My thoughts are that it would generate an awful lot more questions from the
membership about the day to day running of the organisation. If the member
is asking out of interest, and has financial skills themselves, it could be
useful. Then again, they might want to argue the price you're spending on
staples.
There has to be an element of trust involved with the chapter. It's good
for members to have input, but if it generates a too large workload, or
gives misleading figures, it might be best to reconsider.
My advice might be to keep the members informed at a general level: for
example, with rough figures (to the nearest thousand for WMUK) but don't
get bogged down in detail.
Richard Symonds, Wikimedia UK
On Aug 19, 2012 12:55 PM, "Craig Franklin" <cfranklin(a)halonetwork.net>
wrote:
This post is mainly targeted at the Treasurers of
membership organisations
among us, but others are of course welcome to chip in.
At WMAU, we've recently had a request from one of our members for a
monthly report of the chapter's financial situation to be made available to
members. This is somewhat unusual, as I don't recall ever being in an
organisation that has done this on a monthly basis for its members, as
opposed to an end-year summary at the AGM, which we do already do. What I
think is specifically being requested is a balance sheet and P&L statement
as at the close of every month. I'm a bit hesitant to do this to be
honest, while I often answer specific questions from members, unaudited MA
figures can sometimes be misleading and move about a bit as various
adjustments are made for the auditor. Naturally, within five minutes of
being released to our members, the documents could be anywhere, so it's as
good as making them public. Does any other chapter provide this sort of
high level information on a regular basis, other than at the annual general
meeting (or equivalent)?
We'll also be seeking advice from the relevant department of government on
this question, but I wonder if anyone else has some experience or
perspectives to share?
Thanks,
Craig Franklin
Wikimedia Australia
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