[Ansteorra-announce] [Announcements] From the Board of Directors-Financial Announcement

[Patrick Anderson]

Financial Announcement:

Our organization, like most of the world, is suffering from the recent
economic down turn. Please take a moment to review the 2009 SCA, Inc.
budget the directors and corporate staff have posted at
http://www.sca.org/. As you can see, the SCA is forecasting a deficit
for this budget cycle (2009). At this time, this is only a forecast, and
will be monitored and modified as the year progresses. For the year
ending 2008, we had a net loss of $181,595.56. Looking forward to 2009,
changes in funding strategy will be required to meet current and future
needs.

The SCA's 2008 and projected 2009 deficit is a result of several
factors.

1.      An increase in the cost to the SCA's liability insurance.
2.      The increased cost of travel.
3.      The increased cost materials; printing, paper, postage etc.
4.      Over the last couple of years our membership numbers had
remained steady. However, the last four months have shown a slight
overall decline in membership and more people are renewing as associate
or
family members, resulting in a loss of revenue.
5.      The Organization's branches hosted roughly 100 fewer events this
year; down to 1123 from 1247 the previous year.

At the October 2008 Board meeting the Board of Directors took the
following substantive measures to cut costs.

1.    The elimination of one of the quarterly in-person meetings of the
Board of Directors, the July meeting, which will be replaced by a
conference call. Please note: The directors remain committed to outreach
to the membership. The elimination of this meeting was a difficult
choice as the directors and corporate staff is committed to public
meetings, traveling across the Known World in order to meet the members
and gain input from them.
2.    The introduction of the online waivers, which will reduce postage
and paper costs.
3.    The Corporate office also negotiated a reduction in rental fees in
our new lease.
4.    The Directors and corporate staff have realigned our investments
in minimize the impact of a volatile market.

Looking forward, we see the potential for continued financial distress
for the Organization. In light of the 2008 loss, the Directors and
corporate staff are currently working through a variance analysis. The
first results of this analysis are the measures noted above. Moving
forward, we are looking at a variety of options to reduce costs, and
increase our revenue. Please take a moment to review the list of ideas
below and send us your comments and ideas. We understand that some of
the options will be unpopular in areas of the Society. This should not
be considered a complete list of all options, nor should any of these
items be considered as a "done deal". While we have no wish to unduly
change the spirit of our shared activity, we feel strongly that at this
time all options must be placed on the table, examined and
reviewed.

1.    Development of a Grant program, specifically target at supporting
our publications and A&S activities.
2.    Offering Tournaments Illuminated and The Compleat Anachronist
subscriptions to non members, libraries, schools, and others.
3.    Raising the rate for these publications to our members. 
4.    Adding new tiers of member sponsorship of the SCA such as a Donor
or Sponsor level of involvement.
5.    Examining the different membership participation options, with a
short term "event pass" for new participants.
6.    Increased funding from sales of SCA related merchandise (via Cafe
Press or other similar sites Individual Kingdoms currently have gone in
this direction. We are not looking to curtail this activity. )
7.    Raising  membership rates.

Please note that the Organization is capable of funding the forecasted
deficit for 2008 and 2009 from our reserves. However, with the current
economic environment and the SCA's challenges, this does not seem to
be a prudent solution.

As ever, the Board of Directors and Corporate staff needs your input and
ideas.

Comments may be sent to; comments at sca.org. Please recall that this is a
comment only address. The Directors all see the email from this comments
address, however we do not offer individual responses.

Thank you for your time and review of this material.

--
Patrick Anderson
President
Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
president at sca.org
952-412-4112


Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
SCA Inc.
Box 360789
Milpitas,  CA 95036

You may also email comments at lists.sca.org.

This announcement is an official informational release by the Society for Creative Anachronism , Inc.  Permission is granted to reproduce this announcement in its entirety in newsletters, websites and electronic mailing lists.

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