BAMBI Annual Report 2020

This report was presented at the Annual General Meeting held on 22 March 2021.

CHAIRWOMAN’S REPORT

2020 was a very challenging year for the world including BAMBI. Due to COVID-19, we had to close all our activities from March to August, including registrations for new members with the direct consequence of reducing our income to less than half. 

For a couple of months, we didn’t have a Chairwoman and Vice-Chairwoman to guide us through the COVID-19 situation, but in the second half of the year, we were able to reopen our activities again following strict government measures.

The BAMBI team showed great resilience and was fast to find new solutions to keep our activities open following these regulations. We had to implement a pre-booking system through Google forms as we needed to limit the attendance. Snacks were not provided due to social distancing measures and everyone needed to wear a mask, including kids over 2 years old. 

With this in mind, we ran a member survey to get more feedback from our members. We held a strategic meeting in September to focus on our core services and define what BAMBI will look like in the coming years. WOMBLES, Me-time and BAMBI Pattaya were not a priority so they took a break. 

The new registration system helped us to also control the number of people attending the event and reduce the workload for our playgroup leaders and streamlined our processes. 

In order to appreciate our volunteers and their families, we organized a Christmas-themed Volunteer Appreciation Day, which included the famous “Santa Bill” at Sweet Poppy.

We had 26 playgroups, 15 activities for older kids, and at least one pop-up playgroup every month. Other events held over the year included the Yard Sale, a Halloween party, and the Christmas Wonderland, all with very successful results even with the attendance restrictions from the government.   

We would like to say a huge thank you to our outgoing committee for their resolve and commitment to navigating the challenges we faced. 

Just as importantly, we would like to thank our members for their patience and support in adhering to the strict COVID-19 regulations, as we understand it’s not always easy to get the kids to wear a mask or pre-book a playgroup.

We thank you for supporting BAMBI in these difficult times and look forward to serving you better in the upcoming year. 

Gloria Pino
Chairwoman

BUMPS AND BABIES

2020 was a challenging year for the Bumps and Babies team. The decision was taken in early 2020 to suspend our traditional Bumps and Babies sessions of weekly meet-ups and support in pregnancy. The main reasons for this decision were two-fold: firstly, lack of availability within the team to devise, promote and run the sessions and secondly, the cost of the rental space at Antique Cafe was prohibitive meaning the Wednesday Bumps meet-ups had been consistently loss-making throughout 2019.

There were also changes within the team. Emma returned to the voting position of Bumps and Babies Coordinator in April while Yaz remained on the team as an assistant. Lia decided to leave the BAMBI team in May 2020, and Sheena also moved on from BAMBI at the end of the year.  The team now has three volunteers, Emma being the only regular contributor while Yaz and Anfisa provide ad-hoc support. 

The Bumps team facilitated a total of 37 sessions in 2020, down from 81 sessions in 2019. This reflects the impact of COVID-19, the reduced availability of volunteers and the financial decision to reduce venue hire costs. Despite running less than half the sessions in 2020, the team welcomed and supported 554 families, down from 668 in 2019. Bumps processed 38 new memberships and 5 renewals in 2020. 

New Moon Postnatal Group

The New Moon postnatal group is now the only regular offering of the Bumps team. The Baby Rhyme Time music and baby massage session held immediately before New Moon has been especially popular, consistently booking out within minutes each week. In 32 sessions, we welcomed 498 families. 

Small World

Small World baby playgroup was suspended in 2020, due to COVID-19 and cost constraints of venue hire. The Bumps team held special pop-up themed Small World playgroups with Baby Rhyme Time for Halloween and Christmas to complement the larger BAMBI parties which had been oversubscribed.  

