What Our Treasurer Does

As I wrote two months ago, we will have elections next year for chapter officers. Last month I told you what our secretary does; this month it’s my turn as treasurer. Like our secretary, I have exhausted my eligibility; unlike her, I think I’ve lined up a replacement. But we would like to have volunteers for my other jobs.

Officially, the treasurer’s duties are to receive chapter funds and deposit them in the chapter’s bank account, pay authorized chapter bills by writing checks on that account, and prepare regular reports for the board and membership and the annual report for the national office.

But the Treasurer’s Manual from the Mended Hearts national office says the treasurer should use a computer, and if so the treasurer should also maintain the chapter membership database. These tasks might be separated but so far I haven’t had to figure out how. So here’s how it goes:

New membership applications are sent to the treasurer, who records them in the membership database, prints standard application forms from the database, and sends them with the members’ checks to the national office. The national office sends out the renewal notices and receives renewals.
Each month the national office sends the chapter treasurer a check for the chapter dues and donations it received from new and renewing members. The treasurer then deposits the check and updates the membership database.
The national office also sends the treasurer monthly notices of which members will get renewal notices, and a full membership list twice a year, for the treasurer to verify.
The chapter treasurer uses the membership database to prepare monthly membership reports, letters of acknowledgment to new and renewing members, and mailing labels for the monthly newsletters and meeting notice postcards.

The same person also prepares the monthly newsletter and maintains the chapter website. These tasks are not part of the treasurer’s job. I set up the newsletter on a computer and email it as a PDF file to the Meridian Health print shop. Then I format it for the web and upload it to the website. I also update the meeting info on the website. Volunteers, anyone?