As The Center of Anna Maria Island’s fiscal year winds down, its board is face to face with disappointment.
Treasurer Jim Froeschle said he expected the nonprofit to end the 2015-16 fiscal year June 30 with a loss of about $90,000. The center ended the 2014-15 fiscal year with a $20,000 loss.
And there were losses in prior years.
“It would appear that we’re going in the wrong direction,” Froeschle said.
This year’s loss is in spite of the March payoff of the commercial loan that ended monthly payments of $6,250.
He attributed a large part of the deficit to a disappointing gala in April, when fundraising fell far short of expectations. “April is supposed to be the biggest month of the year,” he said. “This was a major disappointment.”
Executive director Kristen Lessig agreed to analyze the center’s special events to see which ones should be carried over to next year.
Another financial disappointment for the center, according to Froeschle, was funding from the governments of Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach. Froeschle’s 2015-16 budget called for the cities to double their budgeted contributions, but that did not come to fruition.
“We have not moved the needle on that number. It’s slow going for many political reasons,” Froeschle said.
In the coming fiscal year, Froeschle said one of the organization’s priorities would be to broaden its donor base.
“The money’s out there,” board member Ed Chiles said. “We’ve got to get the people who will do $20,000, $10,000, $5,000 a year. You’ve got to ask them. We’re not asking them.”
“We’re winning them one at a time,” Froeschle said.
Lessig noted the center brought in $43,594 for board member Rex Hagen’s $50,000 challenge. He first challenged the board members in November 2015 but many of the board members were fatigued, and then broadened his scope in March to the community to match his contribution.
“We didn’t hit the $50,000, but we did come closer than I anticipated with the Grand Affaire occurring at the same time,” Lessig said.
On another financial note, the center received an offer to settle a BP claim stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The basis for the claim was not discussed.
Lessig said the center asked BP for $800,000 and received an offer for $227,000, not including legal fees.
The claim is currently 30 days into a review process to potentially increase the settlement.
“We have to decide to stop the review and take the funds or keep going with the review,” board chairman Bill Shuman said.
Board member Patti McBean suggested the board’s lawyer obtain more information before moving forward.
Shuman agreed to follow up on the settlement offer and report at the next meeting, at 6 p.m. Monday, June 27, at the center, 407 Magnolia Ave., Anna Maria.