Other Bumps Activities

• 11 Bumps articles published in BAMBI News with contributions from all the Bumps team
• Online Zoom sessions throughout April and May for Baby Massage and support for new mums in lockdown. 
• Splash Bash with Bangkok Dolphins with 3 special water playgroups for babies 
• Sathorn Bumps and Babies held a baby massage session at British Club Playgroup over 3 weeks in October before closing due to a perceived lack of interest
• Continued financial support for venue hire for Bangkok Breastfeeding Cafe throughout 2020
• The Bumps team maintained contact with both Samitivej and Bumrungrad hospitals throughout 2020 and were effective in disseminating advice and support to families birthing during the lockdown. 

2021 plan for Bumps and Babies

Following a brief lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions at the start of 2021, Bumps and Babies moved to Bumpsy Daisy Cafe and Community in February 2021. This is a purpose-built cafe in Phrom Pong. The new arrangement offers a lower rental cost base and more opportunities to expand the BAMBI offering to include Bumps and Babies weekly pregnancy meet-ups and talks.  

• Weekly Rhyme time & Massage (New Moon to follow after massage)
• Addition of Bumps coming back on Wednesdays with guest speakers

PLAYGROUPS

By the end of 2020 BAMBI had been running 9 steady and popular playgroups in Bangkok:

• British Club Playgroup held at the British Club
• Saturday Ekkamai Playgroup at Bright Skies International School
• Novotots Playgroup at Novotel Sukhumvit soi 20
• Sukhumvit 31 Playgroup at First Steps International Pre-School
• Thonglor Playgroup at Bangkok Prep International School
• Saturday Nana Playgroup at Storytime Pre-school
• Riverside Playgroup at Darunbannalai Children’s Library
• Chaophraya Playgroup at Millennium Hilton
• Sunny Kids Playgroup at Sunny Side Up

  In 2020, we opened 2 new playgroups:

• Chaophraya Playgroup at Millennium Hilton
• Sunny Kids Playgroup at Sunny Side Up

Some playgroups were closed in 2020.  The venues were no longer available to support BAMBI.

• Sawatdii Playgroup at IPC International Kindergarten
• Let'SPlay Playgroup at SP International Kindergarten

In total, 2396 families attended the various BAMBI playgroups in Bangkok throughout the year, a decline of 78% on last year’s figure of 10,791.

This was due to the closure of all events from February to July due to COVID-19.  After resuming playgroups we needed to limit the number of attendance for social distancing. 

At the end of 2020, the Playgroups team had 30 volunteers. None of these playgroups could happen without our busy playgroup volunteers.  In 2020, we held two Playgroup Leaders’ Breakfasts where all the volunteers could meet, socialize and share information. 

Reducing the tasks for playgroup leaders has been one of our challenges. The Database and Website teams created a new system that helped complete the tasks faster.  With this new system, the workload got lighter as it automated some of the tasks and reduced the paperwork.   

Playgroups plan for 2021

We will collate our separated manuals into one and cover all the tasks that leaders need to do. This will make it easier to train new leaders.

We will open some more playgroups so that more members will be able to attend playgroups.  Due to restrictions on numbers for social distancing, we need pre-booking at many playgroups. This has given fewer opportunities for members to attend playgroups. Opening new playgroups will improve this problem.

We will look at our pricing structure to analyze if we are sustainable with the number limitations and also because we have opened some premium playgroups.

ACTIVITIES FOR OLDER CHILDREN

By the end of 2020, BAMBI was organizing 4 activities for children aged 3 to 6.

• Creative movement and dance at RumPuree Dance Studio  
• Football at Soltilo Familia Soccer pitch
• Kung Fu at Thai-Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu
• Play-based nature activity at Bambini Villa

We also started a Toddler Music activity for children aged one to 3 at the Hilton Sukhumvit.

All our activities are taught by professionals in their field and offer children the chance to try new activities in a safe, yet fun environment. The success of our activities in the past few years allowed us to start a new activity targeting the younger age group, one to 3 years old. Toddler music has become one of the most popular BAMBI activities. To expand the opportunities for more children, a second music class will be added this year. Additionally, we are planning to open a cooking class for children aged 3 to 6 years old.    

