We have no problem being accountable for what we present. Our records and tax numbers are all public information that you can find through the MA tax websites.
As for where the money goes, we use the money to keep the on-going growth of our organization and putting together more events and organizations. Maintaining a Bhangra team costs money, as does practicing, as do all costs with running events. The primary premise of Boston Bhangra is to promote cultural awareness and mentorship for children. We have helped to ignite Bhangra and South Asian culture within New England. We have increased cultural awareness and demand for south asian culture within the areas by having our shows, performances and classes. That is the goal of our organization. We ourselves are the non-profit and we don't give money out to other "charities" as you deem it. We are the charity and to self sustain what we're doing, we need to make money to keep the organization running.
Also, everybody thinks Boston Bhangra makes SO much money from our competition. However, one thing people always seem to forget is the amount of effort and money that we put down to run the competition. Our venues themselves cost more than $40000, along with artists, team costs, and logistical things we need to do to run the competition. Adding everything up, our costs are close to $80000. We make this public information to our e-board and everybody understands how much we make. We don't run BBC to make money. In fact, NOBODY in our organization makes any money. We are ALL volunteers. Thus, the money all goes back into the organization to keep it growing. Normally from BBC we make anwhere from about $2k - $5k in profit. That doesn't sound like much after everything is said and done, but if you're behind the scenes and understand what our costs are, then you will trully understand that we're not making money.
Accountability is something very easily asked for Saleem. We take great pride in what we have been and continue to do in Boston. If it weren't for us, Bhangra in Boston would most likely be dead, and there would be no indepedent teams that were created in Boston as all of them have sprouted from Boston Bhangra. It takes alot of work and effort to make what we've made in Boston. We've been doing it in Boston for 10 years, and we're proud to say we're probably the ONLY non-profit Bhangra organization in North America. There are a handful of organizations as committed to this as we are. We're glad to see Bhangra Teams Forum is among the few. This is part of the reason we have helped support you in the past as well.
Also, if you want to learn more about our organization, you should view our actual website:
www.bostonbhangra.com. A sponsorship packet is not going to tell you what we're doing as an organization. At least look in the correct place for the accountability aspect!
Thanks,
Rohit
