Some people may wonder about the finances of their local ASCE Branch or Section. Here at the ASCE Capital Branch, your Board of Directors wants to provide some transparency on this topic. If you still want to know more after reading it, we invite you to contact us.
If you want to have an active role in deciding what happens with our budget, we encourage you to step up and run for a Board position! The most relevant and valuable position related to this article is the Board Treasurer.
Budget Big Picture
There are only two major sources or categories of income and expenses for our Branch. Everything else is an order of magnitude less than these items. Therefore, we will briefly summarize these two types of income and expenses for you here. We will review numbers from the previous two fiscal years to give you more context.
INCOME
The largest source of income is an allocation of dues that come from members assigned to the Branch. These are a portion of the dues to ASCE that every member pays each year (or has paid in the past in the case of Life Members).
- In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, this amount was $15,904.
- In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, this amount was $14,286.
- In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, this amount was $14,866
The second largest source of income are registrations (door fees) from our monthly luncheons.
- In the 2017-2018 fiscal year this amount was $7,786
- In the 2018-2019 fiscal year this amount was $6,284
- In the 2019-2020 fiscal year this amount was $3,526
Also in 2019-2020 we had a one-time income of $3,773. This was registration revenue-sharing from the 5th Orthotropic Bridge Conference, held in Santa Clara, CA in the summer of 2019.
Other small or occasional sources of income we see are from sponsors, saving account interest, and contributions or cost-shares from jointly-sponsored events.
Here is a visual look at the income for fiscal year 2018-2019. Due to the Corona Virus shutdown, 2019-2020 is not representative of our normal income (or expenses).
Savings account interest and Miscellaneous items were less than 1% of the total.
EXPENSES
Our largest expense on an annual basis is donations and direct financial support to local student chapters and scholarships. We consider all of these expenses as “DONATIONS” in our budget.
In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, here were our contributions:
- Golze Scholarship: $5,000
- ASCE Student Chapters: $7,000
- STEM Science Fair: $500
- High School teams: $800
In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, here were our contributions:
- Golze Scholarship: $6,000
- ASCE Student Chapters: $8,000
- STEM Science Fair: $500
In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, here were our contributions:
- Golze Scholarship: $ 5,000
- ASCE Student Chapters: $ 7,500
- STEM Science Fairs: $ 2,000
Here is a visual look at the expenses for fiscal year 2018-2019. Again, due to the Corona Virus shutdown, 2019-2020 is not representative of our normal expenses.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DONATIONS AND SCHOLARSHIP CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE ASCE CAPITAL BRANCH
GOLZE SCHOLARSHIP
You can read a summary about the Golze Scholarship on the ASCE Sacramento Section website. Some excerpts: Donations to the Golze Scholarship Foundation supports Civil Engineering Students from CSU-Chico, CSU Sacramento, UC Davis and University of the Pacific. Donations, which are tax-deductible, are matched dollar for dollar by Magnus – Pacific and you will be recognized in the ASCE Sacramento Section newsletter, on their website, and at the annual Project Awards Banquet.
ASCE Annual Mid-Pacific Conference (Mid-PAC)
The primary reason why the ASCE Capital Branch provides financial support to the four Student Chapters in our region is to enable their students to attend the annual Mid-PAC Conference. At Mid-PAC, civil engineering college students participate in challenging and fun design-build competitions (such as concrete canoe), career-building workshops, and networking activities.
The four student chapters that typically send students to Mid-PAC (and therefore receive financial support from our Branch) are California State – Chico (Chico State), Sacramento State, University of the Pacific (U of P), and UC Davis. The links will take you to the civil engineering departments for these colleges or universities.
The 2018 Mid-PAC conference was in Sacramento. Here is a nice summary with photos of the event from the UC Davis Civil and Environmental Engineering program. The ASCE Student Conferences page provides more information about these regional student conferences.
The 2019 Mid-PAC was held in Hawaii. It was hosted by the Hawaii Export Nursery Association (HENA). You can learn more about that event at the HENA website.
The 2020 Mid-PAC was postponed and then canceled due to COVID-19. We hope and expect that 2021 Mid-PAC will occur in some form, whether in person or virtual. To view the planned program for the 2020 Mid-PAC (perhaps the program for 2021 Mid-PAC) please see our previous blog article.
MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
The second largest type of expense for the ASCE Capital Branch are member meetings. Our largest and most popular program is the monthly technical luncheon. Occasionally we also provide tours or social / networking events.
- In the 2017-2018 fiscal year this expense was $6,861
- In the 2018-2019 fiscal year this expense was $6,633
- In the 2019-2020 fiscal year this expense was $5,122
Other expenses for the Branch include Board meetings (take-out food for dinner); co-sponsorships for Young Member Forum (YMF) events; individual meeting fees; and miscellaneous office, postage, or service fees. The total for all of these combined expenses has been under $2,000 for each of the previous three fiscal years.
BUDGET ANNUAL SUMMARIES:
Here is a recap of the total income and expenses for the past three fiscal years:
IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON ASCE CAPITAL BRANCH BUDGET
Fortunately, the ASCE Capital Branch has not been hit financially as hard as many other businesses or organizations. We hope everyone reading this article has been able to weather our very challenging and historic economic climate.
The biggest financial impact to the Capital Branch has been the loss of income from the monthly technical luncheons. While most of the door fee costs went to the food and restaurant costs, any remaining income goes toward the annual scholarships and college student chapter support.
One minor expense that we have eliminated was take-out food for the monthly Board meeting (which is typically held from 6-8pm). We have been meeting virtually for most months in 2020.
IN CONCLUSION
The Board of Directors of the ASCE Capital Branch takes its fiscal responsibilities very seriously to provide valuable programs, support, and opportunities for its members and those who will hopefully become future members in our civil engineering community. Thanks to many years of capable and dedicated leadership of volunteer Board members, the fiscal health of the Capital Branch is very strong as we work steadily to fulfill our mission. We hope this summary of our major sources of income and expenses provides you with more insight and confidence in this mission.
While most Board positions are served and elected on an annual basis, a very special public acknowledgement and thanks must be given to our long-time Treasurer, Richard (Dick) Weitzenberg. The diligent managing and reporting of our finances over many years would not have been possible without his generous time and effort.
Finally, with the expectation that our monthly luncheons will continue in a virtual fashion for several more months, The Board is considering how we can replace the income that normally comes from these events. As you have seen above, this income is an important contributor to the scholarships and student chapter donations that occur each year. As we pivoted to virtual monthly luncheons in 2020 due to COVID-19 responses, we decided to make these events free of charge.
As we anticipate that the monthly luncheons will continue to be held virtually for the upcoming months, the Capital Branch is fortunate to have the financial health to continue these as free events. However, we are exploring the option of providing a means for attendees to make a voluntary financial contribution for registration and attendance in order to continue to help provide student scholarships and donations to the ASCE Student Chapters. If you have opinions or recommendations on this change we invite you to contact us. Please use the contact information on this website or reach out to any of the current Board members.
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