[Ravensfort] budget

[Sher M]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is to hold a warranted office you have to be a paying member.

Lady Runa of The Thundering Herd
Barony of Raven's Fort
Knight Marshal
Deputy Minister of Arts
Apprentice to Mistress Shanahan
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David Brown 
  To: Cathal SilAlmhain ; ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org 
  Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2011 10:03 AM
  Subject: Re: [Ravensfort] budget


  And that is what I plan to do. I will not be renewing my membership when it comes time. I think the SCA is becoming too modern. Sure we need the things of our modern world but we are supposed to be re-creating pre 17th century Europe. To my knowledge they did not have electronic newsletters or any other form of electronic communication.
  Whats next?
  I guess we can have virtual events.

  Devin




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  From: Cathal SilAlmhain <silalmhain at yahoo.com>
  To: ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
  Sent: Sun, February 13, 2011 9:53:40 AM
  Subject: [Ravensfort] budget

  That was a nice email.  Just a few observations:

  The two-second background: I am an attorney, and I have sat as both officer and director of a dozen non-for profit groups, including one that has ten times the annual budget of the SCA.

  BOD meetings and expenses (lines 54-56) total $89,650, or 7% of the total expenditures.  If they are having quarterly meetings, that is $20,000+ per meeting.  That does seem a bit like overkill.  If they are having more than quarterly meetings, they need to stop.

  Really, I am much more concerned about line 65, bank and credit card fees.  Now that is a total waste of money.

  Notice also that we can cut $45,000 by eliminating membership cards (have the member print the info from the web and do all renewal online).

  I am also really concerned about line 22.  $23,000 in interest/dividend income means that (by reverse extrapolation) at--let's be generous and say 5% interest, which is unrealistically generous, but, for the sake of arguement--that means the SCA inc. has $460,000 squirreled away somewhere, just gaining interest.  If it is at 2% interest, which is more likely, then it has over a million in savings.  For what?  
  Everybody: having a rainy day fund for your own personal finances is a very smart thing to do, and I recommend it.  Having a rainy day fund for your business is also smart, in order to take care of the unexpected.  Having a rainy day fund for a non-profit that delivers non-essential services (essential services are health care, homeless shelter, etc.,--stuff that if not provided, someone might die) is simply mismanagement.  It is prudent people who think they are doing a smart thing, when in fact they are just shoving a square peg into a round hole.

  Lastly, look at the three biggest single-line item expenses.  1.  salaries.  I don't think anyone is going to argue that they don't deserve to be paid for the work that they do, and it is unlikely (although possible) that they are overpaid for their work.  2. newsletter stipends paid for kingdom newsletters.  We are long overdue for switching to electronic media.  Purists and aesthetes can argue for the enjoyment of a hardcopy all they want, in the end it is just wasted paper, time, and money.  However, if we cut that, you can guarantee that they won't be cutting memebrship fees (just give up on that idea, it ain't gonna happen) and so we are rightly concerned about what line item they are going to increase. 3. Insurance.  Well, we gotta have that.

  I suggest that we establish our own rainy-day sinking fund for the production of a limited number of local newsletters, and switch to our own online version immediately, if we have not already done so.  Alternatively, switch everyone to electronic, distribute it via this list (or other email address as necessary), and allow for harcopies to be produced and purchased for additional expense.

  Incidentally, the best way to protest this change, if protest you want, is to not renew your membership, and tell them that you will not be renewing for so long as they continue with their policy.  Hit them in their #1 income line: membership fees.  I applaud dom and charles for renewing for 3 years, but I always pay yearly, so that I can bank on saying no, and not paying, whenever the empire does something I don't like.

  Just my thoughts, dear friends.
  Cathal
  the anti-federalist




  --- On Sat, 2/12/11, Joe McGrew <oscagne at gmail.com> wrote:

  > From: Joe McGrew <oscagne at gmail.com>
  > Subject: Re: [Ravensfort] Fw: [Ansteorra-announce] [Announcements] Newsletter Production Stipends
  > To: ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
  > Date: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 12:13 PM
  > On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 1:59 PM, SF
  > Tester <sftester2 at gmail.com>
  > wrote:
  > > I'd like to see how much is spent on the board
  > meetings, salaries,
  > > transportation, meals, and so on, personally.
  > 
  > Ok...
  > 
  > http://www.sca.org/officers/treasurer/2010budget.xls
  > 
  > Gregor
  > _______________________________________________
  > Ravensfort mailing list
  > Ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
  > http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ravensfort-ansteorra.org
  > 


        
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