Due to COVID-19, BAMBI had to suspend all activities from March until August 2020. Despite the situation, we had over 900 participants for the activities in 2020.

By the end of 2020, BAMBI Activities had 7 volunteers leading the activities and 3 more volunteers looking forward to leading the new activities.

Plans for 2021

• Addition of another Toddler Music session due to high demand
• Return of cooking class with a different approach from the previous time 
• Look at closing consecutive loss-making activities. 

 EVENTS

Due to COVID-19, our events plan was put on hold. We started to close BAMBI events from around February until July/August. This meant that the Splash Bash party and the March Yard Sale were canceled. 

In September, we held our yard sale, which was a combination of bookings from March and new bookings that came through. We decided to move away from the school location as feedback was that it was quite far. This is where our partnership with Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok began as they generously gave us the space for free. Although there was heavy rain we still had around 120 people shopping and 20 vendor tables booked. 

Halloween Party 

In October, we decided to hold a Halloween Party. We were not anticipating such high demand due to COVID-19 hence the decision to keep it small with 150 people. It was a great success, however, many members were not happy that they could not get a spot. This was also the first big event that required pre-booking and it filled up within 30 minutes. At this stage, we were running events without an Events Coordinator and had the Secretary/Vice Chair leading the team.

We had 5 mansion tents, each with a different activity including slime making, donut bobbing, ball toss, and planting pots. In the main room, we had pinata making from Playville, cookie decorating, Brickz for Kidz lego, vivid voyagers educational toys and a baby sensory section. The last room was the carnival room with a jumping castle, face painting, balloon making, and popcorn stand. Entertainment included Curtain Up Drama and a magic show to finish. The costume contest was well received by our MC from Bangkok Dolphins. Kids were able to take home a food box on the way out. 

Total income: ฿10,600 (39 member families, 5 non-member families)

Total Expenses: ฿123,723.21

Profit/Loss: (฿113,123.21)

Christmas Wonderland 

In December, we had our annual Christmas party. We increased the room capacity and were able to hold up to 400 guests. This was a much better event. It was a Christmas market theme so we had 5 vendors selling their products and in the main room, the activities included: a snow globe bouncy castle, cookie decorating, grinch toss, baby toys and mats, craft stations, reindeer food and letters to Santa. The star of the event was Santa (James from Bangkok Dolphins). Entertainment included Curtain Up Drama and a young girl playing the harp. At 11.10am, we started the Christmas carols and counted down, lights were dimmed, the tree was lit and 200 balloons dropped from the roof, ending the magical event.

Total Income: ฿25,150 (97 member families: ฿100thb, 18 non-member families: ฿300

Total Expenses: ฿140,152.76

Profit/Loss: (฿115,002.76)

 Events Plans for 2021

• New Events Coordinator has taken charge of the role 
• We have developed a structured calendar for 2021 and added in some smaller events throughout the year for our members, including Family Day and Eco Day.
• Me-Time is to also make a comeback with the strategy of break-even or profit. It will now fall under the Events Team and not be separated.
• A budget for the year was also developed and presented to the committee for approval in December. We project ฿588,000 in events expenses. However this will also depend on the COVID-19 situation, volunteer manning and financial situation throughout the year.
• The strategy is to charge ฿200 and ฿400 as we believe our offering is of high value.
• The plan is to also link Eco Day with a Pop-up playgroup and to organize more events with charity drives. 

YARD SALES

For the September 2020 Yard Sale, 21 tables were sold. We received ฿4,270 (72 paid and free entrance for about 60 BAMBI members) from entrance donations. 

฿5,200 was returned to members who booked in March and could no longer join leaving the total table income at ฿13,200. There was almost an even split of members and non-members vendors tables. 

After expenses were paid, a total of ฿13,74 was donated. BAMBI chose to support the Fellowship Foundation for Child and Youth Development (FCYD).  The Foundation’s mission is to develop and promote the right for children to access basic services and quality education and health services. The children they support are living with difficult circumstances in the Northeastern (Isaan) region of Thailand.

