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VP Topic...Grants
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:56am
Handling grants has been listed as a job the VP handles.
I have some ideas about what that means, and changes in policy to how they have been handled in the past.
As I participate more with the board and the NCNCA, I am learning more about grants that have never seem to make the public eye. It appears that grants have been awarded and offered to only a few who are in the know.
I know for a fact that our current board is working hard to change some of operating procedures that have been handed down from the early years of the NCNCA. The current board is doing a fantastic job of making the NCNCA more transparent and ultimately more fair to it's members (that would be you).
My feeling on grant programs is that they should have the potential of being available for all the member clubs to compete for. Qualifications should be established and published publicly with a clear explanation of the application process.
The grants themselves should be developed to aid areas where subsidies will do the most good and encourage better race quality and safety.
Just one example:
The officials are pushing to make moto refs at all races a requirement. This is not likely to happen this year, it is only being recommended at this point.
I have spoken with the head ref for my race, and they make some valid points, but there is a big concern of cost as it adds potentially $400 to the cost of putting on the race.
Some of the races in our district can afford to absorb this cost, others, specifically a district championship and races in outlying areas may not be able to.
A good use of grants would be to cover the cost of the moto-official in cases when a race has a low level of attendance and would not have the revenue to support the extra cost.
Other situations would be races that have very high permit costs as some cities and counties impose substantial fees.
The point is, grants should be defined by the board and not a club or other individual creating the grant themselves without other clubs being able to compete for it.
If there is grant money available, everyone should have an opportunity to apply for it, not just those on the inside track.
Times are changing and we have new fresh ideas and strong leadership in our current board. It's important that the VP be in alignment with the new direction of the NCNCA and not hold onto the old ways of doing business.
The NCNCA is becoming more transparent and replacing an outdated constitution with well written by-laws as required for non profit status. Many improvements are underway.
Thanks for reading,
Ron Castia
Candidate for VP
Eric -
We wouldn't be printing it on stone tablets or parchment either. A .pdf newsletter would be great. It's free to distribute to all the members, full color, potential unlimited.
Okay, BBC. This is your cue to tone in about what a great job I did as the Rupert Murdoch of the BBC Pneusletter during the 2006 season, and how it's never been the same since I left to graze greener pastures. (I still have the cover of the May, 2006 issue on the wall of my office: "Zebra Gallops to Central Valley GC Win!")
BBC?
Uh, hello?
The printed newsletter went away when fewer than 100 subscriptions were received, making it not only financially a loser, but apparently of little interest to Northern California riders.
Everybody was getting their information on-line.
== Eric
There used to be a hard copy newsletter.
I am not really sure why we did away with completely rather than making it into a PDF and distributing electronically.
There was also ad space sold in the newsletter. This could be brought back in the PDF version and possibly be a revenue source.
At the very least the revenue could pay for someone's time to do the layout and publishing.
Could also provide another area for...yes, you guessed it, the topic of this thread...grants.
Ron
I have to agree wirth you, Slowpoke, that the Sitemap page could use some redrafting. During the past couple of weeks I have been trying to look up certain information with very little success.
I was unable to find:
> The contact info for the Officials' Coordinator. (In fact, the complete list of officials and contact info is currently unobtainable).
> Any information regarding grants, as you noted.
> Race photo/blog/results links (the ones that used to tickertape over the Forum page.)
> The minutes of the last three Board meetings.
And the newsletter idea is starting to germinate in my over-fertilized mind. I think it's time to start a new thread ...
this is the first i've heard of Grants. thanks for bringing it to our attention.
we can start with 2 links on the sitemap page
1. for Grant pre-requisets
2. for a pdf. Grant application
my .02
slowpoke
Excellent ideas Jess.
Excellent ideas, Ron.
I have been unaware of the grants, except the only one I saw mentioned by Casey and Lorri in the Forum a couple of years ago for new races.
Then again, like most of the membership, I have not diligently attended the monthly meetings. "In the know" means interested parties putting themselves in a position to learn. That means, at the least, monitoring the webcasts of the meetings. Mia culpa for not being "in the know."
That said, the other modes of communication for the region (mail servers, forum) could be better utilized to advertise grants, or to invite grant proposals, without the membership having to set aside those specific hours each month.
A regional electronic newsletter would be an ideal option to consolidate the information gap for the rank and file. And it could be very entertaining, with race reviews and previews, funny photos, a monthly column from wittsers like Phipps .... or Dan Martin ...
Hmmmmmmm........
Just thinking aloud, Ron. Sorry for straying.