Venting like crazy!

okay, I've been avoiding venting about this here because it's possible for the folks that I'm venting about might see a link to this page and take a peek. But ya know, my blog isn't visited by too many people...that I know of... I should get a counter to be sure... so I'm figuring what the heck.

Here it goes:

Along with everything else I do (see the crazy busy life post) I am also the Financial Coordinator for LLL in our area. My official title is Area Financial Coordinator. I say that my real job is Area Financial NAG! My job includes being the treasurer, which is the easy part...I just write checks which isn't too bad with someone else's money. But the NAG part is that every year around April (before if I can get to it) I send out invoices for Leader dues and the notice that Financial Reports are due. Every year I explain in detail what the dues are for and why the Leaders are paying dues to the area and to international and group dues as well. Yeah that's a lot of dues, but the money is supposed to be paid from the group accounts...not the leader's personal money.

No matter how detailed the letter is, I still get a bunch of Leaders asking "didn't I just pay that?" "Why am I supposed to pay that?" "I thought that was due (a month later)?" Enough questions that make me sure that NO ONE ever reads the letters that I send out. I've now been the treasurer for a year and two months and there are still Leaders who are sending money to our old treasurer who moved away!!!!!!!!!!

Since becoming the AFC I have written numerous letters/ articles explaining what is supposed to be happening to these women...all of which have been ignored apparently because they are still doing what ever the heck they like. I have also been so kind as to write a spread sheet for them to use to keep track of all their financial stuff on that fills out the report for them...they just enter their income & expenses like a checkbook and note what the money was for. I even taught a class at our Leader workshop on all the paperwork and showed them how easy it is to do.

Did it help? NOT ONE BIT!

The last straw this year was one leader who called me up after I sent her a past due notice to say that "I thought that it was due June 30th and my family is going on vacation so you'll have to wait until June 30th to get it." Hello? It was DUE APRIL 1st!!!! The deadline for getting it to me was JUNE 1st! She pulled the same crap last year, throwing in that her Family was more important than LLL stuff. I hear from other Leaders that she's really a great leader, just lousy at paperwork and paying bills too. I would hate to see her personal finances...I would also hate to see the personal finances of most of these ladies.

So I had a thought that if all these Leaders think the deadline is when they are suppose to sit down and do the work, maybe I should move the deadline away from the end of the school year as that seems to be part of the problem. So my revelation is to move the due date up and to not give them 3 and a half months to get it in next year. It seems too easy to forget if it's not due now. I'll probably be back next year venting even harder that my plan didn't work, but keep your fingers crossed that it does. I'm also going to try to charge them for being late as well.

One of the Department coordinator Leaders that I mentioned this plan to was already whining about it and I know that she uses the spreadsheet. So I'm sure I'll hear lots of complaining, but I'll take it.

BTW: Of the 30 plus leaders that I sent a late notice to, I've only heard from 6...