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<DIV><FONT size=4>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Lady Runa of The Thundering Herd<BR>Barony of Raven's Fort<BR>Knight
Marshal<BR>Deputy Minister of Arts<BR>Apprentice to Mistress Shanahan</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=lddevin03@yahoo.com href="mailto:lddevin03@yahoo.com">David Brown</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=silalmhain@yahoo.com
href="mailto:silalmhain@yahoo.com">Cathal SilAlmhain</A> ; <A
title=ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org
href="mailto:ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org">ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 13, 2011 10:03
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Ravensfort] budget</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: tahoma, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV>Whats next?</DIV>
<DIV>I guess we can have virtual events.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Devin<BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: tahoma, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 13px"><FONT
size=2 face=Tahoma>
<HR SIZE=1>
<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Cathal SilAlmhain
<silalmhain@yahoo.com><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B>
ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Sun, February 13, 2011 9:53:40
AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [Ravensfort]
budget<BR></FONT><BR>That was a nice email. Just a few
observations:<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>Really, I am much more concerned
about line 65, bank and credit card fees. Now that is a total waste of
money.<BR><BR>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).<BR><BR>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?
<BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>Just my thoughts, dear friends.<BR>Cathal<BR>the
anti-federalist<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>--- On Sat, 2/12/11, Joe McGrew <<A
href="mailto:oscagne@gmail.com"
ymailto="mailto:oscagne@gmail.com">oscagne@gmail.com</A>>
wrote:<BR><BR>> From: Joe McGrew <<A href="mailto:oscagne@gmail.com"
ymailto="mailto:oscagne@gmail.com">oscagne@gmail.com</A>><BR>> Subject:
Re: [Ravensfort] Fw: [Ansteorra-announce] [Announcements] Newsletter
Production Stipends<BR>> To: <A
href="mailto:ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org"
ymailto="mailto:ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org">ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org</A><BR>>
Date: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 12:13 PM<BR>> On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at
1:59 PM, SF<BR>> Tester <<A href="mailto:sftester2@gmail.com"
ymailto="mailto:sftester2@gmail.com">sftester2@gmail.com</A>><BR>>
wrote:<BR>> > I'd like to see how much is spent on the board<BR>>
meetings, salaries,<BR>> > transportation, meals, and so on,
personally.<BR>> <BR>> Ok...<BR>> <BR>>
http://www.sca.org/officers/treasurer/2010budget.xls<BR>> <BR>>
Gregor<BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>>
Ravensfort mailing list<BR>> <A
href="mailto:Ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org"
ymailto="mailto:Ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org">Ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org</A><BR>>
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ravensfort-ansteorra.org<BR>>
<BR><BR><BR>
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list<BR><A href="mailto:Ravensfort@lists.ansteorra.org"
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target=_blank>http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ravensfort-ansteorra.org</A><BR></DIV></DIV></DIV><BR>
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