Homebrew Clubs and Money

[cornhole]

Hi All,

Looking for ideas and/or best practices when it comes to homebrew clubs collecting dues and the subsequent use of the money. I am becoming more in charge of our local club, but we are not that organized, no constitution, rules or policies. We started accepting tips for private events we have shared our beer at. We also started what I called the "scholarship fund" for what I initially described as a voluntary contribution by our membership for explicit purpose of demonstrating homebrewing at a club event. Money has gone to purchase supplies to brew different batches of beer. Two different modes of distributing the finished beer have been: 1. those who helped brew at the event share the majority of what is bottled, with a remainder going to the others that show up at the meeting where the finished beer is distributed. 2. Beer is kegged and is available to anyone who comes to a meeting.

I encountered a situation earlier this month that I am not sure how to handle. Another member called for everybody to get current on dues, such that our current group brew could be distributed. That kind of raised some hairs on the back of my neck, since i am the one holding the cash box. I'm not really interested in being thrown in the pokey for bootlegging when we finally piss someone off and they call the sheriff. Is there really a difference between a scholarship fund and annual dues if we are making and sharing the group made together? Should money collected never be used to brew beer?

I'd like to hear from everyone who has had experience in this matter. Thanks.
-CH

[BarefootLion]

Listen to the Homebrew Club episode of the Session, early 2010/late 09. They explain their various clubs deal with the cash.

[bikefoolery]

In my local club, there's no cash, no dues. If we want to do a barrel project or upgrade the bar or whatever, those participating donate the fundage to that exact cause. It works pretty well. maybe that only works in rural Cali.

the fool

[cornhole]

Listen to the Homebrew Club episode of the Session, early 2010/late 09. They explain their various clubs deal with the cash.

On my list to go back and listen again. Thanks!!! The only thing I remember from that discussion was someone saying something like 'the only reason for a homebrew club to have money is to pay for speakers at meetings, rent for meeting space, expenses for competitions, community equipment' in other words operating expenses.

Does anybody recall this as a topic discussed at any Conferences?

[linuxelf]

Our homebrew club is pretty active. We sponsor pint nights, brewery tours, club brew sessions, and the like. We do have dues, but most of our money comes from our Oktoberfest celebration. We've donated over $50,000/year for the past few years to charity, and still ended up with a large sum of money for our operating expenses.

[CRBrewHound]

You are not collecting dues to make beer (even if some of the dues end up there). You are like any other non-profit hobby club in the exception that ours revolves around beer. Dues are collected for membership to the club and for various operating expenses. We collect dues (most clubs do, our annual dues are $25), so not a lot of money. We use those dues for operating expenses and yes sometimes that includes purchasing commercial beers or ingrediants to brew with for club events, last thing we did was purchase a whisky barrel.

There is nothing wrong with asking your membership to pay their dues in a timely fashion. Dues are a necessary evil of any club. Members who are not willing to contribute a little something to assist in this are probably not worth having (as long as you are not over charging).