 Certainly a pleasure to be here with you today. I'm glad to see so many members here participating in the seminar today. For those of you who might be new to the convention or new to DAB, welcome. My name's Ed Hartman. I'm DAB's Inspector General for the organization. And my sole responsibility is to ensure compliance with the Constitution and bylaws of the organization at all levels and to oversee the fundraising and program activities of chapters and departments. So we've only got 60 minutes for this seminar this afternoon. So I'm going to do my best to go through the information that I have quickly, because I know that there are many of you that have questions. And unfortunately, right at 3.30, I've got a meeting that I need to get to by 4. So we're not going to be able to drag it along too long after 3.30. So that's going to be my goal and my agenda is to try to get through this information so we can ask a lot of questions, have some discussion as we go on, OK? So basic bones, really, of departments and chapters is we all know every year departments and chapters must annually elect a senior vice commander and one or more junior vice commanders and shall either elect or appoint an adjutant or a treasurer. So it's up to the individual entity, whether it be a chapter or a department, just how many junior vice commanders that you have. And that's solidified in the entity's own bylaws. So as long as you've got one junior vice commander, you're good. There are many departments, many chapters that have up to four junior vice commanders. And I think there's been some discussion over the years and as of recent as to why we have to fill so many junior vice commander positions. So if that's the case, you have to look at your own constitution and bylaws and your chapter or your department. And those are certainly able to be changed by way of the body. If it's at chapter level, you can amend your bylaws there to only require one junior vice commander. And the same thing for department at the department convention to lessen the number of junior vice commanders. We all like to have a lot of participation with junior vice commanders, get them on board early and have a lot of opportunity to move up and advance through the organization. But with participation, sometimes that's not possible. And then we find ourselves just asking people to fill a role. And that's not necessarily what we want in the organization. We want somebody that wants to be there, wants to serve in that capacity and not just fill a seat and have their name on a piece of paper. So once the elections are conducted at either the chapter meeting or the department convention, it is so very important that the officer reports be submitted to national organization and to the department if we're talking about a chapter. Reason for that is because we put out a ton of information, a lot of information, a lot of memos, a lot of emails, specific to DAV, what we're doing nationally, things that might impact you at the local level or would be of concern to you at the local level. And if we don't have accurate information on those officer reports, we're sending information to someone who might have been the commander last year. And maybe that commander left on bad terms or maybe they got beaten in an election. So chances are, they're not going to forward it along and be kind to the new commander that they just lost to to share that information with them. So it's really, really important that within 10 days following the election and installation of the new officers at all levels, those officer reports be updated. We are, one other point along there is, of course, we have the opportunity or the possibility that during the course of that election year, we might have changes to that officer report. Same rationale, if there's a change, we need to have that updated within 10 days from the change because of course, communication is key in DAV and we certainly want to make sure that we're making the correct contacts with departments and chapters throughout the year. One of the things that we are proposing, for those of you that were in the first business session this morning, you heard the report from Rob Reynolds, the convention chairman for the Constitution and Biola's committee. We're proposing a change of the bylaws which would allow chapters, departments to submit those changes electronically versus having to complete a written officer report, have it signed by the commander and adjutant which is sometimes a burden because commander might live on this side of the state, adjutant lives on this side of the state and it's just a matter of mailing it back and forth so by the time it's completed and sent to us, it's already 30 days old. So if we're able to pass that at this year's convention and the delegates approve it, which sounds pretty reasonable that they will, then we will have that opportunity to make it a little bit easier for everybody to be able to update those officer reports more timely and in a much easier fashion. Cause if you just have one change to the officer report, say the commander resigned for whatever reason and senior vice commander stepping up, as it stands right now, you get to complete a brand new officer report, all the positions, all the lines, all the appointed officers and then have it signed by the commander and the adjutant and then send it in. So this is going to make it so much easier for chapters and departments to update those and essentially any elected officer of the chapter will be able to make that change. So we might have a commander or adjutant that's not necessarily the most technologically savage. So if there's a junior vice commander that's able to do that, the junior vice commander would be able to log on using their account and make the necessary changes. So when we talk about officers of the organization, I like to remind everybody all the time that we're a very large organization. I mean, we're a million members strong. We've got 52 departments. We've got 1,200 chapters. And there's a place for everyone, for every member in DAV. Not everyone is really cut out to be the commander, not everyone is cut out to be the adjutant or the chaplain, but there's a place for everybody. And it's our responsibility as leaders in our chapters and departments to identify the strengths of those members and then ask them to work in a capacity for the chapter or for the department that is going to be beneficial to the department or the chapter. It might be a matter of, this guy's a great carpenter. Let's have him head up our local voluntary assistance program, let's select maybe our LVAP coordinator to help do things in the community whether it's building ramps for folks. Whether it is somebody who might have the gift of GAB, we all know those people, right? Those people that just absolutely love to talk, right? Those are the folks that we need out there doing forgive me not drives, educating the community in terms of what DAV is doing locally there in the community. So there's a place for everybody. We just need to figure out where that place is, what works best for them, what their strengths and weaknesses are and be able to move on from there. And of course, I'd like to always believe that as members of the organization, we're