C O N T R A S TAssociation and FederationFinancing
THE aim of this article is to analyse the financing systems used by the different Associations that form the Federations which are currently members of our Group: Spanish, French and Italian.
THE SPANISH SYSTEM
There is not one single financing quota for the associations that make up the Spanish
Federation; they all have different annual quotas that range from 18 and 72 euros. Many of the Associations social halls are supplied by their respective Institution of origin and some although not all of them are also given subsidies. On the whole we can say that the Savings banks do help and collaborate with their pensioners Associations.
From the quotas each Association gives the Spanish Federation 2 euros per year per associated member for its financing, which totals an annual income of between approximately 15.000 and 16.000 euros. The Spanish Federation does not receive any subsidies from any organisation at the moment and uses the places that are provided by the Spanish Saving's Bank Confederation to hold its Board of Directors meetings in. TheGeneral Assemblies that are held annually usually although not always receive a subsidy fromthe hosting city saving's bank, who also provides the premises in which the meetings can be held. In addition they usually sponsor the celebratory closing dinner, providing some type of cultural act, like a local folklore performance for example, and also give an institutional gift to each one of the assembly's attendants.
En las asociaciones que constituyen la Federación Española, no existe una cuota única de financiación, tienen cuantías anuales distintas que oscilan entre 18 y 72 euros. Muchas Asociaciones tienen sus locales sociales facilitados por sus respectivas Instituciones de origen, y unas sí y otras no, reciben subvenciones de las mismas. En líneas generales podemos afirmar que las Cajas vienen prestando su colaboración a sus Asociaciones de jubilados.
De las cuotas, cada Asociación transfiere a la Federación Española, para su financiación, 2 euros al año por cada uno de sus miembros asociados, lo que representa aproximadamente unos ingresos anuales de entre 15.000 y 16.000 euros. Actualmente la Federación Española no recibe ninguna subvención de ningún organismo y utiliza para sus Juntas Directivas instalaciones facilitadas por la Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorros. Las Asambleas Generales , que se realizan anualmente, suelen tener, aunque no siempre, una subvención de la Caja anfitriona de la ciudad donde se desarrollan, cediendo asimismo los locales para su celebración. También suele patrocinar la cena de clausura, facilitando algún acto cultural, como la actuación de grupos folclóricos locales, además de ofrecer un regalo institucional a cada asambleista.
ITALIAN SYSTEM
The Italian Federation is organised in Associations and each one of the Association members pays a quota which is a percentage of the pension received in January of every year. In this way whoever has the smallest pension pays less and whoever has a bigger pension pays more. The amount registered in a bracket ranges from 8 or 10 to 70 or 80 euros a year.
Each Association, depending on its associated members, pays the Italian Federation an annual quota according to the following chart:
• Up to 500 members: 1 euro a year per member, with a minimum of 150 euros.
• Up to 1.600 members: the first 500 members, 1 euro, and the rest 0,75 euros.
• Up to 2.400 members: the first 500 members, 1 euro; from 501 to 1.600 members, 0,75 euros, and from 1.601 to 2.400 members 0,50 euros.
• The system is the same for Associations that have more than 2.400 members, and those Associations with 2.401 or more members pay 0, 25 euros. The maximum limit is 2.500 euros a year.
It is financed with an annual income of approximately between 22.000 and 23.000 euros, and it also has an Internet Web site up and running.
FRENCH SYSTEM
The French Federation is organised in Regions and will soon have a total of approximately 5000 associated members, spread out over 19 Regions. Each Region receives a quota of 32 euros a year per associated member, out of which 20 euros goes back into the National Federation.
The French Federation is financed by:
• The regional quotas: 5.000 associates x 20 = 100.000 euros.
• A 10.000 euros subsidy paid by the Saving's Banks National Fund to organize the annual National Assembly.
A part from the General Assembly that is held once a year, Regional meetings are also organised and a magazine called “Pensioner's Info” is published every month.
Three countries with three different financing systems. They are three Federations that run and organise their own General Assemblies, publish their own bulletins and pass on their demands, claims and conclusions from the Group General Assembly to the governing authorities in their respective countries. Nevertheless, what is basically the most important thing is that they are self sufficient in terms of operating. This is because the Association and Regional members pay their annual quotas. This enables them to be both financially independent and be united so that their demands are heard.
José Roberto López