All the unswapped items from the Swap Shop were also handed to the team from the Mirror Foundation at the end of the event.  The donation was delivered to the community in the Isaan region.  

 Plan for 2021

We will hold our first yard sale for the year on 27 March at Hilton Sukhumvit again. This location is really convenient for our members. 

• This year we will be charging an entrance fee: members ฿60 per family and ฿100 per non-member family. 
• All donations will go to a charity to be confirmed by our Charities Coordinator. 
• We will be able to get a better indication if yard sales are still popular after this one and if it is still the way forward as last year with the canceled one it was hard to judge with so many contributing factors (refunds & weather).

NEW MEMBERS ACTIVITIES

New Members Coffee Morning

The team remained stable from last year with 3 main volunteers and some support members to help with the registration table. The photo team helped with photos to include with the monthly write-up for BAMBI magazine and Facebook.

We organized a total of 3 coffee mornings at Gluck cafe, Little Treehouse Nursery and Storytime International School. Despite the lower number of sessions, we got 26 new members sign-ups and 3 renewals in total. 

Normally New Members Coffee Mornings are popular so they get overcrowded, but due to the COVID-19 situation, we needed to limit the number of attendees to meet social distance guidelines. The smaller groups made everyone closer and they bonded quickly making new friends, which is the main purpose of organizing these coffee mornings. 

Pop-up Playgroups

Due to COVID-19, we were finally able to reopen our popular weekend pop-up in September with a ‘Back to School’ theme at Storytime International School in Nana. Outdoor water obstacle activities were provided by James from Bangkok Dolphins. Circle time music, movement, and fun for babies was run by Emma from Bumps and Babies. In addition, Storytime provided us with arts and crafts activities. 82 adults and 67 kids (total 149 people) attended, which made a total of 60 families.

In November we had a pop-up themed “Little Explorers” at the St. Andrews Dusit campus. Children were treated to educational indoor and outdoor play stations that allowed them to explore different topics related to discovering nature; jungle, ocean, desert and arctic. 

Despite the location being away from the Sukhumvit area, we had 94 adults and 83 children, (a total of 177 people), so 68 BAMBI families plus some St. Andrews students.

 New Members and Pop-Ups Plans for 2021 

The most challenging part was looking for venues every month and negotiating the conditions with schools. To reduce the workload, we aim to have 2 fixed locations along the Sukhumvit areas and 1 for Sathorn. It will also help members to know about BAMBI’s regular meetings. 

Pop-ups will continue for BAMBI families who want somewhere to go on weekends. We will keep collaborating with different international schools for these. 

BAMBI MAGAZINE

In 2020 we published 11 issues of BAMBI News. Copies were distributed to members and supporting organizations, including all playgroup venues. 105 articles were written by 88 individuals who donated their time and expertise to write articles of interest for our members. The number of articles was lower than in 2019 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. We had to reduce the pages in our issues in response to a drop in advertising but still managed to cover a wide range of topics for our readers. These included parenting tips, child development, special needs, personal experiences from mothers and fathers, adoption, gender equality, racial diversity, mental health, crafts, education, Thai language and culture, expat life, and pre-and postnatal support.

We had numerous photo features, book reviews, kid’s corner, interviews, and content to support and inform members. The BAMBI photo team led by Mao Sano produced a diverse range of covers for the 11 issues.

The team remained stable with just a few changes. Long-time team member Ema Naito moved away, Francine Kaye Acelar stepped down as Deputy Editor, and Eunice Enriquez joined BAMBI as the new Deputy Editor. In total, one volunteer left the team, and 3 new members were welcomed.

The team received copyediting training from former Editor Ema Naito. We didn’t meet as regularly as most of us homeschooled our children but kept communication going through the team chat and email.