all disabled veterans, we should all have a high degree of moral character and integrity. And certainly we want that to really resonate with our officers of our chapters whether it's our elected commander, senior vice commander, our adjutant. We certainly wanna make sure that we know who we are electing and appointing and as representatives of our organization at the chapter level and the department level. So there's nothing wrong with whenever comes election time, just doing a simple Google search on individuals and certainly if there's anything that's glaring or something that's very, very serious, that the chapter might need to be aware of prior to electing that individual or appointing that individual to a position that you should know. And I use the example often of an individual move from department A to another department, department B, which was four states over and became an active member of the chapter. Well, come to find out the receiving chapter that they transferred into, they were looking for a treasurer. They didn't have anybody to do the treasurer's job. So that person was interested in becoming the treasurer. And so became the treasurer, served in that capacity for a couple of years. Come to find out the treasurer was robbing the chapter blind throughout the course of the last couple of years. And to make matters worse, if they had just done a simple Google search on this individual's name, they would have found out that he was released two years prior from the state penitentiary for fraud and embezzlement. So, you know, I'm sure that that doesn't apply, obviously, to many of our members, but simple things like that can void and prevent very embarrassing and very harmful things from occurring at the chapter level. Another example is sex offender registry, unfortunately. And I use these examples simply because they're real. And they're very telling in terms of why we need to be more proactive in understanding who we're electing, who we're appointing. You know, we certainly cannot have someone who's a child molester and on the sex offender registry, serving as chaplain. Or in any capacity for that matter, right? We don't want them serving as commander. Now, that doesn't eliminate their ability to participate in DAV. That doesn't eliminate their ability to be an active member of DAV. But really, we need to know who we're electing and appointing to all of our offices. So, I say that because those chapters and those departments that have nominating committees, those are very important committees. That's the time where the committee gets together. Any candidate that is running for office or wishes to run for office has the opportunity to ask those individuals and those candidates any question they want, just to ensure that we are sure that they're gonna represent the best interests of DAV. There's nothing embarrassing in their past that could come back and be harmful to the DAV. So, nominating committees absolutely and positively have a purpose. Now, not all candidates are going to go before the nominating committee because obviously we can have members run from the floor, which is certainly fine. They're allowed to do that. Maybe they just don't wanna go to the nominating committee because they arrived a day late and didn't have an opportunity and want to run from the floor. Nothing wrong with that at all. But, the nominating committee has certainly done its due diligence and if they're doing things correctly are recommending to the chapter a slate of officers that are going to serve the best interests of the organization. So, they've asked the appropriate questions. They've done their best to vet the candidates. So, when someone runs from the floor, it's very important for all of us to ask questions, right? So, usually a candidate that's running from the floor has an opportunity to stand up and speak for a few minutes about who they are, why they feel they're best suited to fill a particular role in DAV. We should be asking that individual questions. And, I mean, there's no limits. We can ask, hey, is there anything in your background that you've done illegal? Do you have a criminal record? Is there anything that's going to be harmful for DAV in your past? So, it's very, very important that we know exactly who we have as leaders in the organization. So, I don't know if anybody's had an opportunity. The Washington headquarters director always talks about politics are local. And I always like to remind folks that all of our support at all levels of the organization is local, right? So, if you're a chapter in your community, you're dealing with businesses in your community, you're dealing with veterans in your community, you're dealing with residents in your community. We have to do everything that we can to protect our image and brand in that community. It's important for our reputation. It's important for showing the community what we're doing as an organization at the local level so that when they see us out in the community asking for funds, they know who we are, they know what we're doing, and we're not just a fly-by-night organization that's, you know, setting up a booth outside of Walmart asking for money. So that when they see us, they know who we are, they know what we're doing, and we're putting their funds to good use. So, getting back to finances a little bit, how many times have we all been in a chapter meeting? And this is a question. And the treasurer stands up to give a report and simply stands there and says, okay, well, we started the month with $10,000. We spent $500 on service. Ending balance is $9,500 and doesn't provide any documentation. No bank statements are provided, no passed around. It's simply their word that this is what we have in our account. We've all, I mean, don't be embarrassed, I mean, because it happens all the time. It happened in my chapter for a little while. It's very important that we require that treasurer not only to provide a financial report to the chapter every month, but show me, show me on paper that we have what you say we have. Because again, that's another way that folks unfortunately make away with money from DAV is that they just continue to hide the fact that they're using DAV as their own personal bank account for a year or two. And then all of a sudden because the chapter didn't ask for validation or supporting documentation to justify what the treasurer was reporting, we come to find out later that we're broke. We've got no money. So we all need to be good stewards of our funds regardless of whether the fact that we're the treasurer or not. We as active members and leaders and participants in the organization need to ask questions and be actively engaged in the finances of the organization. And part of that is asking for proof. Where's the proof? Where's the bank statement that shows this is exactly how much we have? To that point, there's nothing wrong with a chapter or a department. And I certainly wouldn't recommend this for every chapter. But those chapters, those departments that have a good chunk of money in their accounts and do good things, they raise a lot of money, they spend a lot of money on service programs which is what we want for every chapter in every department. There's nothing wrong with obtaining