Sunday, April 5, 2009

Unanswered Questions a Concern

I have attached the poll information and also a response to the recent BPW situation.

I joined BPW in 2005 from a recommendation from now Sedalia past president, Nancy Grey. She stressed to me all of the past history of the organization and all the wonderful things that the Sedalia club had accomplished over the years. It took one meeting and I joined. I have chosen to move up the ladder quicker than I anticipated but the opportunity came at a time when I was going through the transition of empty nester with my children leaving for college in two consecutive years. Also with my husband and I operating our own trucking business since 1995 and moving to MO in 1997 from CA, I strongly believed that it would be a great networking opportunity to meet other powerful women in the community. I am still learning about BPW everyday. I have been able to attend State Conferences for several years and attend more and more functions both locally and regionally. At this point in time am now slated as of last night to be President Elect for 2009/2010.

This past year I have been saddened how BPW/USA slowly but surely has drained the organization bit by bit. Poor financial decisions and overall poor judgment/practices is the perspective that has been given to me. The webinar was a terrific attempt at a "sales pitch" on how wonderful it will be for Foundation and USA to merge. Why would we allow this to happen? Changes definitely need to be made from the ground up. The fact that our choice to "vote" after this merger is completely taken away from the members who have built BPW is completely unacceptable.

Many questions were not able to be answered at the Webinar which is also a concern. The attitude "we won't know until after the merger" does not sit well with me personally. It seems as though they are pushing the merger to hurry the process and then our voices will be silenced.

90 years ago BPW was started in MO, I think it is a sign that MO needs to set the course and not allow this merger to happen. We have a state of powerful, knowledgeable, women of all ages and professions. We can make BPW what it once was and still be an organization of the future business women.

Cindy Goalder
1st Vice President
Sedalia BPW

3 comments:

L S Fisher said...

Cindy, thank you for sharing your opinion on the blog. We gain insights through each member's perspective.

Anonymous said...

If the members vote "no" on the merger it would seem that the corportaion will be disolved.

Ok, What happens to the programs and assets then? Speaking of assets what is the most current financial condition? They indicate the have financial obligations but yet they seem to have assets (like unearned dues for the current year)

What are the terms of the restricted contribution from BPWF? Surely we havnt lost the $500,000 already.

Anonymous said...

I may be missing something but I understand that the Foundation didnt award scholarships this time.

If they are not planning on awarding scholarships what need is there for annual licensing fees of between $400,000 and $600,000. Will the scholarships be increased? If so by how much?

I looked for their financial report but could only find one for 2005-2006. According to that report they had revenue of $857,953 expenses of $1,108,664 and assets (end of year) of $6,316,316 (a decrease of $250,711 from the previous year).

My first question is where are the 2007 and 2008 reports.

Second question: Are they going down the same financial path as BPW-USA? They did manage to lose almost $400,000 in 2 years.

Third question: Why is it that when times get tough the majority of us tighten our belts and make due with less, yet some organizations never seem to realize the realities we live in and continue as if nothing had changed. A successful organization must change with the times and save in the good times for that rainy day.

BPW-USA and BPW Foundation lets see the "beef" show us your current financial condition. Tell us the truth.