On Mon, 7 May 2007, Larry Weil wrote:

In article ,
Eric wrote:

Just got back from NEAR-Fest in Deerfield, NH, and while I have to say it
ain't no Hosstraders (yet), still it was a very welcome event and I
enjoyed it, and it has the potential to grow in the full Hosstraders
tradition.

Speaking of the "Hosstraders tradition", I was just wondering if anyone
knows where the profits from this event are going.

Hosstraders was always held to benefit the Shriners Burn Center (or the
Shriners organization in general, I don't recall which), and from all
reports resulted in a large check to that organization twice a year. I'm
sure they will miss it.

Anyone know which charity (if any) will benefit from NEAR-Fest?

This was discussed at the prize drawing at the end. First, the want to
build up enough of a reserve so they can still have another hamfest even
if they get two washouts in a row. After that, they will be
contributing to ham radio related causes. They plan to post all the
financial info on the web site once the accounting is complete.

73 de KC1IH

--
Larry Weil
Lake Wobegone, NH


It also might not be obvious to some people but often an organization will
have to pay rent to use some space for events like a hamfest. There may be
other fees-costs, too.

This is not to say that the question could also be motivated by a genuine
curiosity about whether anyone inside the club/sponsor might be benefitting
in some preferential way that might be hidden from the average person.
Sometimes these are acceptable, sometimes not. One example I know from the
past, in a couple of clubs, had it that the raffle winners always turned
out to be all of the club officers. In another club I was once in, it was
interesting to learn that all of the club's radio gear (SSB HF
transceiver, and a bunch of other stuff) was "stored" at one
member's house and was always used during all of the contests by the
contest-freaks in the club. "That's the way we've been doing it for years"
and no one dared to openly ask about this but there were private whispers
about it. But, its _my_ dues and the dues of the others that is
subsidizing the interests of a very minor fraction of the membership.
Club members might want to pay attention to how annual finances are
discussed at meetings; do they go into depth or gloss over things?

Just a couple of things for people to think about.