a directors and officers policy or a DNO policy that will protect the chapter or the department from theft or conversion of funds from any of the elected officers whether it be the commander or the treasurer or anybody else. And of course, short of having a DNO policy, the national organization has the opportunity. And I say it's an opportunity because it's not a guarantee because there are a lot of boxes that have to be checked in terms of reimbursement for losses incurred by a chapter or a department. So article 14, section 14.9 in NEC regulation 12 talk about reimbursement of losses to chapters and departments for theft up to $100,000 with a $5,000 deductible. So don't use that as a safety net though and say, well, we don't need a DNO policy because there's a provision in the national bylaws that will allow the national organization to reimburse us for those funds because that's not a guaranteed. Several things have to happen prior to that reimbursement is made and unfortunately it can really take many, many years. One of the things, the first and foremost is that the chapter or the department, whatever the particular entity is, notifies the authorities and brings charges, criminal charges against the individual for theft or conversion or otherwise. And then of course, if the court finds that individual guilty and sentence them to prison or restitution or probation, whatever the case is, if there's a finding of the guilt by the court, then at that point, the national organization can reimburse the entity for their loss up to $100,000. We all know that the criminal system today is they're overwhelmed, they've got more cases that they can handle. So a lot of times, and unfortunately, this has happened to me on a number of occasions where we've identified theft, you work with the local prosecutors and the prosecutors are saying, hey, that's just, that's too small of a fish for us. We're not gonna take this on. Even though it's very significant and very important to us and it's a lot of money for DAV at the chapter level or department level, prosecutors are not gonna take it in their hands, they just have no interest. So at that point, it would be the chapter's responsibility to bring civil charges against that individual. So we gotta get an attorney, we have to sue them in court and if they're found guilty of theft, conversion or otherwise in civil court, we can provide restitution at, or I'm sorry, reimbursement at that point. However, a lot of times when that occurs, the judge will order that restitution be paid to the organization that was losing the money and that could include up into selling their home, the court requiring that they sell their home, sell their car to provide restitution, but obviously if they don't have any money, they don't have any possessions. There's nothing that they can make them to do. So in that instance, we would reimburse the chapter, the department, the loss of $200,000. So there's a lot of boxes to check prior to getting that reimbursement from the organization. So DNO policies are very, very, very inexpensive and certainly would go a long way in protecting the chapter, the department, a unit if there are any auxiliary members in here, auxiliary leaders, very inexpensive, but very, very important whenever we need it most. Where does our funding come from as an organization at the chapter level? We all have a charter of territory. This is something that I wanted to discuss this a little bit this year because seems like recently we've had a lot of chapters that kind of either are neighbors by way of cities or counties or by jurisdiction that's been laid out by the department executive committee. Each and every chapter has to operate and can only operate in its chartered territory. So I think we would all understand that if I'm the commander of the chapter in San Antonio and Al Reynolds is the commander of a chapter in Houston, I don't want the Houston chapter coming over to my area in San Antonio and raising funds because now you're taken away from my opportunity or my chapter's opportunity to raise funds to provide services to my veterans in San Antonio. And likewise, you wouldn't like it if I was over there from San Antonio and Houston raising money in your area. So believe it or not, that's a bitter dispute that often occurs between chapters that we occasionally have to intervene in and straighten out. But the bylaws are very, very specific. Once a charter is issued to an entity, that chapter must operate solely in their chartered territory. That includes everything from raising funds, recruiting members, providing services. So we all have to plan our own proverbial sandbox, if you will, in terms of operating as a chapter. Same thing for departments, right? If you're a state department, you can't raise money in another department, even if it is right across the line. And I'm not picking on Al, but this is good example is because I think everybody for context purposes can envision this. Chicago, Illinois, of course, there are many suburbs of Chicago, Illinois that are in Indiana. Gary, Indiana, Hammond, Indiana. I mean, they're just very, very close and they're actually considered suburbs of Chicago. So we can't have chapters in Indiana going over to Chicago, Illinois, raising money over there, nor can the department do that either. We all know that by being required to stay in our chartered territory for the purposes of fundraising, that automatically right there eliminates the opportunity for online fundraising. Again, if you're doing anything online, you're appealing to asking for and soliciting for donations far outside of your chartered territory. So for that reason and that reason alone, online fundraising for chapters, departments, DAV units, DAVA, I'm sorry, DAVA units, DAVA state departments are very strictly prohibited. It's really forbidden in the organization. A lot of times folks will ask me what should we do as a fundraiser in our organization? Well, we've got to know our community, right? We got to know what appeals to our community. A lot of times golf tournaments, if you live in South Carolina in the Myrtle Beach area, everybody likes to golf. So a golf tournament might make sense. Whereas if you live in Helena, Montana, you probably will have some good successes raising money at a golf tournament there, but if you get a little bit more west in Montana, nobody's interested in golfing. They're interested in hunting and being outside and doing things outdoors. So rather than doing a golf tournament, it might be a matter of working with a local ATV dealer to have a ATV that you're able to raffle. Either they donate it to DAV or give DAV a good significant discount on the purchase of the vehicle and then you raffle it off and sell it to make money. So it's just really a matter of knowing your community. And then the next thing that I always ask them is what are you guys doing in your community? What are you guys doing as a chapter? And nine times out of 10, the only response I get is, well, we meet every month, we read the minutes, we read the treasures report, we go through the business of the organization and not once do they mention anything about providing a service in their community? They don't talk about buying vans for the