[Lnc-business] Upcoming budget increase requests

Thu Sep 1 19:24:58 EDT 2016

I can't disclose exact pay rates and hours worked publicly on this email 
list, as you know. In any case, the increase in the budget is to cover 
more hours and more people than were originally budgeted for.

Some contractors and staff have been working more hours, and I'd like to 
continue working more hours, than were in the original budget.

I've got more contractors than in the original budget.

I'd like to spend more on additional staff, including interns, as 
advertised here:
http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/hiring-libertarian-packaging-interns

With Robert's help, the numbers below show:
>
> FYI – Compensation:
>
> Compensation YTD *                                           $314,155
>
> Est Amount for Sept-Oct (based on July/Aug)         $69,000
>
> Est Amount for Nov-Dec                                      $65,000
>
> TOTAL EST 2016:                                              $448,155
>
> * Includes 09/07 payroll 

I'm prepared to scale back everywhere if needed as needed, including 
cutting people, hours, pay rates, etc., if activity drops post Election 
Day or whenever regardless of how far it drops.  Of course we hope to 
win lots of elections and see activity skyrocket even higher after 
Election Day, but I'm prudently prepared for the alternate scenario as well.

Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

On 9/1/2016 6:25 PM, starrcpa at gmail.com wrote:
> Thanks for the good news!
>
> I would like to understand in greater detail the need for a $60,000 
> increase in compensation.
>
> Aaron Starr
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 1, 2016, at 12:46 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org 
> <mailto:wes.benedict at lp.org>> wrote:
>
>> Dear LNC:
>>
>> I'd like to start a discussion about several budget increase requests 
>> before a formal motion is considered. I mentioned to the chair that I 
>> thought it would be good for me to put this before the LNC soon, and 
>> he agreed it was okay for me to get this discussion started on this list.
>>
>> To me, all of these budget increase requests are the result of good 
>> news -- our revenue, membership, and interest is very high, far 
>> higher than budgeted, and as a result, many of our expenses are 
>> higher as well.
>>
>> More revenue and members means more membership cards and LP News to 
>> mail out, and bigger lists to send fundraising letter to.
>>
>> The original 2016 Budget adopted for the entire year of 2016 was 
>> *$1,474,561*. My preliminary estimate for August 31, 2016 YTD revenue 
>> is $1,679,938 (July 2016 YTD) plus $412,425 (August 2016) = 
>> *$2,092,363*. It's possible we could double the original revenue 
>> budgeted for the entire year (although I'm not ready to predict that).
>>
>> Dues-paying membership has increased from *11,693* at the start of 
>> January to approximately *19,300* at the end of August.
>>
>> The original budget for branding revenue was *$35,000*. We've already 
>> brought in *$205,862* in branding revenue (that's mostly the stuff we 
>> sell at LPStore.org <http://lpstore.org>).
>>
>> Again, all of these increases in donations, memberships, and store 
>> orders, means higher postage, credit card processing fees, purchases 
>> of items offered at LPStore.org <http://lpstore.org>, office 
>> supplies, and some labor to help process all that stuff.
>>
>> Robert Kraus and I have looked over the results of this year to date, 
>> considered what things could look like going forward, and are 
>> recommending that the LNC proposed and passes the following budget 
>> increases.
>>
>>
>> 26-Brand Political Materials Revenue increase by $150,000 to $400,000
>> 32-Fundraising Costs increase by $60,000 to $201,364
>> 33-Membership Fundraising Costs increase by $35,000 to $127,200
>> 40-Adminstrative Costs increase by $50,000 to $310,050
>> 45-Compensation increase by $60,000 to $448,800
>> 55-Brand Political Materials Expense increase by $150,000 to $400,000
>> 85-Member Communication increase by $17,500 to $62,500
>>
>> We have the revenue to pay for all of these budget increases. I'm 
>> pretty certain we have more money in the bank for the September of a 
>> Presidential election year than ever before in the history of the 
>> Libertarian Party, and that's in spite of paying what it has taken to 
>> achieve 50 state ballot access for the first time since 2000.
>>
>> While we are not technically over budget in most areas, we are 
>> trending in that direction and certainly will go way over budget by 
>> the end of the year unless I proactively cut back on fundraising 
>> letters, LP News, shipping LPStore.org <http://lpstore.org> 
>> materials, staff levels, and other areas. That could be done, but I 
>> don't think it's the right thing to do. For example, instead of 
>> focusing my time on trying to continue the growth of membership and 
>> fundraising by hiring another intern to fill boxes with campaign 
>> materials, I could spend my own time stuffing envelopes and filling 
>> boxes with yard signs--something I do actually enjoy and find to be 
>> therapeutic.
>>
>> I'd be happy to try to respond to any questions you have on these items.
>>
>> Thanks for your consideration. I'm hoping we have a productive 
>> discussion on this, and then the chair or treasurer can propose a 
>> motion that fits a consensus for you to consider of the Labor Day 
>> Weekend.
>>
>> -- 
>> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
>> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
>> 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
>> (202) 333-0008 ext. 232,wes.benedict at lp.org
>> facebook.com/libertarians <http://facebook.com/libertarians>  @LPNational
>> Join the Libertarian Party at:http://lp.org/membership
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>
>
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