Budget Report

This is a new page for the web site, and it is intended to provide a snapshot of where we are, and what we do with, club funds. Since we have to start this somewhere, we'll start as of today.

Funds On Hand @ 5/14/2014: $2,026

This includes cash in our bank account, and the balance in the club's PayPal account.

Expected cash uses during the rest of 2014

Some of the expenses we incur every year include:

  • Web Domain

  • Guild Dues

    • Costs for conducting the Microbrewery Festival Homebrew Competition. Between the cost of BjCP registration for the competition, supplies for running the competition, providing breakfast for the judges, prize ribbons, and supplementing other prizes, we probably actually came close to breaking even on the competition last year.

    • Common brewing and dining site at BrewCamp.

    • Holiday Party raffle prizes

    • Reimbursement for BJCP exam cost to members who pass any levels of the exam.

    • Subsidies for expenses to host a Club Night booth at the National Homebrewers Conference for the past several years. This year, our club will be participating with the Free State Homebrew Club Guild in a combined Guild booth at the NHC in Grand Rapids, Michigan (registration and hotel are still available). We do not know what costs might be incurred this year, and because we will not have a Club Night booth specific to our club, any expenses for participation in Club Night 2014 will be borne by the individual participating members.

As everyone knows, this year we are celebrating our club's 20th Anniversary. We will be spending some club funds towards celebratory items and activities during the year. We hope that all club members participate in these events to benefit from your dues being put to work. This will include subsidizing all or part of the cost of:

    • The club has paid for some 20th Anniversary logo items (bottle caps, coasters, carboy stickers, signs) which have been, and will be, used as raffle prizes during club events such as the Mardi Gras party, the Big Brew, the Brew-Ha-Ha, and the Holiday Party. We may order more of these for additional raffle prizes later in the year.

    • The club is paying for our host's costs (food and paper/plastic) at the 2014 Big Brew which took place on May 3, 2014.

    • The club will subsidize all or part of the cost of one or two barrels (still undetermined) for the Big Barrel Project.

    • The club will subsidize the cost of food for the 2014 Brew-Ha-Ha and 20th Anniversary Picnic.

    • 20th Anniversary gift to every club member who attends the Brew-Ha-Ha in July. (Others who do not attend may purchase one after the event, until supplies run out. But we're not saying what it is until then!)

    • The club will partially subsidize the cost of a planned club Work Shirt purchase. More details to follow…please respond to an upcoming Survey for this item, as we will only be placing this order ONCE.

    • Other 20th Anniversary related items or events will likely arise, for which club funds could be allocated.

Sources of club revenue

Most of the club's available cash comes from membership dues. We also received significant cash last year from competition entry fees…most of which went to offset the cost of the competition. Additional funds also come from occasional 50/50 raffles, though for some events where we have a raffle, the club's portion goes to help offset the hosts's costs which are not fully reimbursed by our very modest "tasting fee".

The club also collects money for group purchases such as the recent 50% discount we received for Brew Your Own magazine, club T-shirts, and engraved club mugs. However, these are not money-making ventures for the club. Rather, we typically just pass the cost on directly to the membership and, in some cases, the club subsidizes a small amount of the costs.