[Lnc-business] Executive Committee Conference Call - 7/24/14 @ 9:30 pm EST - NH Ballot Access

Fri Aug 1 04:45:32 EDT 2014

Smokey Robinson is wondering, do you feel like giving a lifetime of
devotion to anyone who seconds that emotion?  :-)  Sorry, couldn't resist.

I prefer to first see what the June financials look like to see if the
problem is getting better/worse or staying about the same.  We moved into a
new building and had a convention, both of which can disrupt cash flow
patterns.  We haven't heard much analysis of the situation, but maybe Tim
could do that for us.  Just $10,000 wouldn't fill the current hole, so we'd
still be left shuffling payment dates for the rest anyway.  Sending staff
off to try to find a short-term loan would also take away from their
fundraising time to help fix the problem, and it might not be so easy to
get another loan when we just took on a mortgage and we're in a hole.  If
staff can wing it temporarily and time will correct the situation, fine.
If this appears to be a continuing problem, then we can consider if the LNC
needs to do something.

-Alicia

On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 9:32 AM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Since this hole sounds temporary, and therefore wouldn't accrue much
> interest, I would like to float the following emotion
>
> Move to authorize borrowing of up to $10k. This borrowing is authorized
> only in the event that bills pending as of the date the motion is put to a
> vote come due in excess of cash on hand. This debt is to be repaid no later
> than October 31 2014. If cash is not available on that date, an automatic
> spending freeze is put in place until the debt is paid, and a balance
> transfer is authorized to lower the interest rate.
>
> I think this is better than making vendors wait, especially if we want to
> obtain good deals in the future.
>
> I cannot sponsor of course, nor am I a financial wiz, so I'm floating the
> idea without marrying it.
>
> Joshua Katz
>
> Thanks.
> On Jul 31, 2014 4:27 AM, "Alicia Mattson" <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Joshua,
>>
>> Restricted cash is money sitting in our bank account, but the donor
>> specified it is only to be used for a particular thing.  It would require
>> permission of the donor to spend it on anything else besides what they have
>> specified.
>>
>> The largest pile of restricted cash we have had recently has been
>> donations for the building fund.  As of the end of May we had restricted
>> funds of approximately:  $8,300 for campus outreach (a donation from Dr.
>> Lark, I believe), $9,400 for the building fund, $350 for a radio ad
>> project, and $2,000 for the legal offense fund.
>>
>> Most of our donors give us unrestricted funds, though, and it's then up
>> to us how we choose to spend it.
>>
>> When you see the total cash amount on our balance sheets, you have to
>> subtract the restricted fund amounts to figure out what is available for
>> everything else.
>>
>> When we create a budget, it does not create restricted funds because it's
>> not the donor putting limitations on what our cash can be used for.  The
>> budget is the LNC putting spending caps on certain categories, but the LNC
>> can later amend the budget and shuffle things around between categories
>> without having to go back to the donors for their permission to make those
>> changes.  (Though the budget may include a plan for using some of the
>> restricted funds, in which case only those lines are restricted and the
>> rest are not.)
>>
>> If we have budgeted $1,000 for category X, but we have spent only $300,
>> the balance of $700 isn't restricted.  Restricted funds are cash already in
>> the bank account.  But the remaining $700 of spending authority for
>> category X is dependent on us actually receiving the budgeted revenues.  We
>> might not even have $700 cash on hand, though we have $700 left in the
>> budget.
>>
>> I am not aware of any open lines of credit that we have, though there are
>> party credit cards that we pay off every month.  Article 10.5 of the bylaws
>> forbids the party from borrowing more than $2,000 without prior approval by
>> a 2/3 vote of the LNC.  There is an exclusion there for "trade payables"
>> like when a vendor goes ahead and ships the product to us and then bills us
>> with the understanding that we'll pay in so many days.  That's not