BAMBI Magazine Plans for 2021  

We will continue to source content that supports our readers. We have more articles planned in response to reader requests in the 2020 member survey. These include more articles about places to visit with children and recipes for the family. We want to share more articles on social media and continue delivering content that is accessible and inclusive for our members.  A new editor and photo editor will bring a fresh update to the magazine. We will be supported with additional editorial support from our publisher, Scandmedia. We will continue to provide more development opportunities for current team members who wish to expand their skills as well as more regular team meetings as things return to more normality over the year.

MEDIA ACTIVITIES

Facebook continued to be the principal tool for communicating BAMBI cancellations, notices, events and meet-ups during 2020. In early 2020, BAMBI decided to discontinue the E-Newsletter as we have found it to be the least effective and at times a redundant form of communication compared to Facebook, magazine and website. We continue to direct traffic to the website by ensuring that every event on Facebook is cross-linked, posts and comments are linked whenever possible. 

At the end of 2020, BAMBI’s Facebook page had 11,172 likes and 11,882 followers. Six admins/editors from amongst the committee members help update Facebook and answer Facebook Messenger inquiries. BAMBI continues to use paid advertisements on Facebook to get the word out about selected BAMBI events such as Yard Sales, new playgroups and activities, and Christmas Wonderland. 

In late 2020, to manage the number of messages sent through Messenger, messages were categorized by the Media Coordinator as either emergency or not. Emergencies are answered straight away and others are answered within 36 hours. The vast majority of messages are not time-sensitive and answers are readily available either on the website or Facebook page.

BAMBI continues to maintain our policy of only posting BAMBI’s activities and events on its Facebook page. However, BAMBI has a community page where interested third parties can post. The Media Coordinator screens posts for the community page. 

MEMBERSHIP AND DATABASE

501 families became members of BAMBI during 2020. 70% of these were new members, and 30% were renewing members. We ended the year with 1043 active members. 

As a result of the suspension of all face-to-face BAMBI services during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Bangkok, the committee voted to temporarily suspend membership registrations between mid-March and June 2020. In acknowledgment of the closure — and in support of our members —— we granted all of those active at the start of February 2020 a complimentary 6-month extension of their membership.

The Database team also assisted in the development of the new paperless registration system used at all BAMBI playgroups and activities. This QR code system is connected to the database, which streamlines the sign-in process for members and volunteers alike.

Plans for 2021

In 2021, the Database team will:

• continue to work closely with the Website team and the Playgroups and Activities teams to ensure the smooth running of the paperless sign-in system. 
• offer support to new volunteers as part of the improved onboarding and training process.

MEMBER BENEFITS

In 2020, the list of members’ discounts became longer and our members were able to enjoy the special offers from many restaurants, schools and businesses. We run a Facebook campaign to promote all the benefits to our members and to give exposure to our partners.

In 2021, we plan to continue promoting on FB to raise awareness as the majority of our members don’t know about all the discounts they can have. Also, we will keep looking for new and exciting offers.

WEBSITE

2020 was the year when the new website was consolidated. Members started to be more familiar and got used to checking our Calendar. 

In the last quarter of the year, we launched our new paperless QR registration system for all our activities which helped to reduce workload for the Finance, Playgroups, Activities and Events departments. 

This system is especially helpful in the reporting process between Playgroups and Activities and the Finance team. Right now, the leaders can report immediately after every event having a list of attendance and the corresponding P&L report. 

The Website team together with the Database Coordinator trained all the playgroup and activities leaders at each event. 

Additionally, we started developing a new expenses form that will facilitate organizing and reporting to the Finance team. 

Fixing bugs and improvement of the website is an ongoing process.

The Website team is in charge of maintaining the calendar so that it’s up to date. This is an extremely important task as it’s the number one source of information for our members.

Plans for 2021

• Finalize the Expense Form and roll out to the team. 
• Due to COVID-19 all events need pre-registration. We are planning to move to Typeform to create booking forms to limit the numbers of attendees in an organized manner. 
• Continue supporting all the different teams while interacting with all the different systems created.

