The organisation recorded a $52,298 loss for the 14-month period ending December 31, 2008. It was Basketball Otago's fourth consecutive loss, and it has now had more than $110,000 carved off its books in the past five years.
There are some good signs, with income increasing from $690,767 to $821,763. However, that gain has been offset by a rise in expenditure from $705,702 to $874,061, which has left Basketball Otago with a negative equity of $62,851.
"Like any business we are looking at our cost structure and where we are spending our money," Rogers said.
"But, as I have said, it is a 14-month period which includes two periods which are not highly productive times for us in terms of income. That's part of the reason for the loss, and then you also have depreciation."
Depreciation was up from $20,624 to $28,107 and accounted for more than half the loss, he said.
"It is definitely not a position we want to be in and we don't plan to be in that position at the end of '09. We are budgeting on making a surplus this year, which will help put us where we want to be."
Donations and grants were up from $333,010 in the previous financial year to $437,872, despite the gloomy global economy and increasing competition for charity funds. Affiliation fees had also grown, from $130,721 to $185,600.
"The fact we have increased our income is definitely a good sign for us. But as you have highlighted, the expenses have also gone up. But we are not for profit and invest everything we can back into growing the game."
The largest growth in expenditure has occurred in operation cost, which rose 40.7% from $236,081 to $332,249. High-performance expenses have also taken a significant hike, up 35.3%, from $284,471 to $384,861.
"If you look at what we do now compared with what we did four years ago, we've got a far greater range of programmes running and the rep [representative] programme has grown almost two-fold in four years," Rogers said.
"That has increased the costs, which means we have to find more money. Those things have definitely been growing pains for us," he said.
• The last four deficits for Basketball Otago
2008 - $52,298
2007- $13,837
2006 - $7171
2005 - $39,873
