Background
Friends in Sport Fishing is dedicated to providing boating recreation to communities of people with special needs. The demonstrable success of the enterprise can be attributed to the founding members whose commitment and dedication drove towards the significant and popular contribution that we make today.
The commitment and activity of our organization has now reached a point which suggests that we consider some greater degree of organization of our affairs. This is being driven in part by the requirement for more detailed information, greater accuracy and an indication of our commitment by donor organizations such as The Ontario Trillium Foundation and The Dragon Boat Foundation.
A Recap of Current Activity
1 We are an organization of about 48 members.
2 We operate five boats up to five days a week and up to twice a day.
3 We have 16-17 captains who are qualified to operate these boats.
4 We have a number of mates who are also qualified assist the captains in the safe operation of the boats.
5 We took in excess of 2000 people on more than 200 trips in 2017 and expect more this year.
6 Our financial statements indicate that we generate and ex pend up to $30,000.00 annually.
7 We are a registered charity which issues charitable donation receipts and reports to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
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8 We do not seek operational funds from any outside sources but we do seek funding for projects from a variety of public and private funding agencies. At present we have a grant application in for about $150,000.00 from the Trillium Foundation and $10,000 from the Dragon Boat Festival Foundation.
We received very positive feedback this year from an impact sur vey we commissioned in partnership with the Niagara College Recreational Therapy Program. We have committed to running up to two trips a day this year at Dow's Lake and the RCMP camp where demand exists. We will expand services in other locations as resources become available.
Our boats are aging and require replacement soon. Due to the condition of the boats, maintenance costs are rising.
We are responsible for the safety and security of the 2000 people noted above.
All of this activity strongly suggests that we institute some better guidelines in the areas of qualifications, financial control/report ing/budgeting, booking/trip logs, maintenance so that we can plan with a greater confidence.
We must keep in mind that we are responsible to a number of people and agencies for, safety and financial reporting and that among other things there is legal liability associated with our ser vice to the vulnerable sectors which enjoy our service. Proposal
While we need to demonstrate our fiscal and operational compe tency, at the same time we have goals that are important to us as an organization, namely
1. Provide a safe and enjoyable service
2. Value our volunteers by making their work with us enjoyable 3. Keeping bureaucracy to a minimum
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Approach
We can achieve both our due diligence goals and our desire to maintain the “spirit” of the FISF organization by better defining roles within our organization and the expectations of the people responsible for these roles. To this end we propose the following set of roles and responsibilities.
President
Responsibilities
To be the official representative of FISF
Vice President
Responsibilities
• To coordinate activities among Chapter Managers and Directors
• To chair an executive committee composed of the Chapter Managers and Directors
Chapter Managers
Responsibilities (for each chapter)
• To manage the operation of the boat(s) at their venue • To ensure, in consultation with the Booking and Crews Director, that crews are available for all trips
• To report annually on any inventory items over the unit value of $400 to the Treasurer.
• To maintain the boat and other equipment at their venue in good working order, in collaboration with the Operations Director
• To report weekly during the season on all trips to the Booking and Crews Director
• To Report monthly all income and expenses to the Fi nance Director
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Treasurer
Responsibilities
• To present a financial structure and budget for the year annually to the Board
• To maintain accounts as necessary
• To report on the state of our finances at meetings of the Board
• To prepare our annual financial statement
• To prepare and submit our tax returns annually
• To issue tax receipts as required
Secretary
Responsibilities
• To record and distribute the minutes of all meetings • To maintain a record of all minutes of meetings
Bookings and Crews Director
Responsibilities
• To maintain, in consultation with the Chapter Managers, a list of all bookings and trips
• To maintain our bookings system up to date and make it available to any Chapter that wishes too use it.
• To set up a Captains schedule for any Chapter that re quires it
• To maintain a roster of mates for Captains to draw from as requires
• To consolidate, at the end of each season, the trip re ports for all Chapters
Operations Director
Responsibilities
• To assist the Chapter Managers with any maintenance required
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• To order major equipment or supplier (over $500) • To organize the transport of boats to and from storage • To ensure boats are properly stored during the off sea son
• To ensure that each boat has the necessary safety equipment
Membership Director
Responsibilities
• To accept and approve new members
• To maintain an up to date membership list
• To ensure that all members meet the conditions of membership
• To report to the Board on at the state of our member ship
Fundraising Director
Responsibilities
• To coordinate fundraising activities on behalf of FISF
Training and Certification Director
Responsibilities
• To organize an annual boat skills session for new volun teers
• To certify new captains and mates in a manner deter mined by FISF
• To organize an annual first aid course