transportation network, they don't talk about being actively involved in LVAP where they're going out and doing things for veterans and their spouses and dependents in the community. Getting back to the very first initial slide is our reputation and who we are. If folks know who we are and see in the community what we're doing as an organization, the next time they see us out for a forget-me-not drive or a golden corral for military appreciation Monday, they're gonna be very quick to say, yeah, I know who you guys are, I see what you guys do. I'm gonna give you some money. Yep. Ha ha ha ha ha. He's a big dog, I'm gonna let him win. So, we really just have to be active in our community and show people who we are and then in turn know our community as to what appeals to them. What is going to be beneficial for the chapter to do as a fundraiser to generate revenue in our community to support our programs? As we all know, forget-me-not drives probably the most popular and primary fundraising activity for chapters across the country. And I'm happy to, the old bylaws used to read that a chapter could do one forget-me-not drive a year, not to exceed seven consecutive days. Five, six, seven years ago, we amended the bylaws to break that up over a period of time because previously it was up to the chapter to determine, okay, well, what week are we gonna dedicate to doing forget-me-not drives? And it was typically over the week of the 4th of July, the week of Memorial Day, the week of Veterans Day. But they had to pick because they're only allowed to do one per year, not to exceed seven days. So, four or five years ago, we amended the bylaws to allow for chapters to break those seven days up over the course of the year so that you can go out on those very important and special holidays, each of them, and do forget-me-not drives. You can spend two days for Memorial Day weekend, two days for 4th of July, three days for Veterans Day. You're appealing to the people on those very patriotic holidays. So, that's probably the most prosperous fundraising opportunity for chapters. And then, of course, we have membership dues distributions. If you were in the business session this morning, one of the other resolutions that was presented by the Constitution and Bylaws Committee was the increase in dues for life membership in DAV from 300 to 325 dollars. And the rationale for that is to simply help benefit chapters and departments by way of the membership dues distribution. Because, of course, we all know that every year, our chapter gets a percentage of money based on the number of members that we have in the organization. So, we wanna make sure that we're able to provide full funding through the dues distribution process to chapters and departments so that you guys can put that money to work in your communities and in your departments. So, in my committee the other day, yesterday when we were talking about this, I reminded everybody that 325 dollars is still the best deal in town. It's one-time payment, it's for life. We don't charge annual dues. And if you buy a life membership in any other organization, the Veterans Organization, you're talking well over a thousand dollars. So, we're still the best deal in town. But at the end of the day, the money's gonna be coming back to chapters and departments by way of those memberships. Department fundraising and sharing programs. So, for departments we all have a number of national initiatives that take place throughout the course of the year, one of which is the CARS donation program. If you're a department leader and you're not promoting the CARS donation program in your state, you are missing the boat. That is free money that comes to the department, no works required, no mailings are required, nothing is required. You guys just sit back and get a check at the end of the year based on the number of cars that are donated to DAV in your state. So, that's just an example of the sharing programs that we have. And then of course, each and every year the National Organization does a very specific mailing, a service mailing for every department. And the proceeds from those mailings go to the department as well. So, we do a lot to generate revenue for departments. And in many departments that's enough to keep them running and operational during the course of the year. But in other departments, fund raising is a very important tool to use so that you can obviously expand your service programs, expand your support of VAVS, HSC, service programs in your communities. One of the other more recent ways of generating revenue and collecting funds are wills and bequests. We have seen a really significant increase in the number of bequests that are left to a DAV entity upon someone's death. They write them into their will. They leave a good chunk of money to them. We noticed a significant increase at the national level, and we'd like to think that it's because people see what we're doing as an organization. They appreciate what we're doing as an organization so they wanna help the organization when they pass. Oftentimes, we identify a bequest that's intended for a chapter or a department. And obviously, we forward that on to the chapter department. Not everything is left to the national organization. So when we talk about wills and bequests, we had to create a bequest reporting program for the very reason that we were getting so many bequests at the national organization that based upon our review of them, we identify, well, this isn't intended for national. This is intended for the Department of Illinois or the Department of New York or chapter one in Texas. And of course, it's our moral responsibility to pass that along. We don't just automatically deposit in the account. We forward it to where it's supposed to go. So with the understanding and thinking about this for a little while, well, if we're getting so many of these at the national level and we're passing them along, we're sure that chapters and departments are getting bequests that are otherwise intended for the national organization. So we created the bequest reporting program. It's run through our legal department. So anytime that a chapter, department, or any other entity of DAV receives a will or bequest, it's their responsibility to submit that to the bequest reporting program, simply so that we can look at it and say, yes, you're good, this was intended for you, or no, it was intended for you in another chapter, or it was intended for the department or it was intended for the national organization. It's the moral thing to do. It's the right thing to do. It's the legal thing to do. And obviously we're going to identify sooner rather than later if a report or a request or will was left to an entity that wasn't reported because of course we all have to submit our annual financial reports to the organization. And of course, if we identify that there is a bequest that's been left and they didn't report to the organization, the very first thing that we're going to do is send out a letter, make a phone call to that entity and say, hey, we noticed that you guys received this $100,000 bequest. It was not run through the bequest reporting program. We need to see a copy of it. And of course when we get a copy, if we identify that