<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;">This is interesting for those that aren't on the Ansteorra list. For those that are I apologize for your having to look at it twice.' The times they are a'changin." wasn't that Bob Dylan?!<br><br>--- On <b>Fri, 2/20/09, Patrick Anderson <i><president@sca.org></i></b> wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;">From: Patrick Anderson <president@sca.org><br>Subject: [Ansteorra-announce] [Announcements] From the Board of Directors-Financial Announcement<br>To: announcements@sca.org<br>Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 11:27 AM<br><br><pre>Financial Announcement:<br><br>Our organization, like most of the world, is suffering from the recent<br>economic down turn. Please take a moment to review the 2009 SCA, Inc.<br>budget the directors and corporate staff have posted
at<br>http://www.sca.org/. As you can see, the SCA is forecasting a deficit<br>for this budget cycle (2009). At this time, this is only a forecast, and<br>will be monitored and modified as the year progresses. For the year<br>ending 2008, we had a net loss of $181,595.56. Looking forward to 2009,<br>changes in funding strategy will be required to meet current and future<br>needs.<br><br>The SCA's 2008 and projected 2009 deficit is a result of several<br>factors.<br><br>1. An increase in the cost to the SCA's liability insurance.<br>2. The increased cost of travel.<br>3. The increased cost materials; printing, paper, postage etc.<br>4. Over the last couple of years our membership numbers had<br>remained steady. However, the last four months have shown a slight<br>overall decline in membership and more people are renewing as associate<br>or<br>family members, resulting in a loss of revenue.<br>5. The Organization's branches hosted
roughly 100 fewer events this<br>year; down to 1123 from 1247 the previous year.<br><br>At the October 2008 Board meeting the Board of Directors took the<br>following substantive measures to cut costs.<br><br>1. The elimination of one of the quarterly in-person meetings of the<br>Board of Directors, the July meeting, which will be replaced by a<br>conference call. Please note: The directors remain committed to outreach<br>to the membership. The elimination of this meeting was a difficult<br>choice as the directors and corporate staff is committed to public<br>meetings, traveling across the Known World in order to meet the members<br>and gain input from them.<br>2. The introduction of the online waivers, which will reduce postage<br>and paper costs.<br>3. The Corporate office also negotiated a reduction in rental fees in<br>our new lease.<br>4. The Directors and corporate staff have realigned our investments<br>in minimize the impact of a
volatile market.<br><br>Looking forward, we see the potential for continued financial distress<br>for the Organization. In light of the 2008 loss, the Directors and<br>corporate staff are currently working through a variance analysis. The<br>first results of this analysis are the measures noted above. Moving<br>forward, we are looking at a variety of options to reduce costs, and<br>increase our revenue. Please take a moment to review the list of ideas<br>below and send us your comments and ideas. We understand that some of<br>the options will be unpopular in areas of the Society. This should not<br>be considered a complete list of all options, nor should any of these<br>items be considered as a "done deal". While we have no wish to unduly<br>change the spirit of our shared activity, we feel strongly that at this<br>time all options must be placed on the table, examined and<br>reviewed.<br><br>1. Development of a Grant program, specifically target at
supporting<br>our publications and A&S activities.<br>2. Offering Tournaments Illuminated and The Compleat Anachronist<br>subscriptions to non members, libraries, schools, and others.<br>3. Raising the rate for these publications to our members. <br>4. Adding new tiers of member sponsorship of the SCA such as a Donor<br>or Sponsor level of involvement.<br>5. Examining the different membership participation options, with a<br>short term "event pass" for new participants.<br>6. Increased funding from sales of SCA related merchandise (via Cafe<br>Press or other similar sites Individual Kingdoms currently have gone in<br>this direction. We are not looking to curtail this activity. )<br>7. Raising membership rates.<br><br>Please note that the Organization is capable of funding the forecasted<br>deficit for 2008 and 2009 from our reserves. However, with the current<br>economic environment and the SCA's challenges, this does not seem
to<br>be a prudent solution.<br><br>As ever, the Board of Directors and Corporate staff needs your input and<br>ideas.<br><br>Comments may be sent to; comments@sca.org. Please recall that this is a<br>comment only address. The Directors all see the email from this comments<br>address, however we do not offer individual responses.<br><br>Thank you for your time and review of this material.<br><br>--<br>Patrick Anderson<br>President<br>Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.<br>president@sca.org<br>952-412-4112<br><br><br>Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:<br>SCA Inc.<br>Box 360789<br>Milpitas, CA 95036<br><br>You may also email comments@lists.sca.org.<br><br>This announcement is an official informational release by the Society for<br>Creative Anachronism , Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this<br>announcement in its entirety in newsletters, websites and electronic
mailing<br>lists.<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Announcements mailing list<br>To unsubscribe or change your settings, visit:<br>http://lists.sca.org/listinfo/announcements<br><br>To change the email address you receive these messages at, visit the URL<br>listed above, subscribe to with your new email address. Once this is<br>completed, return to the URL listed above and unsubscribe your old email<br>address.<br>_______________________________________________<br>Ansteorra-Announce mailing list<br>Ansteorra-Announce@ansteorra.org<br>http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ansteorra-announce2-ansteorra.org<br></pre></blockquote></td></tr></table><br>