Finance Policy

Consolidated from sections in Bylaws and from standard practices in 2012.

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General
  • Only Kick ‘n Gliders Nordic Ski Club members may participate in trips.
  • It is the intention of Kick ‘n Gliders Nordic Ski Club that each trip to be financially self-sustaining, i.e. to neither make nor lose money.
  • The published price, deposit and payment schedule of each trip shall be calculated by the trip leader to be published in the Season Schedule and Guide.
  • The price shall include an allowance for contingencies and for “less than capacity” participation to prevent
    • the trip losing money or
    • any participant being asked to contribute more than the published price if contingencies arise.
  • Executive Committee approval is required for any trip to run when it is known that it will lose money.
  • The Executive Committee shall resolve controversial interpretations of policy.
Deposits
  • Multi-day trips require that participants make deposits.
    • Obligations made by Kick ‘n Gliders Nordic Ski Club to reserve facilities needed to run a trip are sometimes non-refundable.
    • Deposit amounts shall reflect the obligations Kick ‘n Gliders Nordic Ski Club makes to innkeepers, airlines, etc. on behalf of potential trip participants.
    • Therefore, participants should consider all deposits to be non-refundable.
  • Trip deposits will be accepted by the Treasurer any time after the trip calendar is published.
    • The full deposit amount must be submitted in order for a member to be added to a trip roster.
    • Depositors’ names will not be entered onto a trip roster until after an "early deposit" cutoff date to be publicized to members in the newsletter and online.
    • When necessary, a lottery will be held shortly after the "early deposit" cutoff date to determine the order in which members who made early deposits are added to the trip roster.
      • Couples making joint deposits for a trip will be considered together, not as individuals.
      • Trip leaders are exempt from the lottery.
      • A person or couple chosen by lottery to be placed on the waiting list for one trip shall be exempt from the lottery for other trips for which they have registered during the same year.
    • Deposits postmarked or received on or after the "early deposit" cutoff date will be added to trip rosters in the order deposits are received.
  • Some trips require a schedule of multiple payments.
    • Participants who do not make payments on schedule may be dropped from the trip roster at the discretion of the Trip Leader. In that case, the participant’s deposit shall be returned.
Waiting Lists
  • Waiting lists will be established for members who have made deposits but whose participation would exceed a trip’s capacity.
  • Wait-listed members will move up on the list or, with confirmation by the Treasurer or Trip Leader, become a trip participant if a member above them drops out of the trip or off of the waiting list.
  • Wait-listed members may have their deposit returned deposit returned if they neither wish to remain on the waiting list nor claim an available position on the trip.
Individual Cancellation
  • A trip participant who wishes to cancel will have all payments in excess of their deposit returned to them.
  • A trip participant’s deposit will be returned if the participant wants to cancel and
    • someone on the waiting list wants to attend or, if there are no wait-listed members,
    • the participant finds another member to take his place and the other member submits a deposit or
    • a new participant submits a deposit, automatically replacing the canceling participant.
  • Otherwise, the participant’s name will remain on the trip roster and their deposit will be retained until the end of the trip and will be subject to refund calculations.
  • The trip leader shall make a reasonable effort to secure refund of appropriate deposits from innkeeper, airline, etc. when a cancellation request is made by an individual.
Refund Calculations
  • Excess monies collected for a trip shall be refunded to participants after the trip is completed and its finances are closed.
  • When costs incurred for a trip on behalf of any rostered participant who did not attend the trip can be determined, as in the case where the innkeeper levies a cancellation fee, the participant’s deposit less this amount will be returned, rounded down to the nearest five dollars.
  • Otherwise, the trip’s surplus will be divided equally among those on the roster who did not attend the trip. This amount, up to the amount of the trip deposit, will be returned, rounded down to the nearest five dollars.
  • Other money surpluses shall be distributed as follows:
    • The remaining balance shall be divided by the number of trip participants who attended and be rounded down to the nearest five dollars.
    • The amount so determined shall be refunded to each attendee.
    • The small remainder will be retained in the treasury.
  • Once published, a trip’s price shall not be changed.
Trip Cancellation
  • Any decision to cancel a trip for lack of participation, weather or other reasons depends on the cost consequences of cancellation.
    • Our goal is to protect deposits made by individual participants and by Kick ‘n Gliders Nordic Ski Club for that trip.
    • A trip can be canceled and participant deposits returned after refunds are received by Kick ‘n Gliders Nordic Ski Club if innkeeper, airlines, etc. agree to return deposits.
    • A trip will generally not be canceled if the innkeeper, airlines, etc. do not return deposits.