it's intended for the national organization, we enforce and we obviously have to request that those funds be provided to the national organization. And again, it's a two-way street. We do it for departments and chapters. There's got to be that moral obligation and the legal obligation on behalf of chapters and departments that you're doing the exact same thing. We've had a couple of very large bequests that were left to a chapter that we, they received right at the end of the accounting period. So they essentially had this money in their account for 11 months, never reported it. And then of course when we got their annual financial report the following year we identified it and of course they've had this money in their account now for a year and they just think, oh, you know, we've got all this money that we can do everything with. Unfortunately, the bequest very specifically mentioned that it was supposed to go to the national organization. So a lot of the trustees or benefactors that actually forward the money on upon death, they don't know the difference between DAB national, they don't know the difference between DAB department, DAB chapter. So the first thing that they do, they look and see, well, you know, grandma wanted $100,000 to go to DAB so they get online and find DAB. DAB one is right down the road. Well, they're close. I can just run it on, I can just run it down there. Well, when you actually look at the legal paperwork, it was very specifically and legally left for another entity of DAB. So with our funds, I mean, we talked a little bit about fundraising, where we get our funds, how we get our funds, what now are we supposed to do with our funds? Again, getting back to our reputation in the community. If we're out collecting funds or to forgive me not drive, to pay for a van to help provide transportation to the VA Medical Center, then obviously we have an obligation as an organization at the chapter level to purchase that van and provide that service. We need to make sure that all funds that we solicit and collect in the name of DAV are spent on DAV programs. Obviously the public certainly has an expectation that when they give money to DAV, based upon our appeal to them, that we provide services to veterans and their families through volunteer initiatives, through the transportation network, through any other of the widely recognized DAV programs, we have to spend it on that because nothing is going to ruin an entity's reputation more than when the public finds out that DAV, local DAV chapter turned around and gave that money to another organization. And I use the example oftentimes of, without picking on a particular veteran service organization, but let's just say there's a veteran service organization down on the road that has a bar. And we're all members of that as well. We're joint members of that organization as well. And they have a hard time making ends meet and they have a need of roof repaired or replaced. They come to DAV, DAV writes them a check and it's in the paper the next day. DAV helps this veteran service organization with a bar put a roof on their building. Donors see that in the community like, well, wait a minute, I'm giving my money to DAV to support their programs of service, their transportation network, the DSO program, their LBAP program, their legislative initiatives and they're turning around giving it to American Legion. If I wanted to go to the American Legion, I would have given it directly to them, but they didn't. So we have to be good stewards of our funds and remember that they're not truly our funds, they're the public's funds. They just entrusted DAV as the vehicle to distribute those funds to provide the services to the organization. So we really, really have to keep a very close eye on not funding other non-profit organizations programs. If you're a non-profit organization, you have just as much opportunity as a DAV chapter, a DAV department to raise money for your particular program. We cannot turn around and give money that was provided to DAV to another non-profit organization. With an exception, let's just say that the Legion is hosting a stand down for homeless veterans and they have asked the chapter to support that stand down by way of purchasing the meals for the veterans for the day that come through the stand down. Nothing wrong with that because at the end of the day, we can with confidence tell the public, our donors, that we did spend this money in accordance with our programs of service because we paid for the meals for those disabled veterans in the community and their families. But to turn around and give it to an organization to help with their general operating expenses is certainly a no-no. So the only caveat to providing funds to another non-profit organization is when they have a specific event taking place that is in line with our chartered purpose of providing service to veterans, we can certainly contribute and support those opportunities. Hold on a second, we'll get some time here in a minute. Sorry about that. Restricted versus unrestricted funds. So in DAV, there are no restricted funds. So we all know that and at all levels of DAV, even the national organization, any entity of DAV can only have three times prior year's operating expenses in reserve at any time. So we cannot restrict funds for a building and so you got this large pot of money sitting on the side here that's growing every year. We can't self-restrict funds. The only time that funds can be restricted is by way of the gift from the donor and it's gotta be a written directive. So in other words, a bequest is a good example. In the bequest, I'm saying I'm leaving $100,000 to DAV chapter one, Texas, to buy vans for the transportation network. At that point, because it's a written directive and it's a legal document, that's restricted and the chapter can certainly hold that in an account even though it puts them over their three times rule and spend that money slowly over time to purchase vans for veterans in the community. Or by way of a donation from a local business, a local grocery store provides a $100,000 to the chapter so that it can provide a homeless stand down over the next 10 years, right? So you can obviously hold those money in reserves as restricted assets. But again, it's gotta be by way of a written directive, either by way of a legal document of a bequest or by way of the donation itself, the donor has to stipulate that they want this money spent on a very particular purpose. So fundraising requests at all levels, at the chapter level, obviously a department has to get the approval of the National Executive Committee prior to conducting any fundraising activities. And further must specifically specify what that program is going to benefit. So the proceeds of our golf tournament are going to be used to support the HSC program and pay the salaries for HSCs or buy vans or pay our department service officers. Fundraising requests must identify what the proceeds are gonna be used for. Same thing for a department, or I'm sorry, for a chapter. If you're submitting a fundraising request to your chapter, you should indicate what those funds are going to be used for because we would never approve and I would hope that a department wouldn't