March 18, 2024 Email from President Jack Sparks to Rotary Club of Dunwoody Members:
At our January 5 meeting we delayed a vote on increasing our dues in order to perform an audit on the club’s operating and charitable funds to ensure that charitable donation/expenses were not being paid for out of the operating budget. There is a report of that audit available to any member who would like a copy. But the synopsis is that there were no adjustments needed for charitable expenses made from the operating fund during the audited period (July 1, 2022-December 31, 2023) and the board did not identify and future changes required.
Our club still needs to balance our operating budget. Operating revenues have declined in the past few years as during COVID our club gave the option of having a membership type of 'no meals'. We currently have 64 total members, of which 29 are 'Full Members' who pay for meals, 19 members chose to go to 'no meals' when the option was available and 14 are under the 'Rule of 85' membership (Age+Year of Membership > 85 so they have the option of no meals) while 2 are Young Professionals. The meal fee is what pays for our meeting space, but the burden for that is falling on too few members. At Le Meridian, for example, the cost to rent the space and only serve coffee was roughly the same as what it cost to serve 25 people breakfast.
To balance our operating budget the Board of Directors voted to raise dues $50 per quarter ($200 per year) across all membership types. To raise dues in this manner our club will need to vote on this at our next meeting, March 29, 2024. Our dues structure is set in the Club's bylaws, and accordingly, a vote of the Club membership is required to amend the bylaws to increase the quarterly dues.
If you are unable to attend the March 29th meeting you can vote by proxy. To vote by proxy please email your vote to approve or reject this proposal to raise the dues $50 per quarter to Dave Burr at dave@mailcenteretc.com.
Current and Proposed Dues