2020 launch of District Bucks program

Summary

District 57 Toastmasters is launching the District Bucks program to revamp the way club incentives are reimbursed. The program allows clubs to accumulate 'District Bucks' in account, which are awarded for club incentives. These can be used for purchases that support club missions, especially in adapting to new meeting formats such as hybrid setups. With guidelines on what can and cannot be purchased, clubs can redeem their bucks through submission of expense receipts, with the aim of strengthening club growth and encouraging member engagement in a virtual atmosphere.

Highlights

• The program provides a new way to reimburse club incentives via District Bucks. 💡
• District Bucks are saved in a club account, allowing for larger, mission-supporting purchases. 🏦
• Clubs can buy tech for hybrid meetings, boosting engagement and attendance. 💻
• While alcohol and personal items are off-limits, anything promoting club growth is eligible. 🚫
• The Bucks program promotes creativity, motivating clubs to reach new goals. 🌟

Key Takeaways

• District Bucks program allows clubs to accumulate rewards for incentives to spur growth. 💰
• Clubs can use Bucks for essential purchases like projectors, cameras, and microphones, especially for hybrid meetings. 📷
• Strict guidelines specify items not eligible for purchase, like alcohol, ensuring Bucks aid club missions. ❌
• Easy tracking through a spreadsheet helps clubs manage their Bucks and plan bigger purchases. 📊
• The Bucks must be used by June 30, 2021, marking the end of the fiscal year. ⏳

Overview

District 57 Toastmasters is excited to introduce an innovative way to handle club incentives with the launch of the District Bucks program. This novel scheme enables clubs to earn and accumulate 'District Bucks' into an account for every incentive they achieve, effectively acting as a special fund for acquiring bigger and better tools and resources that support their missions.

With the current shift towards more virtual and hybrid meeting formats, the program allows for the purchase of essential equipment like cameras, projectors, and microphones. This means clubs can deck out their meeting spaces for hybrid setups, making it easier to engage with members both online and offline. However, there are clear guidelines—while practical purchases for club growth are encouraged, items like alcohol are not permissible.

To ensure the clubs maximize their potential, a handy spreadsheet will help track each club's Bucks, facilitating strategic purchases. It's a great opportunity for clubs to expand their capabilities, innovate, and build better environments for member interactions, all while using accumulated rewards. Remember, though, these funds must be used by the end of the Toastmasters fiscal year, June 30, 2021!

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Welcoming Abe Maswak The chapter begins with an introduction by Bet Bolhoefer, the District 57 Director, who expresses excitement about launching the new District Bucks program. This program is aimed at reimbursing incentives. Bet introduces Abe Maswak, the new Awards and Incentives Chair, who joins the video to help introduce this new initiative. Abe greets the audience, marking the start of the new program.
• 00:30 - 02:00: Explaining District Bucks The chapter introduces the concept of 'District Bucks' during the interview with the awards and incentive chairperson. The details, including further information on District Bucks, are noted to be available on the district website d57tm.org. The chapter sets a preliminary context for understanding the purpose and use of District Bucks which will presumably be elaborated upon in the subsequent discussion.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Purpose of District Bucks Program District Bucks Program is an account run by the district for clubs. When a club wins an incentive, the money goes to the club's district bucks account. This system enables clubs to make larger purchases than before. The chapter discusses the purpose of creating this program.
• 03:00 - 04:30: How Clubs Can Use District Bucks The chapter discusses how clubs can utilize district bucks, particularly in the context of the shift from in-person to virtual meetings. Traditionally, money awards were used to cover food and other meeting expenses. However, with the advent of the pandemic and the necessity for online meetings, these awards are now being redirected to support open houses, club excellence programs, and club growth initiatives.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Restrictions on District Bucks Usage The chapter "Restrictions on District Bucks Usage" discusses the challenges faced by the district corps team in innovating and changing the way district funds, referred to as 'district bucks', are used. These funds amount to approximately $1.90 per member per month and are allocated to promote club excellence. The chapter emphasizes the importance of using these funds effectively to build membership and enhance the clubs' operations. The text suggests that there was an effort to deeply analyze and reimagine the utilization of this budget to effectively support clubs and promote growth.
• 05:30 - 06:30: Redeeming District Bucks The chapter titled 'Redeeming District Bucks' discusses a program that allows clubs to reclaim funds to support their mission and growth. Clubs can purchase a variety of items beneficial to their operations, including projectors, cameras, microphones, pins, plaques, and ribbons. This initiative ensures that the club receives financial support to buy essential equipment.
• 06:30 - 07:30: Tracking and Expiration of District Bucks This chapter discusses the various items that can be purchased for club members from the Toastmasters.org shop. It explores the transition from traditional items such as ribbons, podiums, and banners to more modern equipment like cameras, projectors, and microphones, in preparation for a potential hybrid format in the next year.
• 07:30 - 08:30: Where to Find More Information The chapter discusses the financial aspects and resources needed for clubs to transition into hybrid formats. It mentions that successful hybrid clubs may need around $1500, which might be a significant amount for smaller clubs. This program serves as a means to bolster club finances, allowing them to save towards necessary equipment like projectors, which has been a need for some clubs. The discussion centers around the benefits and mechanisms of financial saving for improved club capabilities.
• 08:30 - 09:30: Conclusion and Contact Information In this chapter titled 'Conclusion and Contact Information,' the discussion revolves around the district's incentive program, often referred to as a 'little piggy bank.' The conversation highlights what clubs can and cannot purchase with their district bucks, identifying alcohol as a prohibited item. Additionally, there's guidance on using the Concur system for reimbursements, directing readers to a website for more information on accessing it.