>> considered borrowing under that bylaw.
>>
>> -Alicia
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 9:34 PM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> What does unrestricted cash on hand mean? If money is budgeted for a
>>> certain use, but no expense has been incurred, is that money then
>>> considered restricted? If so, what would be needed to unrestrict it? If
>>> not, are we at risk of not paying our bills? Does the party have open lines
>>> of credit?
>>>
>>> Finally, given this situation, how can we cut costs associated with our
>>> upcoming meeting?
>>>
>>> Joshua Katz
>>> On Jul 24, 2014 5:05 PM, "Alicia Mattson" <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I inquired about our cash flow status, since things looked very tight
>>>> at the end of May and I don't think I have seen June financials yet.
>>>> Robert Kraus provided me the following information, indicating that our
>>>> cash flow has gotten worse since May:
>>>>
>>>> Current unrestricted cash on hand is $110k. We are looking at the
>>>> following upcoming expenses: $26k in ballot access obligations for LPIL and
>>>> LPKY, Payroll $18k, Hyatt Columbus (estimated) $90k, Credit Card $21k
>>>> (mostly convention related). That's a total of $155. That would be a cash
>>>> shortfall of -$45k. I think if funds come in as they've been the last week
>>>> or so we can cover this over a period of a couple weeks and I can delay
>>>> some of the payment to Hyatt. Also NY has generously agreed to spread their
>>>> obligation over a 6 week period but that still doesn't leave us any wiggle
>>>> room for any additional expenses until at least Sept/Oct.
>>>>
>>>> We're currently in a financial hole.  In June of 2010 (a comparable
>>>> point in our 4-year financial cycle), we were approximately $200k better
>>>> off in terms of cash flow.  I believe some contributing factors to be the
>>>> fact that we hired a political director with "savings" from buying a
>>>> building, but we hired the position a year before we actually bought a
>>>> building and moved in so as to achieve any savings.  The building
>>>> fundraising efforts seriously cannibalized our general fundraising
>>>> efforts.  We have a political director and own a building now, but we left
>>>> ourselves in bad financial shape.
>>>>
>>>> We need to be building the warchest to get our 2016 presidential
>>>> candidate on the ballot, so on tonight's call I will be asking questions
>>>> like:
>>>>
>>>> 1)  Given how many of our affiliates currently have 2016 ballot access,
>>>> what is the ballpark estimate of what we'll have to spend in the 2016 cycle
>>>> to get our presidential ticket on in the other states?
>>>>
>>>> 2)  Looking at historical data in NH for LP U.S. Senate candidates,
>>>> what baseline % does the typical paper candidate get?  What has been the
>>>> maximum an LP U.S. Senate candidate has gotten there in the recent past?
>>>> In other words, has presidential ballot access been successfully obtained
>>>> this way in the past, or is this a hail-Mary?
>>>>
>>>> 3)  What is the state party doing to contribute to this candidate's
>>>> ballot access effort?  Funds?  Volunteer signatures?  Etc.
>>>>
>>>> -Alicia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 12:19 PM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Robert Kraus provided me with the call-in details for tonight's
>>>>> Executive Committee teleconference regarding NH ballot access as follows:
>>>>>
>>>>> Meeting Time:  9:30 Eastern / 6:30 Pacific
>>>>>
>>>>> Guest Instructions
>>>>>
>>>>> Dial-in: 1 (217) 258-5588
>>>>>
>>>>> International Dial-in: 00 + 1 (217) 258-5588
>>>>> Guest Pin Code: 207730
>>>>>
>>>>> Alicia Mattson
>>>>> LNC Secretary
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:53 AM, Nicholas Sarwark <chair at lp.org>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> All,
>>>>>> There will be an Executive Committee conference call tonight at 9:30
>>>>>> pm EST to discuss spending ballot access funds to petition to put
>>>>>> Gardner Goldsmith from the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire on the
>>>>>> ballot.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Wes or Robert will follow-up with the call-in details.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -Nick
>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
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