payments based on their “commitment” numbers at various points throughout the program cycle.
- Teams then have to “reconcile” their co-support payment according to the difference (+ or -) between the “actual” number of participants hosted and sent versus the “commitment” number.
- Teams would not rollover their co-support funds from one calendar year to another.
“NEW” Co-Support Payment Process
- Teams will receive co-support payments based on the “actual” number of students hosted and sent from their team.
- 2010 will be the transition year to this new payment process.
The dates and payments during the 2010 transition year will be as follows:
- 3rd week of January (January 18, 2010): Teams will receive $50.00 per NH09 host participant (or one half of the amount indicated in the Agreement).
- 2nd week of April 2010 (April 12, 2010): Teams will receive full co-support payment for total number of SH 2010 hosted and sent participants as determined by participants linked to their team in Global Link.
- 1st week of May 2010 (May 3, 2010): Teams will receive an additional $50.00 per NH09 hosted participant (the remaining half of the amount indicted in the Agreement).
- Last week of October 2010 (October 25, 2010): Teams will receive full co-support payment for total number of NH 2010 hosted and sent participants.
Request for Advances in 2010
- During this transition year, as Teams adjust to the new payment cycle, they will be allowed to apply for advances to their co-support funds between May and October in order to help cover the costs for inbound and outbound orientations.
- Advances will be approved for anticipated costs in excess of what the Team has in its accounts, and teams will be asked to provide some documentation regarding their expected costs.
- In addition teams will only be approved for advances provided that their monthly and year-end reports have been submitted. In the case of Teams this will apply to reports for both the Team account as well as accounts held by any affiliated chapters within their boundaries.
Advantages of the “NEW” Co-Support Payment Process
- The number of payments to a team is reduced from 4 payments a year to just 2 payments.
- We no longer have to figure out the difference between “commitment” and “actual” resulting in some teams having to pay back AFS because their “actual” hosted and sent numbers were less than their “commitment.”
- Teams get to roll-over their co-support payments from one calendar year to another.
IMPORTANT Note Re: 2010 Co-Support Payment Process Changes
We want to acknowledge the fact that in 2010 there may be challenges in the current co-support payment timeline. Given that the bulk of co-support funds are used to cover orientation costs for the NH 2010 hosted and sent participants, receiving your NH2010 co-support payments at the end of October when the majority of these orientations have already occurred may be challenging. Co-support payments made based on "actual" participant numbers must be made in October as this is the time when actual numbers for all teams are finalized.
However, if we find that a significant number of teams have challenges with the co-support fund timeline we will look at alternatives for 2011.
Co-Support Payment Amounts for 2011
One consistent comment that we have received from Chairs and Treasurers is the fact that the co-support payment amounts have not changed since the creation of the Team structure over 10 years ago. Although we will not be able to make any adjustments in 2010, the Volunteer Structure Committee will be addressing this issue and will review the current co-support payment amounts and work on a proposal for changes in 2011. This proposal will be developed in 2010 with the plan of presenting it to the National Council for review at their June face to face meeting.
Location of Local Bank Accounts – Moving Accounts to Bank of America and Wells Fargo
All local bank accounts for locally-raised funds and co-support payments will be moved to Bank of America (or Wells Fargo if no Bank of America is located within 50 miles and no ATM is located within 5 miles of the Team or Chapter Treasurer and/or Chair).
Steps for Implementation
- Goal will be to have the majority of local accounts held by Bank of America. This will be the only option for teams that have a Bank of America available (*attached to this email is a slide showing all states that have a Bank of America branch and ATM).
- Wells Fargo will be a secondary choice only for those teams that do not have a Bank of America branch within 50 miles or an ATM located within 5 miles. As there are some teams that already have accounts with Wells Fargo even though a Bank of America is present, we will grandfather those teams and allow them to keep their accounts at Wells Fargo.
- Bank of America and Wells Fargo will provide us with information about their banks which will be sent to all teams prior to the Chair/Treasurer Training in January.
- Representatives from Bank of America and hopefully Wells Fargo will be present at the Chair/Treasurer Training in January to facilitate the movement of accounts and answer questions.
- Conference calls/webex meetings with bank representatives from Bank of America and Wells Fargo and staff from the Field Finance and Volunteer Development Departments will be arranged for any volunteers who still have questions about opening their accounts. These calls will be arranged after the January Chair/Treasurer Training.
Dates for Moving Local Accounts
- June 30, 2010: All Teams and Chapters will be required to move their bank accounts to Bank of America or Wells Fargo.
- Teams and Chapters will be required to submit proof that they have closed their original bank accounts by submitting a copy of the final bank statement with zero balance.
This is a change from what was originally posted on Dec 17, 2009. The original date was for Teams to move their local accounts by March 30,2010. Based on feedback from the Chair and Treasurer Training in New Orleans in January 2010, the National Council at their February 2010 meeting decided to extend the deadline for moving ALL local accounts to June 30, 2010.
Advantages to Moving Local Accounts
- Will streamline the process of establishing local bank accounts because volunteers will not have to visit a local branch since AFS-USA will have a central contact for establishing local accounts.
