Association eNews: May 10, 2012

In this week’s eNews:

Convention survey
Webinars
IRS compliance
Audits
Free training for coaches

2012 USBC Convention survey
Thanks to everyone for making the trip to Arlington for a great Convention. Now it’s time to start focusing on Reno for 2013 and making that event even better!

Earlier in the week, USBC sent a survey to all delegates who registered online prior to Convention, as well as all who attended. Please make sure your association’s delegates take this survey so we know what worked and what we can do better for next year.

You can click here for the survey, if you did not receive it. Please only submit one survey. We need as much feedback as possible so we can make sure that 2013 Convention is the best yet.

Upcoming webinars
Hosted by USBC Regional Manager George Lambert, the Association Development team will conduct another series of webinars aimed at helping local associations increase their awareness of programs and tools provided to them by USBC Headquarters. The schedule and titles of the webinars (all times Eastern):

Wednesday, May 23
3 p.m. – Electronic Funds Transfer report tool on BOWL.com
8 p.m. – Welcome to Bowling Coaching clinic

Thursday, May 24
Noon – Electronic Funds Transfer report tool on BOWL.com
3 p.m. – Welcome to Bowling Coaching clinic

Tuesday, May 29
3 p.m. – Association roles and responsibilities
8 p.m. – QR Codes: What they are and their functions

Wednesday, May 30
Noon – QR Codes: What they are and their functions
8 p.m. – Association roles and responsibilities

To register for any webinar, please send an email with your name, association name and number, email address, phone number and the webinar in which you would like to participate to george.lambert@bowl.com. Classes are limited to 25 participants, so please register early. Registration ends 48 hours before the webinar is conducted. After registering, we will send you sign-on instructions.

Associations and IRS compliance
All tax-exempt organizations are required to submit a 990 form to the IRS in order to maintain their tax-exempt status and this also is a USBC bylaw requirement for local associations. USBC has sent reminders to all associations about this mandatory requirement and IRS 990 form compliance also was discussed at the USBC Convention. Click here for a short explanation and informational timeline on this topic.

Association audits
With the summer season upon us, associations should start looking into their procedure to complete their year-end financial review. Please remember that as of last year, the year-end financial review is now required to be done by an outside provider.

An outside provider is comprised of anyone that is not a member of the Board of Directors or a family member. A committee still can be appointed as long as they meet the requirements stated above. In no way does this mean the association must hire a Certified Public Accountant or have to pay for the financial review if they can’t afford one.

A sample review form can be found by clicking here. Upon completion, associations should send their completed financial reviews to USBC Headquarters via email to associationservices@bowl.com. We will store it on file as a backup in case anything happens to the associations files.

Free training for volunteer coaches
This fall, USA Bowling Coaching seminars are being offered throughout the country to teach volunteers the basic skills necessary to teach the fundamentals of bowling to our youth. Each seminar is approximately three hours in length and each attendee is provided free tools and curriculum to take home with them.

Register your coaches today by clicking here. Anyone with questions can contact the International Bowling Campus Youth Development team at 817-385-8455 or usacoaching@ibcyouth.com.