2020 launch of District Bucks program Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 okay hi i'm bet bolhoefer your district 57 district director i'm here today to launch the new district bucks program i am so excited about this program because it's the way we're going to be reimbursing all of your incentives now to help me welcome this program is abe maswak our new awards and incentives chair abe why do you say hi hi hi everybody watching this video i'm really
• 00:30 - 01:00 excited to be here i'm very excited to be the awards and incentive uh chairperson and uh let's go start the interview right so we have some questions just to help launch this and all this information will be available on district 57 website d57tm.org thanks abe for being here today so the first question i have is what are district bucks district bucks yeah what is that oh
• 01:00 - 01:30 that's what it is okay thanks for reminding me district bucks is an account that the district runs for your club every time the club wins an incentive the money goes to the club's district uh bucks account the system allows you to make bigger purchases than you could before that's amazing abe now tell me why did we need to create this program
• 01:30 - 02:00 well before the pandemic money awards would normally go to pay for food and other items for the meetings that you have with people now that in-person meetings are not possible we still want to encourage people to do open houses club excellent programs and club growth awards awesome yeah i think we're really having
• 02:00 - 02:30 to change everything and really innovate and this was something that you and i and some other folks on the district corps team had to sort of dig deep to find a way to do this and just so everyone knows about the background for every member we get a dollar ninety-ish a month and that goes to us as the district to help promote club excellence to help you build membership and make your clubs wonderful so we're tasked with figuring out how to
• 02:30 - 03:00 make that happen so this is really a way for us to make sure we're giving that money back to you as a club and let you buy bigger things let's talk about that what can cut our clubs buy with this district bucks program a lot of stuff uh the club can buy anything that helps the club's mission and uh help the club's growth you can get projectors cameras microphones even pins and plaques and ribbons that you need
• 03:00 - 03:30 for your club members so there's a lot you can get you can even get stuff online from the toastmasters.org shop that is you know all the things you're talking about first of all we always used to buy ribbons and and podiums and banners and things but now as we're thinking maybe sometime next year we're going to go hybrid so when you talk about a camera a projector a microphone those are really things that are going
• 03:30 - 04:00 to help our clubs be hybrid and i've heard and we need to put more documentation around this but for a club to be really be successfully hybrid it costs like 1500 and that could be a lot for clubs little banks exactly exactly yeah yeah so this program is like a bigger bank account so that you can save up that money yep go ahead i think that'll be very beneficial our club's been looking for a projector for some time yes this is a great way to help and
• 04:00 - 04:30 every time the club earns another district incentive that goes into that little district books account it's like a little piggy bank now i think this comes to a good question it's like what can a club not buy with the district bucks program um not alcohol that's about it absolutely no absolutely no and also if you know so anything we reimburse we use the concur system and if you don't know how to get on the concur system go to this website and look on reimbursements
• 04:30 - 05:00 page but the thing is you're going to be submitting your receipt and that receipt is going to have an itemized you know bill and if it has alcohol on it we are not reimbursing you guys oh shucks one of my favorite things i know but unfortunately we're not allowed to use that but pretty much anything else it has to be reasonably expected that this is something that helps your club grow so if you're buying a notebook for your member because they brought a guest
• 05:00 - 05:30 that's a nice incentive for your own guests but if you're buying alcohol that's probably not also a trip to vegas is probably not gonna get accepted oh okay i know there's so many limitations now how do our members how do our clubs uh redeem the district bucks that they're working so hard to earn when a club buys an item they submit the expense receipt to the district financial director uh the item cost
• 05:30 - 06:00 must equal or be less than the total money accumulated in clubs district bucks account yeah and i think an interesting question would be like how do they know how much is in that account well we're going to provide a spreadsheet that anybody any club member and the club vice president of finance
• 06:00 - 06:30 can access and see how much you actually have in your account awesome awesome and i think the thing that next comes to my mind is like how long do these district books last do they have an expiration date it's going to last throughout the year and the bucks must be uh the items must be submitted before june 30th 2021. yes and if anyone's wondering what's the magic date of june 30th 2021
• 06:30 - 07:00 and that's the end of our fiscal toastmaster year yeah so that's when we close the books so please try to submit your receipts well before that because we do have to process all the closing the books now where does our members go to learn more about this new exciting program we have a awards and incentive web page in the district 57 website all the details of the district bucks program is there plus all the incentives and
• 07:00 - 07:30 awards that a club and individuals can get during the year so take a look at it our program is constantly changing and we want you to have a lot of fun with it and try to stretch yourself so you can reach goals that you didn't think you could uh otherwise abe i just am really impressed with this program i want to thank you for coming on today to help us introduce it all this
• 07:30 - 08:00 information will be available on the website and if you have more questions that we haven't answered how can people get a hold of you aim um i'm in the back right now but they can get a hold of me uh at awards uh at d57.org d57tm.org tm.org right thank you all right so awards at d57tm.org i want to thank you amy for coming on today this is an amazing program
• 08:00 - 08:30 i want you to have a wonderful day everyone thank you all this is bett and abe signing off bye bye