- Signature cards will be sent electronically and once signed will be mailed back. The AFS-USA CFO signature will not be needed on each separate signature card.
- Streamline the co-support payment process. Rather than sending a check to the volunteer, these funds can be transferred directly to chapter/Team accounts. (This is a process that we plan to implement in the 3rd quarter of 2010)
- AFS-USA will get credit for the amounts on deposit in all AFS accounts that will help to offset bank charges that AFS-USA would otherwise have thereby helping our bottom line.
- Chapters and Teams will no longer have to send in copies of their year-end bank statement as required in the annual chartering process, although background documentation will such as receipts will still need to be submitted
- This will simplify/eliminate steps in the current chapter chartering process and local funds consolidation process.
- Through Bank of America there would be free checking, no minimum balance required in the accounts, and we will be working on negotiating with both banks additional benefits for AFS as a whole.
- Provides greater transparency and accountability as to how funds are being managed on both sides.
Team Chartering
In 2010 we will be implementing what we see as a more simplified process for chartering our Teams and Affiliated Chapters.
Current Process
- Team Agreements and Charters had different cycles and deadlines.
- Teams were required to submit and sign a Team agreement. This agreement included the hosted and sent commitments for the upcoming program year, as well as detailing additional information related to the team.
- Unaffiliated Chapters were required to submit a Chapter Charter application as well as additional information related to receipt of co-support funds.
- Affiliated Chapters were required to submit individual Chapter Charter applications.
Proposed “NEW” Chartering Process
- We will no longer have the “Team Agreement.”
- Teams will be required to charter annually. Affiliated Chapters will be chartered as part of the Team chartering process.
- Charter applications will be sent out annually in early January with a submission deadline of March 31st.
- In 2010 this process will be done through electronic documents, but the goal is that in 2011 this process will be able to be done directly through Global Link.
Team Chartering process/requirements
- List of leadership volunteers
Teams will be asked to verify/update the names and contact information for their Chair, Chair-elect and Treasurer.
- Contact volunteers for specific functions
Teams will be asked to verify/update the names and contact information for the volunteers who serve as “contacts” for key functional areas including hosting, sending, support, orientations, and volunteer development.
- Zip Codes
Teams will be asked to verify/update the list of zip codes that define the boundaries of the Team.
- Actual hosted and sent participants for the current program cycle
Verify and update host and sent participant list.
- Team meeting report and annual budget
Submission of their annual Team meeting report and annual budget
- Affiliated Chapter information
Teams will be required to verify/update or provide the following for each of their affiliated chapters:
- Status – active or retired.
- Chapter Chair (and Treasurer if the chapter has a local bank account for locally raised funds) and contact information.
- Registered volunteers.
- Actual number of participants currently hosted or sent linked to that chapter.
- Chapter Chair and Treasurer (if the chapter has a local bank account) electronic signatures.
- Team Chair and Treasurer’s electronic signatures.
Unaffiliated Chapter Charter process/requirements
- List of leadership volunteers
Unaffiliated Chapters will be asked to verify/update the names and contact information for their Chairs and Treasurers.
- Registered volunteers
Unaffiliated Chapters will be asked to verify/update the names, contact information and affiliation for all registered volunteers in their chapter.
- Actual hosted and sent participants for the current program cycle
Verify/update hosted and sent participant list.
- Chair and Treasurer’s electronic signatures.
- In addition, Teams will be sent information regarding their financial reporting for the previous years and will be informed if any financial reporting requirements have not been completed.
- Teams will receive this information for their affiliated chapters.
- Once the charter application is complete and all financial reporting for the previous year is in order, each Team will receive a “Charter Certificate” good for one year.
Financial Reporting Guidelines
In recent years, AFS-USA has been rather flexible, in terms of allowing teams to continue receiving co-support funds, even though they are not in compliance with certain financial reporting or other requirements. We would like to begin to more consistently enforce AFS-USA standards regarding this issue. Therefore, we will be enforcing the following:
- Teams will not receive any co-support funds, unless they are up to date on their monthly and year-end reporting requirements.
- Teams will not receive any advances from Field Finance, unless they are up to date on their monthly year-end reporting requirements.
- In 2010, Teams will not receive any co-support funds for SH 2010 program participants until the teams have transferred their funds to Bank of America or Wells Fargo and provide proof that the former bank account has been closed.
- In addition, NH 2010 co-support payments will not go out to any Team where their affiliated chapters have not transferred their funds to Bank of America or Wells Fargo and provide proof that the former bank accounts have been closed.
Update on Field Finance Staffing
With the departure of Gordon Miller, our Director of Budget and Financial Analysis, Jorge has decided to make some changes to the structure of the Finance Department. Sue Cook, formerly the Manager of Field Finance and Sponsored Programs, has been promoted to Senior Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis. In her new role Sue will be in charge of budget development, results reporting and analysis, and financial compliance, including required state filings and the 990. She will also function as the Great Plains super user, and will be responsible for corporate credit card administration and contract management. Vicki Toepper, recently hired as one of our new accountants, will assume Sue’s responsibilities for the day to day administration of Field Finance and continue to report to Sue Cook.
