Finance Committee
(Most recently updated 2017-02-02, previously on 2016-11-23.)
ITC is all about bringing out the best in us humans…
Purpose of the Finance Committee:
Suitable committee members might possess any of the bullet items in the opening paragraph, along with:
Traits to avoid: Many common attitudes about money would disrupt the resonance of an ITC group. Members shouldn’t join the Finance Committee if they feel that money is…
Getting Started
A few basic things have to be done before the Finance Committee is up and operational, including:
Keep Needs in Line With Reserves
Then, the top priority of the Finance Committee is to make sure there’s enough money to support the group infrastructure and activity. If not, either get more money or else shrink the infrastructure and curtail the activity.
V ≈ R ≥ N
This little formula* could be at the heart of an ITC group’s finances… by stating, simply:
An ITC group can be vital (V) as long as its money reserves (R) are equal to or larger than its financial needs (N)... as measured by ever-fluctuating national and transnational currencies.
Keeping things in balance (in terms of money availability and money needs) can be a fairly easy task, as long as we think of the ITC group as a body consisting of two basic parts:
A Low-Cost, Stable, Volunteer Core
At the beginning and in the center of every ITC group could be a no-cost (or very-low-cost) core network of volunteer members living just about anywhere in the world and communicating with each other via modern technologies (Internet, group website, personal computers, emails, phones, video conferences, auto-translation tools, etc.) Members joining the group bring with them their own tools for communication and ITC experimentation.
Today’s world is mostly integrated by cellular and WiFi networks and the Internet. Most people today have cell phones and computers that can connect to the global grid. Also, most afterlife experimenters (like me) have their own (sometimes offbeat?) techniques and technologies that they use in their experiments. So, the sturdy “skeleton” of an ITC group would consist of the members with their own personal tools and techniques, and all of the members connected to each other through the global grid.
Nearly all of the expenses of this core network would be the personal expenses of each volunteer member.
One of the very few exceptions would be a group website. ITC group members would need a website as a central hub for communicating and interacting with each other. Developing and maintaining a group website would be a group-wide expense. However… one or more of the early members of the group might be willing and able to create and maintain such a website at their own expense at first (keep receipts for later reimbursement!). If they used this site (www.worlditcnet.weebly.com) as a template … and a user-friendly website tool (weebly, wix, squarespace, xprs, voog, yola, zoho, or wordpress…) the job would not be too difficult or too expensive.
Then….
A Growing (and Shrinking) Infrastructure
When there’s money in the group account, a more complex infrastructure could be allowed to grow (or to shrink) around the volunteer core, according to the amount of money in the account at any particular time. The money could be used for such things as…
This expensive infrastructure of the ITC group could grow like organs and tissues around the stable, low-cost skeleton… as the budget permits. In abundant times the infrastructure could grow, and in lean times it could shrink… and through it all the core skeleton of the group remains stable.
The main job of the Finance Committee, then, is to monitor and regulate the growth of the infrastructure (N) in relation to the cash reserves (R).
Foster an Appropriate “Money Mind”
Once the Finance Committee is established and feels comfortable with the job of keeping money matters balanced, it can begin to foster a good attitude about money throughout the committee and throughout the ITC group.
Trust, Honesty, Good Will, Gratitude, Contentment….
Let noble values like these work their way into your mind and your attitude, not just as a Finance Committee member, but as a human being. Foster noble thinking among all the members through your thoughts, words, and actions.
Hold a noble attitude when you submit informal financial reports to the group from time to time, and use the opportunity to solicit members’ opinions on worthwhile ways to use the money in the group account.
Handle routine expenses (such as monthly web-hosting fees) in a routine manner (such as automatic monthly payments to the web host).
For major expenditures (annual meetings, property leases…), achieve unanimous agreement among committee members on what the group should purchase. Then, propose each major committee decision to all members of the ITC group and allow discussion until there is, again, unanimous agreement on the proposal. If anyone is in firm disagreement, the proposal does not go through.
Generosity
A certain portion of the cash reserves (say, 10 percent) could be set aside for donations to compatible causes outside the group… because generosity, world service, and helping the less fortunate are noble human qualities that are appreciated by finer spirit. In other words, generosity makes the group more resonant with finer spirit and thus helps to keep the contact field stable and clear.
Any ITC group members could recommend charities to receive the donations, and the Finance Committee might be authorized to make final decisions.
