Malcontents and a Unincorporated Association
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009I received a this entry as a blog comment a few days ago and I thought that it would service us best if it was it’s own blog entry.
It comes as no surprise to anyone that Sacramento Bride and Groom has had a disagreement with how Afwpi is structured, that was one of the reasons why we decided to withdraw from the association several years ago. Even though we did not receive a mailed letter that was sent to some members, we did get a copy. “THEY” said in their July 6, 2009 letter that they are a “for profit” Unincorporated Association and that many associations are structured the same way. However, most unincorporated associations are non-profit organizations and in the state of California, all unincorporated associations must be registered with the Secretary of State. My question… Is Afwpi registered as an unincorporated association, or are they simply running a business as husband and wife? Their business licenses taken out in 2008, indicate the latter. The letter continues with “We wanted to set the record straight on that”. Their explanation left things unclear, so I did a little research on just what an unincorporated association is, here is a portion of what I found.
A non-profit unincorporated association is any grouping of persons (i.e. a collective, an activist organization, etc.) uniting together for some special purpose or business other than making a profit. Most states will grant tax-exempt status to an unincorporated association or club, you will have to contact your state government to get information about applying for it. However, if you just take out a non-interest bearing account at a bank or credit union (i.e. a checking account) you will not have to file taxes for your association and, therefore, you can avoid dealing with the government at all. The main differences between an unincorporated association and a non-profit corporation is that the members of an unincorporated association can be held directly liable if someone were to sue the association and it is problematic for unincorporated associations to have paid employees. I don’t know about you, but it sounds a little risky to be a member of this type of association.
While I agree that most small businesses have encountered financial hurdles, the solution is not to incur more debt than you can pay. It’s difficult to imagine how adding more shows is going to solve the problem. In fact, adding shows that do not include a sufficient budget for advertising will only make matters worse for the very people they purport to help… the vendors. When a vendor does a show that does not bring in a significant number of quality brides, that vendor has less money to spend for other marketing avenues that does have an advertising budget. When a vendor buys an ad in a magazine they have a right to expect it to come out on time, be distributed as promised, and be of sufficient quality that brides will want to read. The letter suggests that a reason for the money woes is a “reduction in our home values”. Regardless of that, when money is collected for an event, that event must be paid for. These are standards that must apply to all. For the life of me I cannot understand how a group of people on an all expense paid trip to the Philippines …”to discover their country and to develop more members there”… will help pay the bills here. The Philippines Department of Tourism is hoping that the people in this group will send brides over to the Philippines for “destination weddings”. How does “developing more members there” help the Department of Tourism? Don’t we want to keep our brides here, using local venues and vendors? It sounds like a big boon-doggle to me.
I’m happy to hear that they are willing to take responsibility for their problems and I believe them when they say they never wanted to harm the members, however, the end result is the same, and people have been hurt. I also cannot figure out how “all” funds that come into the association are applied to its operations and advancement. Don’t they pay themselves a salary? Don’t they have a mortgage and other bills like the rest of us?
Now, about those “intentions”. We all know where that road leads and what it’s paved with. None of us ever set out to do harm to others, and over the years many of us have given AFWPI countless of hours support. But there comes a time when intentions are not enough, there must be concrete evidence that steps are being taken to correct the problems. Unfortunately, when those of us who have disagreed with their policies and lack of professionalism, we become a member of what is commonly known as the “dead meat society”. We are no longer welcomed and our letters to the ethics committee are never read or addressed. We are quite simply perceived as the enemy, which is unfortunate, because we really do not wish the association any harm. What we want is an organization that actually operates at a level commensurate with the standards of their own “Code of Ethics”, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
Like Carlos, we feel there are too few who stand up and tell it like it is… we are perceived as troublemakers and malcontents. Nothing could be further from the truth, we are in fact, just a few who are not afraid to stand up for ourselves and let the chips fall where they may. We “choose the harder right over the easier wrong” and we will “never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.”
So where do we go from here? This Ladies and Gents is my last installment on this issue, it was bitter sweet and the end has arrived. I close this chapter the way I started it, announcing to the world that this is not a personal attack to those involved, but a demand for integrity. I think it’s a sad day when people who we put on pedestals let us down. I once held this organization in high regard and today the voice of history reminds me of how much of a fool I am for doing so. I will never ever ever mention this group in any of my blogs ever again unless, they decide to say a few words. I wanted this to be a fair conversation and though I know many have read the entries, no one has come in their defense. I hope this blog segment encourages others to speak out when things seem wrong and think twice where they place their loyalty.