approve a fundraiser for the chapter to buy a building. Again, because we can't restrict funds for anything. So when you submit a fundraising request to the department, please make sure that you indicate what those funds are going to be used for and ensure that when the funds are received, the proceeds are received, that you spend those monies appropriately. I'm not sure if it's been since COVID or whatnot, but seems like we've seen an uptick in the number of venues that ask a DAV entity for insurance just to solicit on their property. So if you're at a Walmart store for a forgive me not, they've historically over the years provided the chapter the opportunity to come in and set up a table at the entrance and solicit funds for the forgive me not drive. Come back this year now, they're asking for liability insurance to cover them and you in the event something happens. Liability insurance is relatively inexpensive, especially if it's just a one day event, but liability insurance for the chapter as a whole for the year again is also very inexpensive but would cover the chapter in any event or activity that it conducts during the year, whether it's a fundraising initiative, whether it's a stand down, whether it's a chapter meeting, a member comes to a chapter meeting and falls, trips over something. It's certainly not a bad idea to have that general liability insurance for those reasons. And again, very inexpensive. And in most instances now when you are involved with a third party for fundraising activities, they require it. So might just be a good thing to put on hand or put on the agenda and obtain for the chapter at the next meeting. Annual financial reports, please make sure that those are submitted prior to September 30th of this year, the reporting period ended June 30th and the new period started July 1st. So every single department must provide an annual financial report to the national organization. Every chapter must provide an annual financial report to the department prior to September 30th. Those chapters that had $25,000 of income during the course of the year, excluding membership dues distributions, they're also required to submit an annual financial report to the national organization. Meanwhile, it might not pertain to everybody in here, but there are some chapters that are very successful in their fundraising activities. If an entity collects more than $300,000 during the course of an accounting period, a CPA review must be provided along with that annual financial report. Same for departments. IRS Form 990, who's familiar with the 990? I hope every hand goes up, because everybody's had to have done it at least a time or two. So the IRS is really cracking down, so I think it was 2016 and it was based upon a law that was passed in 2010 or 2011, requires every non-profit organization to file some form of a 990, with the exception of churches. Churches are still exempt. As a non-profit, they don't have to provide 990s. I don't know why. But most DAB entities in here, the threshold is $50,000, so if you do not collect or bring in more than $50,000 during the course of the year, you're required to file a 990 in online, which literally takes two minutes. Two minutes. Or if you're over $50,000, you have to complete a full 990 or a full 990 EZ. If a non-profit organization does not file for three consecutive years, the IRS automatically revokes their tax exemption. And of course, it is difficult to have that reestablished as timely to have that reestablished. Sometimes it takes more than a year from the time of filing to reapply for that tax exemption to get that back from the Internal Revenue Service. So here we are as an organization sitting here for a year, not being able to do any fundraising, not being able to collect any donations or otherwise because we're no longer tax exempt and anything we bring in, we have to pay taxes on. So please make sure that we're completing those 990s each and every year. And again, in most instances, it's just very simply a simple electronic postcard done through the IRS website that literally takes two minutes. I know that there are some departments that actually take care of that for chapters in their state, simply to ensure that everybody is taken care of. So that might be something as a state department. If you know you've got some chapters that are struggling with the 990, you might want to reach out to those chapters and just say, hey, have you done it yet this year? If not, we'll certainly do it for you. Easy enough. Your EIN, which is your tax ID number issued by the Internal Revenue Service, what to do with it and what not to do with it. Certainly if we have donors that are making a large or sizable donation to the chapter or department, we certainly want to acknowledge that gift because, of course, any donation to DAV chapters, departments are tax deductible for that individual. As a 501C4 organization, we have a letter of exception from the Internal Revenue Service, so all of our departments, chapters under our group exemption number are fully tax deductible. So we want to make sure that if we receive a gift, a sizable gift, or if it's even a gift of $5 and somebody requests an acknowledgement letter or a receipt, that we provide them with the information so that they can claim it on their taxes at the end of the year. What not to do? We've recently discovered that at many, whether it be department conventions or even sometimes just on general travel, when people, DAB members are checking into the hotel, they try to use that EIN, their chapter's EIN, as a method of saving a few bucks and not paying taxes on their room by claiming that, well, I'm the commander of DAB chapter one, I don't have to pay taxes, and they're actually providing the EIN number to the hotel. Some hotels are accepting it, while others that are knowledgeable enough know better than not to take it are declining it. But we should not, as members of DAB, whether it be at a department convention hotel, even though you're there for the department convention, you're paying for that room or the chapter's paying for that room, that doesn't open the door to tax exemption for the purposes of the hotel room. So just please keep that in mind. We don't want the DAB entity getting in trouble for the improper use of the EIN, which would prompt attention to the internal revenue service and possibly the revocation of the tax exempt status. We don't want that to happen to the convention hotels that we're using for department conventions, because at the end of the day, they've got to pay taxes to the state or to the federal authorities based upon their income from funds. And if they claim that, well, this individual used an EIN number, and then of course the IRS came back on them, now they're in trouble. So let's just be good stewards of that EIN, know what we can use it for and what we cannot use it for. And with that, I'm gonna wrap up here and see if we can take a few questions. First one, if you could, please use a mic so that folks can hear. Good afternoon, sir. Tim Talley, chapter six, close in Mexico. Question I have about the NPOs, is that a should not, will not, or cannot donate? Well, and so. I understand about for the food and things like that is acceptable, but just a