[Western] Fw: Letter from the Board
Bruno
bruno at armyofdorkness.org
Mon Feb 4 21:16:36 PST 2002
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>I have been asked to post this letter from the Board of Directors to as
>many places as I can and encourage, plead and beg for commentary. The
>chart part comes across slightly skewed by my e-mail program so if you want
>the original, I can send it as an attachment to individuals. Please send
>your comments, pro and con. The Board does not want to work in a vacumn,
>but if they only get 5 comments, they have to do what they think is
>best. Also don't just write if you don't like something, write that you
>like something as well. If all the comments are negative (because you
>people who like something don't bother to write), then you won't be happy
>when the changes aren't made the way you want.
>
>Please post this to any other lists. Print it out for those who don't
>have internet access. Discuss it at your local meetings.
>
>Read and send you comments,
>Countess Megan
>Kingdom of the West Seneschal
>
>
>Greetings to the Membership of the Society for Creative Anachronism from
>the Board of Directors:
>We come before you for consultation concerning the issue of a possible
>membership rate increase for the SCA.
>The SCA's membership rates have not changed since 1994. During the
>intervening years, many of the costs associated with operations of the
>Society have increased. For example, rents, printing, postage, and paper
>expenses are up, and this trend is likely to continue. Our insurance costs
>will rise by 17% in 2002. The stipend for newsletter production was raised
>14% three years ago with no corresponding increase in revenue; the postage
>portion of the stipend has been increased several times in response to
>increases in postage rates. (Note that stipends are intended to cover the
>costs of producing and mailing a two-ounce, simple newsletter, produced
>largely with volunteer labor. Kingdoms that desire a fancier or larger
>publication, or want to have the binding done professionally, need to raise
>funds to cover the increased costs of those improvements.) The Directors
>and officers have done their best to hold down the expenses they can
>directly control, often by donating the expenses involved in performing
>their duties, but that is a small percentage of the budget, and of course
>items like those mentioned above are to a large degree outside of our
>control. Membership numbers have not kept pace with these increases in
>costs, especially sustaining memberships, as can be seen from the fact
>that, while membership numbers are up, membership revenue is down.
>Membership fees are the Corporation's primary source of revenue. The number
>of paid members of the Society has remained fairly constant over the past
>several years. It is easy to see that when revenue remains constant and
>expenses increase, the financial picture is not good. Following is a
>summary of revenue and expenses for the past five years (all figures below
>rounded to nearest dollar; % change compares 1997 to 2001):
>REVENUE 1997 1998 1999 2000
> 2001 % chg
>Number of
>Members 23,814 23,832 23,802 24,400
> 24,988 + 5%
>(includes all membership categories; annual average)
>Membership
>Revenue $790,246 $621,768 $744,279 $761,633
> $750,701 - 5%
>Other
>revenue $145,932 $104,462 $94,277 $98,606
> $87,741 - 40%
>(includes Stock Clerk income, interest and dividends, TI advertising
>revenue)
>TOTAL
>REVENUE $936,178 $726,230 $838,556 $860,240
>$838,442 - 10%
>
>EXPENSES 1997 1998 1999
>2000 2001 % chg
>Kingdom
>Newsletters $187,409 $189,421 $213,750 $209,789
> $198,985 + 6%
>Staff
>Salaries $172,693 $194,087 $219,253 $201,695
> $221,680 + 28%
>(includes cost of benefits and payroll taxes)
>Corp Office
>Expenses $143,437 $115,817 $141,355 $134,165
>$155,835 + 9%
>Meetings/conferences $36,996 $44,566 $46,625
>$37,176 $42,822 + 10%
>Board member
>expenses $4,230 $1,644 $2,625 $841
>$355 - 92%
>Officer
>expenses $18,610 $9,717 $12,195
>$10,671 $13,747 - 26%
>Other
>Expenses $267,794 $265,971 $255,808 $257,638
> $206,230 - 23%
>(includes stock clerk costs, insurance, professional services, other
>publications, and capital expenditures)
>TOTAL
>EXPENSES $831,168 $812,222 $891,611 $851,976
>$839,654 + 1%
>
>NET
>INCOME(LOSS) $105,010 ($85,992) ($53,055) $8,264
> ($1,212)
>
>2001's final revenue figures are skewed because of a very generous,
>one-time, unbudgeted donation of $40,000, which was earmarked by the donor
>for a specific purpose (so it is not general revenue). The 2002 budget
>projects a loss of approximately $66,000. Despite the budget shortfalls
>over three of the past five years, this is not an emergency situation. At
>present there is enough money to cover our subscription liability and the
>Society's immediate expenses. But, looking into the future, clearly that
>situation will not continue forever. The Board is strongly of the opinion
>that an adjustment is needed to cover increases in operating expenses that
>will inevitably occur in the coming years. It is our feeling that a single
>increase designed to last several years is preferable to smaller, more
>frequent increases, though we are open to argument on that point.
