By Claudia Kauzlarich, OFS
National Executive Council Treasurer
Claudia Kauzlarich, OFS (NEC Treasurer)
I recall when I was in initial formation and my local fraternity was getting ready for elections, they were mentioning the council positions and when they said treasurer, I thought “Well, Lord, you have provided me with the skills so this is a way I could serve if that is what you want.” And so I have – at the local level for many years, at the Regional level for several terms and now at the National level for two terms.
I’ve been in accounting all my life. Whenever an organization needs someone to track income and expenses, it typically goes to someone with accounting experience, or it should. Since I have spent my whole life doing accounting work for financial support, I thought I would prefer to serve in a different capacity to have some variety in my life. The treasurer position is always one most back away from and maybe these individuals are right to back away. It takes someone with patience, detailed oriented, and someone with knowledge of bank accounts, budgeting, and an accounting program.
I have had the privilege to serve as National Treasurer since October 2018. This position is much more than I anticipated. I was required to resign my local and regional treasurer positions once elected as National Treasurer. (OFS USA National Statutes (NS) Article 11.4) At the time, not having a full picture of the amount of the work that the NEC performs, I thought I could do all three. There is wisdom in our statutes that says you can’t serve at the National and Regional level at the same time. In addition to the accounting, you are a member of the council and will discern all the matters being discussed and be a part of the council vote.
As the National Fraternity has developed over the years to serve our 10,000 members, our finances evolved to resemble a small business. We have multiple checking and investment accounts, write around 200 checks a year and have a credit card to monitor. There are 3 commissions and 15 committees, which each have their individual budgets within the total National Fraternity budget to watch over and maintain. So, the National Treasurer position is not necessarily for someone who can barely balance their personal bank account. It requires some skill.
The Treasurer of any fraternity has the responsibility to watch over each dollar of member donations no matter the size of the budget. I have always associated each dollar of a member’s donation to the sacrifice the widow made in giving her mite in St Luke’s Gospel (Lk 21:1-4). It is the Treasurer’s responsibility to watch the fraternity’s funds and ensure that they are spent wisely. After all these donations belong to God!
The position also requires transparency while maintaining confidentiality in some areas.
Being a Treasurer is a vocation within a vocation. So, if you are or have been a CPA, have an accounting degree, or been a financial manager, it could just be that the Lord is looking for you to step forward. Just say, “Yes Lord, I am willing to serve my brothers and sisters as their Treasurer. You have given me the skill and I will serve your children, if it be your will.”
Thank you for your service
Hi Claudia. I was regional treasurer for St Margaret of Cortona region from he time the region started. I was on the National Council as Peace and Justice Co-chair for two terms and set up the NAFRA-L list serves and maintained them for years.I was nominated got National Treasurer twice and was in a three-way tie with Dennis Ross twice and last as Dennis had been professed several months before I had been. When we moved to Oregon in 2005 I became regional treasurer of
Troubadours of Peace region foe two terms. I ran my own business fit 25 years and did all my accounting using Quicken. I’m currently St Francis Bend fraternity treasurer, where I received files and folders going back some forty years.
My question is what are the record keeping requirements for fraternity treasurers? Each treasurer dutifully passed them along to the next person. Another questions is the forms used are from an era of paper and ink accounting, with some of the same information hand written of different forms in different ways. I’m an electrical engineer by profession and have used excel spreadsheets and Quicken for my accounting fit business and home. Have these treasurers forms
been streamlined, or can they be. I hate filling out forms my hand as my penmanship rivals that of many MDs..I’d appreciate your input on this. Thanks.
Hello Dan. What a servant’s heart you have! Record retention is an ongoing question. We were attempting to write the history of the oldest fraternity in our Region many years ago and we wrote to the national archivist to see if they had any information we could use. We received a large envelope of very old reports that the fraternity had completed about their meetings some 70-80 years ago. As I read these old reports, some that were prepared on a typewriter, I read how they had $5 in their treasury and maybe collected a dollar at each meeting. I felt a connection with these brothers & sisters of Francis, so I personally find it hard to toss old records. However, we can’t keep everything, and your 40 years of records are most likely in more than one small box! You will be happy to learn, that at the 2024 Chapter the National Fraternity Council approved a guideline for record retention. You will find it on the National website under Resources/Governing Documents Guidelines, Forms & Other Resources/Guideline for Fraternal Records Retention. You are correct about the other treasurer’s forms that are available on the website. I’ll see what I can do about that situation. Thank you for your Servant Leadership! God Bless You! Claudia
Dan, another comment don’t forget that we have a National Archives so if there is something you have a question about, you can contact our National Archivist, Sharon Dale.