blank cash donation, or check donation from our account to their account. Is that just not totally acceptable or? Well, again, we shouldn't be providing any funding to any non-profit organization to support their general operating expenses, right? The only exception is when they're conducting a program or some kind of event that is in line with our chartered purpose, our federally chartered purpose, where we can 100% feel very confident, stand up to the general public whenever they confront us and say, well, we gave $1,000 to DAB last month and we see that in the paper that you guys, this past weekend, made a $1,000 donation to this other organization, that we can say, yes, we did do that, but that particular event and that particular program helped serve disabled veterans in our community. Yes, sir. Good afternoon, Michael Pollutis, chapter 29, New Jersey. Question on the chartered territory for fundraising. A lot of, you know, we border other chapters and some of the areas that we historically have, you know, did our forget-me-nots. How do you properly do that if I'm actually going into someone else's territory, say a boardwalk, is that allowed, first of all? Well, it is permitted, but you have to have the written permission of the chapter that controls that territory first. Okay. And if you're able to do that, great, and that's fantastic, it shows you have a great working relationship with those other chapters, but nine times out of 10, you know, just people are very onerous of their territory. So it's great if you can do that. Absolutely fantastic, but it can be done with the written approval of the actual chapter. And if there's, for the actual territory, because there's not for ours, but another one where they said maybe the same city or part of the city was in both charters, how is that rectified? Is that done at the department or the national? Well, yes, so that would possibly be done by way of the department executive committee, because of course there are large swaths of the state that doesn't have a DAB chapter in it, right? But we want to have a presence there. So the department executive committee might even go so far as to say, okay, well, this chapter's in County A. County B, which is right next to it, doesn't have DAB representation. And it's not, you know, there's another chapter three counties over. So the DEC can actually, on a map, expand that territory and determine which counties your chapter would particularly cover, but that's solely the discretion of the department. Okay, and last question, would that be the same if a chapter closes? What gets incorporated? Well, if a chapter closes, then the DEC would have to look at, again, coverage for that area that the former chapter was in and either expand one chapter's territory to include that or another chapter's territory to include that. Thank you very much, appreciate it. My pleasure, thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Bill Beiser from Chapter 18, New Hampshire. And I have two things you might clarify when it says you have no restricted funds. We're a small state, but we've had a lot of big money experiences. You might clarify the fact that when a chapter shuts down, those funds are restricted. Well, if it, very good point. And so if a chapter shuts down in accordance with our bylaws, those funds that are held in the name of the chapter at the time that its charter is either surrendered or revoked automatically goes to the State Department. So it goes to the next higher entity. And as I recall, the restricted period, it's held just in the event there's any further litigation or liability with respect to the closures. Correct, yeah. After 18 months, is it 18 months that the restrictions and the funds can be part of general operations? Right, absolutely correct. Okay, yeah. The other situation is, I said we've dealt with a lot the past year. I never heard of the Bequest reporting program until today. I don't know if it's new. Yeah, it's relatively new. We created it three or four years ago. But we can certainly provide and send some more information out. But it's also online on DAB's website. You can find it there as a under the tool guide. And it's basically just scan the document in, email it to our, I think it's legal at DAB.org. And then they'll get back with you. Okay, we had a situation over the past year and a half and it got frankly a little contentious between the department and national. I'm also the department treasurer. I provided every bit of information. National said they would not accept my financial report. They found that they rejected it, even though they had all the information. And I found their attitude to be kind of not so business professional with me, although it all worked out at the end. Had I known that report or that thing was there, I probably could have sent it in. The key is the checks gotta be made out to the department of the chapter as you suggested. If it's made out to the DAV, evidently national can then say that it's a DAV national thing rather than the department. It's not how the check is made out. It's actually in the will and the testamentary document that identifies specifically who the entity is. So it might say DAV located in Erlinger, Kentucky. Or it might say DAV with an address of the national service office, which is an extension of DAV national. So there are certain things that they look for to determine if it's not properly spelled out what the intent of the donor is. And unless it said DAV department in New Hampshire or DAV located at wherever your mailing address is or your phone number, then it's obviously intended for the national organization. I think that's what happened, even though they were provided with the information they kept asking for more. And had I known that form existed, I think we could have clarified that at the outset. So thank you. Thank you for answering my question. Appreciate your input. Kathy LaValle, chapter 113, Florida. 501c3 organization provides service dogs, free to veterans training and everything. Member passes the hat in a chapter meeting, says anybody who wants to contribute, I think it's a good cause, they provide PTSD training and all this stuff. We donate a check from the DAV chapter 113, but on behalf of the members who pass the hat, is that okay? That's absolutely perfectly fine. Okay. All right. Absolutely. Thank you. Thanks, Kathy. Curtis Rollins, chapter one, Atlanta, Georgia. Is it required for every chapter to have an EIN number? Yes, sir, it is. Okay. And if you don't have one, what's the penalty? I guarantee you got one. You might not know what it is, but you got one. All right, well. So when you get back on, whatever you get back, reach out to our membership department and we have every EIN number for every DAV subordinate entity. The reason why I asked, I tried, because I tried to file that 90, I'm the treasurer, and I kept getting the EIN number that I was given was one for the national. Ah, you're the one. Right. Right. So, and it's not uncommon a couple times each year where the national organization's EIN gets hijacked and then we have to go through a process of saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's this chapter over here. We still own and maintain that EIN number. So that's