[Lnc-business] Upcoming budget increase requests

Fri Sep 2 03:31:24 EDT 2016

Which individuals are included in the Compensation budget category?  All
employees, I would think, whether hourly or salaried.  So for the increase
in Compensation are we just talking about increased hours for Nick Dunbar
and Casey Hansen because the rest are salaried?

The new people being brought in to help with the presumed-temporary surge,
how are they treated, as employees or contractors?

Don't contractors show up in other budget categories?  For instance, Andy
Burns was budgeted in Affiliate Support, and his extra hours would not
affect the Compensation budget category.

Where do the other contractors fall in the budget categories?

-Alicia

On Thu, Sep 1, 2016 at 11:48 PM, Aaron Starr <starrcpa at gmail.com> wrote:

> Wes,
>
>
>
> I’m still missing something here.
>
>
>
> The original budget for compensation was based on a particular staffing
> level at specific amounts of compensation.
>
>
>
> It looks like the activity of the first eight months is already running at
> a rate that will exceed the budget for compensation for the year. (If
> $314,155 is eight months of expense, a simple extrapolation would bring us
> to $471,233 for twelve months, which is well above the budget of
> $388,800.)  I seem to recall that most of our compensation cost is based on
> fixed salaries, not hourly rates.
>
>
>
> During the first eight months we were spending just under $40K per month.
> For the last four months of the year you anticipate spending only $34K per
> month, so I’m not seeing how the need for a $60K increase in the budget is
> due to a need to cover increased people costs between now and the end of
> the year. It appears that we were spending well over our budget earlier
> during the year.
>
>
>
>
>
> Aaron Starr
>
> (805) 583-3308 Home
>
> (805) 404-8693 Mobile
>
> starrcpa at gmail.com
>
>
>
> *From:* Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Wes Benedict
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 01, 2016 4:25 PM
> *To:* lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Lnc-business] Upcoming budget increase requests
>
>
>
> 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> 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 @LPNational
>
> Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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