One of the CoCo's founding principles is a very public commitment to financial transparency and accountability. Because we are 100% funded by player donations, we take stewardship of every dollar donated to the CoCo seriously. From the start, we've published our operating expenses online so that anyone can see how we spend every dollar. Our commitment to transparency extends to our directors, too. They publish the budget for every single tournament online so that you, the players, know exactly how they're allocating entry fees among prizes and expenses.

As the CoCo's Executive Director, I ensure that our bills get paid and that we implement financial programs and practices that keep the organization solvent. Today, I'm going to go beyond the yearly budget details that we already publish to share a ton of financial numbers from the most recent calendar year.

Here are some fun facts about the CoCo's finances for 2023, by the numbers:

• We paid out $30,000 in prize money.

• Players showed their enthusiasm for CoCo membership in a big way, signing up for $1,490 worth of Premium Memberships. More than half of the Premium Memberships purchased since we rolled out multi-year memberships have been 3- or 5-year memberships, which really shows the confidence and commitment our player base has in the CoCo's future.

• We received a total of about $9,300 in donations. About $4,000 of that money was donated specifically to the North American Collins Championship (NACC) tournament budget to cover streaming and supplies.

• Six players made the selfless choice to donate their prize winnings or refunded entry fees back to the CoCo. Those donations amounted to $950. Several players have given standing orders to have their prize winnings donated to the CoCo (and I'll admit that I always secretly root for those players to win). Thanks to their generosity, when they win, all of us win.

• Players will be happy to know that three-fourths of all CoCo tournament venues this past year were 100% free, which enabled directors to run tournaments that paid out great prizes. If you review the budgets we publish online for each tournament, you'll see that most tournaments pay out roughly 97% of entry fees as prizes. The other 3% covers financial transaction fees and minor expenses like card stock for player scorecards.

Another great financial win from 2023 is we received our first donations through the Benevity charitable giving platform. As we mentioned in a prior blog post, Benevity makes it possible for us to receive donations from employees at hundreds of companies such as Google, UPS, and Starbucks. We're glad to be on Benevity because we're always looking for new ways to make it easier for people to support our community and tap into corporate matching dollars.

And we're not stopping there. One new donation method that's already taking shape this year is the ability to accept donations directly from players' retirement accounts. If you're retired and taking a Required Minimum Distribution, did you know that you can donate part or all of your distribution to the CoCo, tax-free? That saves you from the financial burden of having to pay taxes on the distribution. We're excited to begin receiving donations through this creative method, and we already have the first donation on the way.

We are grateful for every donation, but we're thinking even bigger for 2024. Thanks to the help of an enthusiastic player with experience in grant writing, we are finally digging in to grant applications to expand our funding sources beyond player donations. This is an area I have wanted to explore more deeply for years. I can't tell you how excited I am to pursue this potentially game-changing source of funding.

We're only a couple of months into 2024, and already we have received $630 in Premium Membership sign-ups, as well as $730 in donations both large and small from six different players.

All that is to say, it has never been a better day to be part of the CoCo community. We're going strong, and it's all thanks to our ever-expanding and incredibly supportive player base. If you've ever donated to the CoCo or played one of our tournaments, thanks for believing in us and making what we do possible. If you're inspired by the dozens of people who have donated to the CoCo, please consider joining them by contributing to our cause. We are here for you, and will continue to work every day to make this community the best it can be.