Poppy Manual

Poppy Funds received from the public, must be held in trust
and disbursed according to General By-Laws of the Legion
and policy in this manual.
608. A Command, branch or group of branches may hold Poppy
Trust Funds for a short term in government or corporate
bonds or other readily transferable securities authorized by
the appropriate legislative body for the investment of trust
funds. ‘Short term’ is defined as less than two (2) years.
RECORD KEEPING
609. Generally, the public does not understand what Poppy Trust
Funds are used for and the following must be borne in mind
by all persons involved in the administration and reporting
of Poppy Trust Funds.
a. as Poppy Trust Funds are public funds, the public has a
right to know what they are used for;
b. Legionnaires, in addition to being members of the
branch, are also members of the public and they have as
much right to know what Poppy Trust Funds are used for
as any citizen;
c. the fund must be kept in a separate trust account;
d. the public must be informed, at least annually, of
the results of the campaign and the disbursements
emanating from the previous year’s campaign (see
Section 606 of this manual);
e. it is the responsibility of the Poppy and Remembrance
Chairman to correct any misinformation circulated
concerning Poppy Trust Funds;
f. at the conclusion of the campaign, comprehensive reports
must be prepared that detail the monetary success of the
campaign, what was done, by which group and where
improvements can be made. The purpose of these reports
is two-fold — they provide a permanent record of the
activity that can be reviewed and they are invaluable to
the group that will take on next year’s campaign.
BRANCH FINANCIAL REPORTS, POPPY TRUST FUND
610. Submitting financial returns on Poppy and Remembrance
activity is of the utmost importance in that the information
is required for the following reasons:
a. it is through the analysis of the returns that the success of
the campaign can be measured;
b. they highlight strengths and weaknesses and assist
Provincial Command Poppy Committees and Dominion
Command to plan campaigns;
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THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION