8906-R1_MSA_November2024_Newsletter

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The MSA also puts on a Maine snowmobile show in October of each year. On Saturday morning they hold an open meeting where they discuss tips for completing grants, guidelines for signing trails, and any legislative issues concerning snowmobiling. You will learn more about managing your club in one Saturday morning if you can attend this at least once. You also get the ear of very knowledgeable people in our sport, and I don’t think you’ll find a question that can’t be answered by someone in the room. https://apps1.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/ aro/index.pl

to use it for all purchases. Our club created a nonprofit PayPal account. We can use this account to pay bills and to accept payments and donations from members online joining from our website. If your club is a 501(c)(3) IRS nonprofit, the fees are reasonable for the convenience of using PayPal. Because only four individuals primarily run our club, we do not do much fundraising. We sell a few MSA raffle tickets and in the past, we have held two cookouts, but we just don’t have the resources to run other fundraising events. Keep an eye on Facebook though. Many clubs have club houses or run annual events. You may get some ideas for additional fundraising opportunities. Grant monies and membership dues do not cover all the expenses of running a snowmobile club and maintaining trails. Communications We have set up a Google account so that the officers can use a shared email box and Goo gle Drive to store important records. We try to keep all communications in this shared email so that everyone knows what’s going on and to make sure we follow up on any requests or communications to the club. We keep docu ments like our Corporate Records, landowner and membership lists, meeting minutes, etc., on Google Drive for easy access when requested. We created a free Wix website for our club (https://wildriverriders.wixsite.com/club) that

Bureau of Parks and Land, the Maine Secre tary of State, and the Maine Snowmobile Asso ciation. You will interact with all these entities, and in some cases there is overlap so it’s best to be familiar with what each entity offers. https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/trail_activ ities/snowmobiling/clubs.shtml

I recommend starting with the Maine Snow mobile Program information website. The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands manages the snowmobile program. This page provides information and links to everything you need to know to apply for grants to fund the club. There are very strict grant deadlines, and I recommend setting reminders on your calen dar. We’ll discuss grants in more detail below. https://www.mainesnowmobileassociation. com/

Annually, before June 1, you will need to sub mit an Annual Report to the State of Maine with a slate of officers to keep your nonprofit orga nization in Good Standing. You can also request copies of past corporate filings. I will discuss setting up a corporate record book later. The fee for filing with the Secretary of State is reim bursed on your grant. Money

has basic information such as a map, trail information, and contact information for us as well as a tab to join our club and make dona tions online. We also created a business Facebook page (@RideGilead). This is our primary communica-

Let’s start with the money. Your Club needs its own checking account(s) for accountability and paying bills. If one exists, you will need to go to the bank to update their list of authorized officers. Remove any past officers, and add the new officers. If a bank account does not exist, you will need to set up a checking account. Depending upon the amount of funds the club currently has, you may also want to set up a higher interest savings account. We keep a working balance in our checking account and any additional savings in a high interest credit union account until we need the money for expenses or equipment purchases. Our club has also found it helpful to track expenses by applying for a credit card. This allows the Treasurer to see all expenses and request receipts before they go through the wash. The Head Groomer and the Club Secre tary each have a card for the account and try

The Maine Snowmobile Association (MSA) advocates for Clubs and snowmobilers in the state. Club members also become MSA mem bers. The MSA provides a Handbook (that I did not see until Year 2) with useful information for clubs. Make sure you review the handbook and contact them with any questions. They are very helpful and responsive.

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