*URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD*

Dear NWMAF Member,

The 2025 NWMAF conference was a rousing success. Returning members and new participants enjoyed the offerings, reconnected with old friends, and made new ones. It’s the deepest hope of the Board that we can continue to nurture the NWMAF and the magic of the conference for many years to come.

However, our organization is at a turning point.

Since I came on board as Chair in August of 2024, our Treasurer, Cheryl VanHoosen has been clear about not continuing on beyond July 31, 2025. Circumstances have called her back one too many times, and she has bravely kept stepping back in. Despite our best efforts to get the word out, no one has yet stepped up to take on the position as NWMAF Treasurer.

Cheryl has agreed to help us ensure that the person stepping into this position is qualified and committed to the work required. She is willing to work with her successor to fully train them, and has given us an outline of the Treasurer’s duties (see the end of this letter). There couldn’t be a better or a kinder teacher for this position than Cheryl!

However…we still need someone to volunteer for the job. NWMAF cannot proceed without a Treasurer. We are simply ‘in limbo.’

The truth is that our Board has not been at full capacity for some time. Regular elections, with the Membership voting as structured in our by-laws, have not been held since 2023 due to a lack of candidates. Instead, vacant positions have been ‘filled’ by individual members stepping forward and then being voted in by the Board. We have been operating without a designated Vice Chair, Events Coordinator, and Marketing Coordinator, all sorely needed positions. Because of this, current board members have been stretched thin by having to perform multiple roles. While their hard work, passion, and dedication have been remarkable, this isn’t a sustainable model for running a non-profit.

Many thanks to Monica Villanueva, who has applied  to serve as  Vice Chair, and to Ashlyn Johnson, who was voted in as Healing Arts Coordinator at the August Board Meeting, as well as to the three candidates for Youth Coordinator! We deeply appreciate their stepping forward! However, without a full Board spreading responsibilities over multiple, defined roles – most urgently with a Treasurer – NWMAF would be unable to continue to function.

The Executive Committee met recently, and after much discussion with the entire Board of Directors at our August 17th Board meeting, we have concluded that if we do not have a member to start the process of being on-boarded as treasurer by November 1, 2025, we will have to start the process of dissolving the NWMAF.

We did not come to this conclusion lightly. None of us want to take such a step. But the facts are the facts. Without a Treasurer, the financial functioning of NWMAF (as dictated in our by-laws, the state of Delaware where NWMAF is registered, and federal law), will grind to a halt. That would be a disorderly and unfortunate end to our storied organization.

It is not our intention to make members feel “doom and gloom.” It’s our hope that enough members will be motivated to volunteer for active roles in the day-to-day running of NWMAF that we can have a full, and fully functioning Board. However, we must be completely frank about the fact that if that does not happen, the only path we see forward is to treasure the memory of the 2025 Conference, while beginning the process of dissolving the organization.

As distressing as this situation is, if the NWMAF were to dissolve, I believe that we could all hold our heads high, firm in the knowledge that we did our best to further the mission of an organization that is so dear to all our hearts. I close this letter in hopes that enough members will step forward to fill the Board, so that we can continue working together to move this fantastic organization forward together.

Respectfully,

Connie Halporn, Chair, NWMAF

Duties of the Treasurer

Any incoming  NWMAF board member must have been an NWMAF member for at least one year. From our bylaws:

The Treasurer prepares a yearly budget for ratification at the Board meeting, keeps records of all finances of the organization, collects all dues, and maintains the registered office. The Treasurer is in charge of the expenditure/ purchase approval process and for decisions on Discretionary Fund requests under $1,000. Requests above $1,000 are handled by the Executive Committee.

• The Treasurer should have at least basic familiarity with XL spreadsheets;

• Be able to set up reminder emails for things that come due; for example,  board insurance, Delaware filings, etc;

• Prepare a budget for the organization annually, based on past year plus expectations going forward (some of this is guesstimating);

• Make conference budgets (there is a template for this in the board drive; you just change the numbers year to year);

• Keep up on things like insurance for the organization, for conferences, etc. 990 to IRS, staying in good standing with Delaware. (Your reminders will keep you current on these things);

• Working with the bookkeeper – sending bank statements and PayPal statements and a report of what each PayPal transaction was actually for;

• Maintaining receipts, check register, etc. (Cheryl will teach where to store and what to do with them);

• Handle SafeSport and background checks, though this is normally for the Events Coordinator, so if we fill that position the task should go to them. The actual administering of SafeSport and background checks is not difficult, but chasing compliance is difficult;

• Cheryl estimates that sometimes the time commitment is 7-10 hours per week when little is happening; at the very busiest times (e.g. in the lead-up to conference) up to 45 hours per week.