An Abundance APTITUDE as Well as Attitude
Most websites about good money management and abundance stress the need for a good attitude forged of values like these (trust, honesty, good will, gratitude, contentment, and generosity)… but I often wonder if there’s also an abundance aptitude that some “lucky” people have and other people don’t… the Midas touch of people like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates or the good fortune of kids born into rich families?
Some people find it fairly easy to live an abundant life… writing best-selling books or patenting inventions or writing software apps that make lots of money… while other people can make similar efforts and produce similar results… but realize no financial rewards whatsoever.
I sometimes wonder if there’s a materialist karma or lifetime soul mission that allows certain individuals to revel in material abundance during a lifetime… perhaps to compensate for previous lifetimes of poverty or suffering or generosity… or maybe just to live the experience. Like an ear for music or good spatial skills or sound common sense, I suspect that a knack for abundance is something that certain people are born with while other people struggle in these areas.
I can only suspect there is such an abundance aptitude or karma, based on the knowledge that there is a certain ITC aptitude with which some people are born, and which seems to beyond the reach of most people. (Read more about that ITC aptitude… )
If there is some sort of abundance aptitude, then maybe ITC groups could make an effort to draw such a person into their ITC group.
Sources for this article include:
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Footnote:
*That little formula, V ≈ R ≥ N, is a simplified hybrid of two things:
(posted by Mark Macy, 2016 November 21)
ITC is all about bringing out the best in us humans…
- trust,
- honesty,
- good will,
- gratitude,
- generosity,
- contentment…
Purpose of the Finance Committee:
- Make sure the ITC group’s money reserves (R) are equal to or greater than the group’s money needs (N), by adjusting either variable (see below).
- Sustain an appropriate “money mind.”
- Consider and record all group members’ ideas on how the group’s money might be used, then decide how to use it in the best interest of the group at large in accordance with its mission.
Suitable committee members might possess any of the bullet items in the opening paragraph, along with:
- Adaptability to bountiful times and lean times,
- An attitude or aptitude for attracting abundance, and, most important,
- An understanding of money simply as a tool to further the group mission.
Traits to avoid: Many common attitudes about money would disrupt the resonance of an ITC group. Members shouldn’t join the Finance Committee if they feel that money is…
- Trivial (an attitude that leads to financial irresponsibility), or
- Evil (an attitude that leads to shortage and judgment), or
- Precious (an attitude that leads to greed), or
- All-important (an attitude that leads to temptation and dishonesty).
Getting Started
A few basic things have to be done before the Finance Committee is up and operational, including:
- Create a certified charitable organization for the ITC group. That would probably be a 501(c)(3) corporation in the USA. Other countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa have other charitable qualifications.
- Open a bank account to hold the group money. That would probably be a checking account set up for a nonprofit organization.
- Create a Finance Committee page on the ITC group website.
Keep Needs in Line With Reserves
Then, the top priority of the Finance Committee is to make sure there’s enough money to support the group infrastructure and activity. If not, either get more money or else shrink the infrastructure and curtail the activity.
V ≈ R ≥ N
This little formula* could be at the heart of an ITC group’s finances… by stating, simply:
An ITC group can be vital (V) as long as its money reserves (R) are equal to or larger than its financial needs (N)... as measured by ever-fluctuating national and transnational currencies.
Keeping things in balance (in terms of money availability and money needs) can be a fairly easy task, as long as we think of the ITC group as a body consisting of two basic parts:
- a low-cost, core network of volunteer members, and then
- a more expensive infrastructure that can grow around the core as the budget permits.
A Low-Cost, Stable, Volunteer Core
At the beginning and in the center of every ITC group could be a no-cost (or very-low-cost) core network of volunteer members living just about anywhere in the world and communicating with each other via modern technologies (Internet, group website, personal computers, emails, phones, video conferences, auto-translation tools, etc.) Members joining the group bring with them their own tools for communication and ITC experimentation.
Today’s world is mostly integrated by cellular and WiFi networks and the Internet. Most people today have cell phones and computers that can connect to the global grid. Also, most afterlife experimenters (like me) have their own (sometimes offbeat?) techniques and technologies that they use in their experiments. So, the sturdy “skeleton” of an ITC group would consist of the members with their own personal tools and techniques, and all of the members connected to each other through the global grid.
Nearly all of the expenses of this core network would be the personal expenses of each volunteer member.
One of the very few exceptions would be a group website. ITC group members would need a website as a central hub for communicating and interacting with each other. Developing and maintaining a group website would be a group-wide expense. However… one or more of the early members of the group might be willing and able to create and maintain such a website at their own expense at first (keep receipts for later reimbursement!). If they used this site (www.worlditcnet.weebly.com) as a template … and a user-friendly website tool (weebly, wix, squarespace, xprs, voog, yola, zoho, or wordpress…) the job would not be too difficult or too expensive.
