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Gary,
To make such statements you clearly have not understood the CFC financial crisis of the past decade. :(
If you are suggesting we should have kept spending until all the Foundation money was gone also, thankfully most governors disagree with you!:)
The point of having or making money is to be able to spend it according to your needs and dreams, hopefully wisely. What is the point of having a Chess Foudation whose money serve only to make more money (as if "investing" is a sure way to do that) and not to accomplish what you need to accomplish now ?
Of course the point in keeping that money safe may be to prevent the CFC to spend it foolishly but how long will it last ? When and who will decide eventually that the CFC has grown responsible enough to start spending it wisely?
By the way I doubt that "a new CFC Website" which has to be constantly improved and kept up to date (and redone after a while) really qualifies as a "one-time capital expenditure", but here maybe I don't quite understand the terminology.
Why would the money not be safely held if the CFC was holding it and using some of the money for the upcoming Olympics or for chess?
Assuming for now your question is neither rhetorical nor sarcastic::)
With heavy operating losses over the past decade, the CFC is fighting for financial credibility. The recent restructuring of the organization has allowed it to balance the budget. This fiscal year, so far, that has been achieved.
The governors are voting on a budget for the next fiscal year. I sure hope it will be balanced as well. :)
Until then, everyone feels a little safer with the money in the Foundation.:)
By the way I doubt that "a new CFC Website" which has to be constantly improved and kept up to date (and redone after a while) really qualifies as a "one-time capital expenditure", but here maybe I don't quite understand the terminology.
You correctly point out that regular maintenance and improvements of the website should not be considered a capital expenditure. :)
However,
IMHO a major overhaul of the website after a decade of neglect would qualify as a capital expenditure. :D
But feel free to disagree, it is a matter of opinion. The important point is to spend the money wisely, and get "a good bang for our buck". Arguing over in which budget it belongs, not so important.
Last edited by Bob Gillanders; Thursday, 1st April, 2010, 11:50 AM.
With heavy operating losses over the past decade, the CFC is fighting for financial credibility. The recent restructuring of the organization has allowed it to balance the budget. This fiscal year, so far, that has been achieved.
The governors are voting on a budget for the next fiscal year. I sure hope it will be balanced as well. :)
Until then, everyone feels a little safer with the money in the Foundation.:)
I'd say the chess would be better if the players formed an alternate federation and applied to FIDE to be recognized and the Canadian entity.
I don't feel safer with the money in the federation. I think it should be put into chess and promoting the game. The current model appears broken. The CFC has little internet presence, no star player to promote interest, and Olympic teams which have no incentive to prepare for an event in which Canada might not even participate.
Is the membership back over 2,000 yet? There will soon be around 100 executives, governors, life governors, fund trustees and staff to service those hordes of members.
We need many more strong players to give simuls, to teach, to coach and to write about the game to promote it, not less. Exploits of sportsmen does have an effect on memberships.
I *really* hope the CFC doesn't spend a lot of money on a new website... Not sure what "a lot" means actually, but I think anything more than a couple of thousand dollars would likely make me lose what little mind I have left. It all depends on the objectives of the new website - and that is information I do not know. The CFC needs to simplify its operation and streamline the office functionality (including the website and back office processing). Surely that can be done without blowing all the money from the sale of the office??
Gary, who takes care of the CCCA website? something along those lines is all we need, easy to feed and care for.
i also like the suggestion by a previous poster to use a wikipedia sort of thing for information.
the only sticking point is the rating portion of the website. i like the way it works...how portable is that?
What will it do the next year when money are gone? (maybe after 3-4 years)
As "for chess" - I think there are no real and clear plan yet. Have you one?
Does Russia operate their chess program the same way the CFC operates their chess program?
Why is there no plan? The Foundation came into existence in 1960. Now it's 2010 and YOU tell ME there is no clear plan yet. Where were you in 1960?
50 years and still no plan. Does that tell you anything?
The important point is to spend the money wisely, and get "a good bang for our buck". Arguing over in which budget it belongs, not so important.