CHARITIES SUPPORTED IN 2020

Following BAMBI’s strategy updates, the budget for 2020 was set at 400,000 THB, a 50% decrease compared to the previous 2 years. This was due, primarily, due to the funds returned following the resolution of the previous year’s fraud court case. 

In April, given the COVID-19 situation, a budget of ฿100,000 for a one-time support grant was set aside in addition to the annual budget.  This was used to support one organization, but due to BAMBI’s financial situation, it was not continued and the balance was saved.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society has directly affected the lives of vulnerable communities and people including children in Thailand.  Based on the list of charity organizations supported last year, BAMBI Charities selected and made financial donations to 6 charities that are working tirelessly for disadvantaged children and communities in Bangkok and across Thailand.

We also arranged for the collection and distribution of material donations to the selected charities on several occasions including the annual end-of-year Giving Tree Project. The Charities Coordinator also worked with the Yard Sale Coordinator to organize the BAMBI Yard Sale in September.

In 2020, we supported the following 6 charities.

1. Baan Dek Foundation / Tchin Tcho Nursery

Baan Dek Foundation works to support children living in construction site camps in Chiang Mai by providing access to education, health and safety services.

Tchin Tcho Nursery is a registered critical care nursery for vulnerable children aged 1.5-4 years who are at risk of neglect, abuse, or living in unsafe environments.  They provide children with a safe environment and essential development skills.

In addition to monetary donations, BAMBI Charities also organized 2 material donations in April and December.  Many BAMBI members participated to donate used toys, educational materials and children’s clothing.   They were delivered to Tchin Tcho Nursery and the young children in the construction site camps in Chiang Mai. 

Total donation: ฿150,000

2. Central Thailand Mission

CTM is a non-profit under the Thai-registered Haven Foundation (under the Welfare Committee of the Interior Ministry of Thailand).  They organize various projects/programs to support the disadvantaged.

Christmas Charity Carnival at St. Andrew’s International High School on 13 December 2020

Children from 6 disadvantaged communities were invited to a Christmas party at St. Andrew’s International High School.  BAMBI supported the event by covering the operating expenses for this event.

Total donation: ฿60,000

3. ESTiN / Annual Charity Luncheon in March

ESTiN is an NPO group working to provide medical supplies, food and clothing for those living in extreme hardship in Bangkok.  For their annual Charity Luncheon, BAMBI purchased 10 seats for the committee members, volunteers, and members to attend the event, however, due to COVID-19, the event was canceled.

Total donation: ฿20,000 

4. Phuket Has Been Good To Us / Coconut Club

Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation was set up in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and works to improve the economic opportunities and life chances of young people in Phuket. The Foundation runs an afterschool and weekend program for over 200 underprivileged students, using English language activities to stimulate their imagination and practice independent thinking skills in a safe environment. BAMBI donated  ฿30,000 to Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation to purchase teaching supplies (whiteboard, projector, paper cutter, books).

In addition to the donation above, considering Phuket’s very difficult economic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the remaining  ฿95,000 of the budget approved last year, which was not used in the end, has been additionally donated to the foundation in December.

Total donation:  ฿125,000 (฿30,000 + ฿95,000)

5. Roy Rak

Being run under the charity, Urban Neighbours of Hope Thailand, Roy Rak (means to 'bead love' in Thai) is a small group of women from the Klong Toei community who make and sell their original jewelry. The creative team receives fair wages, paid holiday, health insurance, workspace, and the flexibility to fit working hours around childcare, as well as the training for jewelry-making techniques and English language skills. BAMBI’s donation was used for supplies for their studio and workers.

In May, Roy Rak made a public appeal for emergency funding.  The COVID-19 pandemic cut off the sales channels for the products made by the Roy Rak members and their livelihoods became strained.  Answering this call, BAMBI donated an additional ฿20,000 from BAMBI’s emergency budget.