>As Directors, we have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the
>corporation has resources adequate to continue its operations. To that end,
>the Board of several years ago instituted the Non-Member Surcharge (NMS),
>which allowed the accumulation of an operating reserve. Once that reserve
>was established, the Board repealed the NMS. That operating reserve, which
>was fueled by the NMS, has been funding budget shortfalls at the Corporate
>level for some years now. It would not be financially prudent to spend all
>of the operating reserve with no plan to replace those funds.
>We ask that members consider the following suggestions on how to increase
>revenues so that expenses can be met into the future. We realize that these
>suggestions are by no means the only options available. Please send us your
>comments on these options and your alternative suggestions. The Board is
>seeking a consensus from the membership on how to proceed. At present no
>decisions have been made except that something must be done. We request
>and highly encourage your suggestions and assistance. Note that
>International memberships are not specifically addressed here. Those rates
>may need to increase proportionately to any other rate increases that occur.
>OPTION 1 - Tournaments Illuminated optional
>Basic Membership: $35/year 3rd class; $42/year 1st class (Drachenwald and
>Ealdormere available 1st class only). Includes member's own Kingdom
>newsletter.
>Dependent membership: $15/year (with a family cap of $70/year) available
>only to immediate family members of a Basic member
>Tournaments Illuminated: $10/year.
>Additional publications, including any additional Kingdom newsletters and
>Compleat Anachronist (per publication): $10/year 3rd class; $17/year 1st
>class
>Board Proceedings: $17/year (available 1st class only; includes Board
>meeting minutes and Society Seneschal's report)
>
>OPTION 2 - all publications optional
>Basic membership: $25/year
>Dependent membership: $15/year (family cap of $60/year) available only to
>immediate family members of a Basic member
>Publications, including all kingdom newsletters and Compleat Anachronist
>(per publication): $10/year 3rd class; $17/year 1st class (Drachenwald and
>Ealdormere available 1st class only).
>Tournaments Illuminated: $10/year
>Board Proceedings: $17/year (available 1st class only; includes Board
>meeting minutes and Society Seneschal's report)
>
>Alternate option for Board proceedings in both Options 1 and 2: Board
>meeting minutes posted to the SCA web site. In this case the option to
>subscribe to the Proceedings would be dropped. The Society Seneschal's
>report would be dropped.
>Under either of the above options the membership categories would be
>reduced to two: Basic and Dependent (aka Family).
>OPTION 3 - A general increase in the price of membership.
>Membership categories and included publications would remain the same as
>they are today. The price of each type of membership would increase by $5
>to $10.
>
>OPTION 4 A significant increase in the number of paid Society members.
>We are NOT suggesting "pay to play". We would be very interested in
>suggestions for ways to encourage more of our participants to become paid
>members of the Society. Obviously, with more paid members to share the
>costs, each member's share of those costs is reduced.
>
>OTHER OPTIONS
>Other options that have been discussed include reinstating the Non-Member
>Surcharge, or designating a percentage of the gate from each event to go to
>the Corporation. Undoubtedly there are many, many other possibilities that
>have not yet been brought to the table.
>
>Again, the Board asks for your comments and suggestions. "Unbundling" the
>publications from membership and/or increasing the cost of memberships are
>undoubtedly not the only options. There may well be other answers. Nothing
>will be done until after input from the members and Kingdoms is received
>and carefully considered. The membership will be kept informed on the
>status of this endeavor.
>Please send your comments no later than June 15, 2002 to:
>Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
>PO Box 360789
>Milpitas CA 95036-0789
>
>Or electronically to: comments at sca.org
>Sincerely yours,
>The SCA, Inc. Board of Directors
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