:(
Call me a bureaucrat, but these kind of things must be fully thought through before doing. The process has just as much importance as the end result if the CFC wants to build a sustainable structure.
when I did the database for the Victoria Chess Club http://victoriachess.com/db/ the web page portion took 4 days of my time. Considering that a) I had to learn a new programming language to do it b) I also did not know html at the time and had to learn that as well in those 4 days, I'm sure a professional in the field could do it in significantly less given a proper specification to write to.
The heavy lifting is writing the database program itself which doesn't have to be changed.
the program that takes data entry and calculates new ratings etc is a separate program from the web pages that query the database. For the Victoria database at least, this program is never seen, never used by the public. Querying the database and formatting the data for a webpage is quite easy.
The point of having or making money is to be able to spend it according to your needs and dreams, hopefully wisely. What is the point of having a Chess Foudation whose money serve only to make more money (as if "investing" is a sure way to do that) and not to accomplish what you need to accomplish now ?
Mr. Hébert, I suspect a significant portion of the funds came from lifetime subscription. In general, such monies are invested to ensure the fund will be able to meet the cost of the obligations towards these lifetime members.
As for the rest of the monies, I have no idea if they were originally donated and to what purposes, and the questions you raised deserve an answer from the administrators in my opinion.
Of course the point in keeping that money safe may be to prevent the CFC to spend it foolishly but how long will it last ? When and who will decide eventually that the CFC has grown responsible enough to start spending it wisely?
The administrators of the funds typically have that responsibility.
I believe it would be wise, if anyone has a great idea as to how to spend these funds, to build a business case and present it to the administrators and the CFC executives, not necessarily at the same time. Such presentations should tell you how much support there is from both side of the fence.
By the way I doubt that "a new CFC Website" which has to be constantly improved and kept up to date (and redone after a while) really qualifies as a "one-time capital expenditure", but here maybe I don't quite understand the terminology.
It's like the foundation pays for a car and the CFC is responsible to pay to maintain it on the road.
I have my doubts whether the monies would be well invested considering the old and current CFC websites are pitiful and this one, a simple bulletin board, looks meh at best. I am not saying this site does not meet the requirements of the owner, just that I am very doubtful it will attract many members based solely on its presentation.
Please note although I am not a big fan of the FQE website it looks quite polished and it appears to be designed to keep maintenance costs are kept to a minimum. A good design for an organisation with a limited budget for its web presence.
I'm not knowledgeable enough about a Russian chess program. I may tell you about Lithuanian. Do you wanna read?
I want to read. You can write.
Some years ago we wrote about participation in different activities and those who might have ideas which are different from that of most people. Over the years I've noticed such things usually get a following of at least one tenth of one percent of the population. In Canada that would be roughly 30,000 people.
That's the number of players organized chess in Canada should have. We discussed this on the correspondence chess message board and some nations have roughly that percentage of the population or close. It's been a long time now so I don't recall the exact details but some of the European nations do have memberships roughly one tenth of one percent.
The chess set I use is an old Latvian set given to me by a relative. It was her fathers.
Mr. Hébert, I suspect a significant portion of the funds came from lifetime subscription. In general, such monies are invested to ensure the fund will be able to meet the cost of the obligations towards these lifetime members.
As for the rest of the monies, I have no idea if they were originally donated and to what purposes, and the questions you raised deserve an answer from the administrators in my opinion.
Daniel, excellent questions. To the best of my knowledge, I can tell you:
Treasurer Paul LeBlanc has done an excellent job with the annual foundation financial reports. Latest annual report (April 30, 2009) can be found on the CFC website with the Governors Letters.
Equity in the Chess Foundation at April 30th 2009 stood at $ 157,013. This is comprised of $ 136,509 of unencumbered funds and $ 20,504 for the Kalev Pugi Fund. Pugi funds are earmarked for CFC youth programs in accordance with the wishes of the donors.
AFAIK, most of the unencumbered funds are from life memberships. The only other large contribution I know of, is the Toronto Building Fund (23k?).
In September 2009, the net proceeds from the condo sale ($65,809) was sent to the foundation (in trust) to be invested.
The foundation history goes back to 1960, 50 years. Do we have 50 years of good financial records? I don't know, but I will ask. :)
I would like to see a complete history of the Foundation myself. :D
Last edited by Bob Gillanders; Friday, 2nd April, 2010, 01:05 PM.
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