Then….
A Growing (and Shrinking) Infrastructure
When there’s money in the group account, a more complex infrastructure could be allowed to grow (or to shrink) around the volunteer core, according to the amount of money in the account at any particular time. The money could be used for such things as…
- Reimbursing the original website developer(s) and paying the website expenses in the future.
- In-room, all-expenses-paid meetings where all members can come together in a different location (New York, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo…) on different dates (every year, or every five years, or whenever the group can afford such expensive meetings),
- Buildings leased or purchased for labs and meeting rooms for special ITC projects in appropriate geographic locations,
- Projects with our spirit group involving new technologies and applications in the home labs of certain members suggested by the spirit group because of certain innate qualities of those members,
- Collaborative projects with carefully selected, resonant scientific or religious organizations….
This expensive infrastructure of the ITC group could grow like organs and tissues around the stable, low-cost skeleton… as the budget permits. In abundant times the infrastructure could grow, and in lean times it could shrink… and through it all the core skeleton of the group remains stable.
The main job of the Finance Committee, then, is to monitor and regulate the growth of the infrastructure (N) in relation to the cash reserves (R).
Foster an Appropriate “Money Mind”
Once the Finance Committee is established and feels comfortable with the job of keeping money matters balanced, it can begin to foster a good attitude about money throughout the committee and throughout the ITC group.
Trust, Honesty, Good Will, Gratitude, Contentment….
Let noble values like these work their way into your mind and your attitude, not just as a Finance Committee member, but as a human being. Foster noble thinking among all the members through your thoughts, words, and actions.
Hold a noble attitude when you submit informal financial reports to the group from time to time, and use the opportunity to solicit members’ opinions on worthwhile ways to use the money in the group account.
Handle routine expenses (such as monthly web-hosting fees) in a routine manner (such as automatic monthly payments to the web host).
For major expenditures (annual meetings, property leases…), achieve unanimous agreement among committee members on what the group should purchase. Then, propose each major committee decision to all members of the ITC group and allow discussion until there is, again, unanimous agreement on the proposal. If anyone is in firm disagreement, the proposal does not go through.
Generosity
A certain portion of the cash reserves (say, 10 percent) could be set aside for donations to compatible causes outside the group… because generosity, world service, and helping the less fortunate are noble human qualities that are appreciated by finer spirit. In other words, generosity makes the group more resonant with finer spirit and thus helps to keep the contact field stable and clear.
Any ITC group members could recommend charities to receive the donations, and the Finance Committee might be authorized to make final decisions.
An Abundance APTITUDE as Well as Attitude
Most websites about good money management and abundance stress the need for a good attitude forged of values like these (trust, honesty, good will, gratitude, contentment, and generosity)… but I often wonder if there’s also an abundance aptitude that some “lucky” people have and other people don’t… the Midas touch of people like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates or the good fortune of kids born into rich families?
Some people find it fairly easy to live an abundant life… writing best-selling books or patenting inventions or writing software apps that make lots of money… while other people can make similar efforts and produce similar results… but realize no financial rewards whatsoever.
I sometimes wonder if there’s a materialist karma or lifetime soul mission that allows certain individuals to revel in material abundance during a lifetime… perhaps to compensate for previous lifetimes of poverty or suffering or generosity… or maybe just to live the experience. Like an ear for music or good spatial skills or sound common sense, I suspect that a knack for abundance is something that certain people are born with while other people struggle in these areas.
I can only suspect there is such an abundance aptitude or karma, based on the knowledge that there is a certain ITC aptitude with which some people are born, and which seems to beyond the reach of most people. (Read more about that ITC aptitude… )
If there is some sort of abundance aptitude, then maybe ITC groups could make an effort to draw such a person into their ITC group.
Sources for this article include:
- http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Abundance-Mentality
- https://www.wisdomtimes.com/blog/affluent-people-10-abundance-attitudes/
- - - - - - - - - -
Footnote:
*That little formula, V ≈ R ≥ N, is a simplified hybrid of two things:
- Accounting principles that involve balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, assets, liabilities, equity… and
- The Vitality Ratio, which I believe will someday run the global economy, once humans are able to look beyond money and other symbols, in order to monitor the natural core of economics.
(posted by Mark Macy, 2016 November 21)