become more common over time. So I've made it a point that every communication that I send to a chapter that is specific to a chapter or department, I make sure that their EIN number is always included in those pieces of correspondence. Well, I need to call, because I called and they kept giving me the same number. And when I tried to file the internal revenue, 990 wouldn't take it because, you know, it had a conflict because it was. Because it was ours. It was yours. Yep. But you call or somebody from the chapter called, are you the treasurer? Yes. Yeah. Call headquarters when you get back and membership will gladly give you your EIN number. Okay, I will add one other question. Okay. You mentioned about charter area. Did I hear you say that you're not supposed to recruit outside of your charter area? Well, I mean, you can. I mean, so what am I, like, I'm sure recruiting's going on right now. Right. I probably joined two chapters since I've been here. But when I talk about recruiting, I'm talking about a recruiting event, right? Where you go set up a booth and you're out recruiting. I know, because I've been recruiting all over the state of Georgia, but anyway. And that's fine. You keep doing that. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Deb Olson, Department of Mass. Memorial donations, different than bequest and wills. Memorial donation is that $25, $50, $100 check that you get because one of your members have passed away and they donated to the DAB, right? To your chapter usually. They're usually small amounts. Again, it's not in a will. It's a small amount. And that would go online in nine. What if, and this has not happened, but I'm going to ask what if it happens to be a large amount that someone donated but it's not in a will? It's just a large donation that was made but the check was made out to like DAB 85. Okay. And again, so there's got to either be. Or just as DAB. What if it, no, my question will be what if it just as DAB? It's not how the check is made out. It's the document that accompanies that. Whether that's a bequest and it says these funds are restricted for purchasing vans or if it's a donation, a large donation, the only way that that can be restricted is if when they gave that gift, they gave a written directive that accompanying that gift saying please accept this gift for $1,000 to be used for voluntary service programs. Otherwise it's unrestricted. But just say if you got like a $10,000 check, my chapter didn't. I'm not saying a state, I'm saying a chapter. It gets a check, $10,000. This is a check made out to DAB in memory of, but it doesn't state. This is a check for 85 or the Department of Massachusetts. Does that check then have to go with it? There's no legal document that went with it. No, because they mailed it to you, right? Right. So that's absolutely fine. And that would go on line nine on the financial report. Right, other income. Right. Other income, right. And can a chapter pay for an ad in like a VFW convention magazine? That's a minimal amount. That wouldn't raise any red flags on our review of your annual financial report. All right, and I believe the other one was asked if you had a 50-50 membership, only in your membership meeting, and that money could go to Joe's to your general fund. More like it's one of those things, oh, thank you for coming to the meeting. We're gonna do a 50-50 drawing. Right. And that money could be using your general fund. Absolutely. But if you had a raffle at a dinner or something, that money would have to be used in service because outside entities had put in money for it. Correct, and there's a big difference between doing internal chapter fundraisers like a 50-50. Anything that involves the general public, regardless of how much money it's expected to bring in, has to get the prior approval of the department, which as I mentioned earlier, when you get that, when you seek that approval for that fundraiser, you have to indicate to them what the proceeds for that, of that proceeds, or I'm sorry, what the proceeds will be used for. Okay, now I have a last question. We have a major store in our state that has what they call giving bad, it's recyclable bags that use. And the chapter doesn't even ask for it. In fact, my chapter didn't. All of a sudden, we just got a check from the store that said, this is, we donated your local store. And the members went in and bought bags or whatever, and then the store gives you a check for it, for however many bags were bought. Is that money used? Can you put that in your general fund or you can put that in your... Well, when you say general fund, we all have general fund, but we have to spend those general funds on service programs. No, but I mean, we have a service fund, general funds meaning to help send someone to convention or something like that versus service fund being, this is actual money that goes to the soldier's home or VA hospital to help a veteran in need. It just realized, I saw, we've got another, I didn't realize that there was another group following us here. So unfortunately, we have to end this here after two more questions. And then can we answer that one? Two more questions and then we have to go, I'm sorry. Yolk and Armorussel for the two questions. Okay, this is a real simple question. It might be a stupid question. Nominating committee. If a chapter, if a person submits an application to the nominating committee, is the nominating committee required to interview them? Yes, I mean, that's the whole purpose of the nominating committee is so that they interview the candidates and then make a recommendation to the body as to who the nominating committee recommends for a particular position. Okay, so if the nominating committee does not interview... You can run from the floor. The person, is it... If your bylaws doesn't state that, is it a violation? That's what I'm trying to figure out. No, it wouldn't be a violation. And again, whether somebody submitted a packet to the nominating committee and didn't go, that's the responsibility of the nominating committee to interview them and they should be interviewed as the whole purpose of submitting a packet to the nominating committee. But if they don't go, they don't have to. And so if they don't go, then obviously the nominating committee is probably not gonna recommend them for office because they didn't show up to be interviewed, but that individual could then later run from the floor if they weren't nominated. Yes, sir. Hey, Bob Casher from Elizabeth Town, Kentucky chapter three, my quick question, and this involves wreaths across America. What is the true no-kidding-skippy requirement for us to be able to or not to donate to wreaths across America? You cannot donate to wreaths across America. Thank you. They're their own non-profit organization and without me blowing the whistle on them, you go online, you look at the 990 for wreaths across America and see who the benefactor is of their funds and you'll see it's a family operation. Exactly, and I get a lot of heat because of our area but I just wanted to clarify that, thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. All right, hey, thank you all for coming out. We'll see you around, enjoy the rest of the convention and we'll chat with you later.