[Ansteorra] Black Star costs vs. stipend

[Michael Tucker]

Greetings from Michael Silverhands:

j_smallw at TITAN.SFASU.EDU wrote:
>
> Another thought (and someone correct me if I have my information wrong)..
>
> Doesn't the cost of sending out the Blackstar 1st class total more than
> the stipend we get from Corporate?  AFAIK, the stipend is based on the
> number of Blackstars being sent, not whether they are being sent 1st class
> or not.  If that's the case, wouldn't it help a bit (not enough by itself,
> though) if when we renew, we don't opt for first class postage?
>
> Although that does bring up a point, don't we pay more to get it first
> class anyway?  Is it enough or does the money just not trickle back to the
> kingdom?
>
> Ansgar

Good questions, Don Ansgar. But your theory is "close, but no cigar". :-)

The Quarterly stipend (about $3,100 last time) is made up as follows:

* $0.57 per book for printing
* $0.55 per 1st Class issue
* $0.167 per book per 3rd Class issue
* Standard 2 oz. mailing rates for anything outside the U.S. (e.g. $0.85 to Canada)

We print about 1300 copies, and mail between 1250-1300. Last month about 850
were mailed 3rd Class, and about 400 were mailed 1st Class. Usually a very few
(3 or 4 last month) are mailed Air Mail to other countries.

The shortfall occurs because the stipend amounts are all calculated based on a 2
oz (or smaller) newsletter. We consistently run between 2-3 oz for the Black
Star, as do most kingdoms. It costs a few cents more per book (times 1300 books)
to print the extra pages, although bulk postage rates don't change until you hit
3 oz. The killer is 1st class postage, which jumps from 55 cents (for 2 oz) to
76 cents (for 3 oz). That's 21 cents difference (times 400 books).

We're getting a pretty good rate right now for printing and binding. It cost
about $600 (each) to print the May and June Black Stars, plus about $140 (each)
to bind them. We are continuing to shop for a better deal. Bulk postage was only
about $120 each month. First Class cost about $300 each month.

Add it up:
* $600 printing + $140 binding = $740 (stipend, $.57 x 1250 = $712.50)
* $120 bulk postage (stipend, $.167 x 850 = $141.95)
* $300 1st Class postage (stipend, $.55 x 400 = $220.00)
* about $12 Air Mail postage (stipend, about $6)

Total costs: about $1,172. Stipend: about $1,080. (Actually, the stipend is
closer to $1,035 per month. My math didn't quite work out, but I'm using
approximate numbers.)

Notice that we managed to operate mostly within the stipend for these past two
months. We got a slight break on the bulk postage because Lord Stefan von
Drachenfels and I spent about 6 hours together at the downtown Houston post
office, carefully sorting and bundling two months' worth of Black Stars to get
the maximum bulk mail discount. Usually I would expect us to be closer to the
stipend for bulk mailing costs.

We're only operating at about a $100/month deficit (mostly due to the difference
in 1st Class postage), which I consider to be extremely good based on past
history. However, it would be nice if the Kingdom didn't have to kick in
$1200/year to cover this shortfall. That's why I made the change in the
publication policy.

I'm certain that the Crown and my successor would welcome any constructive
suggestions on how to do this. The Black Fox Memorial auctions have already
raised enough to repay the Kingdom most of what it covered for the past year. If
we can continue to have periodic silent auctions (or some other method of
raising funds), we should be "good to go" for the foreseeable future.

Yours in service,
Michael Silverhands
Kingdom Chronicler (interim), Ansteorra