Total donation: ฿40,000  (฿20,000 + ฿20,000)

6. Terres Karens / Giving Tree Project

Giving Tree is a year-end charity project organized by the Terres Karens Association who arranges end-of-year gift bags for children in Karen villages in the mountains of northern Thailand (The Song Yang District) annually. Those children are living among less privileged families and communities. The bags provide each child with clothing, school essentials, books, and toys with the spirit of the year-end festive season.  In 2020, a basic hygiene kit was also included in each bag to assist with COVID-19 prevention.

BAMBI Charities appealed for members to support the program — a total of 100 bags were donated by members and handed to the project organizer on 14 November 2020.  The total number of bags collected by the project was 700 including the ones from BAMBI.  All bags were successfully delivered to the villages by early January 2021.

Total donation: Material donation of 100 gift bags from BAMBI members

2021 Plan for Charities

• Total Budget for BAMBI Charities: ฿100,000. Based on last year’s assessment by the Treasurer and the structured meeting by the committee, the budget for BAMBI Charities has been reviewed.  In 2021, the budget for BAMBI Charities will be reduced to ฿100,000. 

• Revise Charities Guidelines. Based on the budget cuts for 2021, BAMBI Charities needs to discuss with the committee how we select the financial donations.  This is also a good opportunity to review the work of BAMBI Charities.
  
  
• Key points to consider: 
  • Assess the profiles of charities that BAMBI supported in the previous years
  • Less monetary donations, more material donations
  • Organize Charity fundraising events in collaboration with BAMBI Event Coordinator

• Restructure BAMBI Charities Team. In a review of the Charities’ activities, team workload is expected to increase.  It is ideal to have one or 2 more volunteer members in the Charities team.

BAMBI Financial Summary 2020

The previous Treasurer, Katharina, returned to her home country, and Jessica (Jex) stepped up as Treasurer in July. In December, we made some significant changes to the Treasurer Team. Due to the intense workload of the Treasurer job, we created two new positions: Financial Analyst and Bookkeeper. 

The Treasurer continues to handle the day-to-day finance requirements, the Financial Analyst will handle the strategic and long-term financial goals, and the Bookkeeper handles and organizes the financial documentation. The team still includes 4-5 Treasurer Assistant positions. As BAMBI continues to grow and open more Playgroups and Activities, we need more people to assist with the financial aspects of the organization.

The Accountant remains Almet Asia Co., Ltd, but we have recently changed auditors. The auditor for 2018 was Synergy AP Audit, and our new auditor for 2019 and 2020 is S.T. Accounting & Taxation.

In 2020, the Database Coordinator, Website team, and others worked together to create a new registration system for BAMBI events. This has streamlined the financial reporting process and made the financial aspect of our Playgroups much more transparent. We also worked with the Website team to create a new Expense Form and reporting system for volunteer reimbursements. This new process makes it much easier and faster to submit the forms, and it also improves the finance team’s reporting capabilities.

Plans for 2021

The new position of Financial Analyst was created to track long-term and strategic financial goals for BAMBI. Because BAMBI has spent significantly more than we’ve earned for three years in a row, the organization will run out of money within the next three years unless we make a lot of financial changes. We started by creating a budget for BAMBI for 2021. Unlike the Accountant’s data above (which is a total of all of BAMBI’s expenses for the year), the Financial Analyst will track all revenue and expenses by department. This will help identify areas that are losing money and places where we can cut expenses. 

The Financial Analyst will also coordinate with CBFT and the new auditing company. The audit for 2018 took more than two years to complete, partly because there were too many people involved in the process. For 2019’s audit, the Financial Analyst will work directly with Khun Meena from CBFT, and the goal is to close out the 2019 audit by the end of May 2021. At that time, we will begin the 2020 audit, with the goal to complete it by the end of 2021. 

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We welcome any questions you may have on the above information. Please write to us at treasurer@bambiweb.org or chairwoman@bambiweb.org.

Photos by KC Photography.

The views expressed in the articles in this magazine are not necessarily those of BAMBI committee members and we assume no responsibility for them or their effects. BAMBI welcomes volunteer contributors to our magazine. Please contact editor@bambiweb.org.