[Lnc-business] Upcoming budget increase requests

Fri Sep 2 13:39:31 EDT 2016

If Nick does request you to Wes, I would like to be included on that
private distribution list.  And not to beat a dead horse to the committee
here, but THIS is a perfect thing to bring up at my still suggested
September LNC meeting.  I am certainly not comfortable with this firehose
of information via email and making a decision.

-- 
*In Liberty,*
*Caryn Ann Harlos*
Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
Harlos at LP.org
Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
<http://www.lpcolorado.org/>
Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
<http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/>

On Fri, Sep 2, 2016 at 11:37 AM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:

> Alicia, I made a mistake when I brought up Andy Burns. None of his costs
> have been booked to the compensation line this year (If I heard Robert
> Kraus correctly). I had erroneously been thinking that the time that Mr.
> Burns worked on ballot access was booked to compensation, but it was
> actually booked to the Ballot Access line. In contrast, I think the time
> that Nick Dunbar spent on ballot access was booked to Compensation (because
> he's an employee-not a contractor).
>
> Alicia asked, "Which individuals are included in the Compensation budget
> category?  "
>
> Hansen, Casey T
> Howell, Carla A.
> Kraus, Robert S
> Benedict, Robert C
> Dunbar, Dominick J
> Thexton, Matthew A
> Daugherty, Lauren
> Luckey, Denise
> Johnston, Robert
> Brierly, Elizabeth
>
> Alicia asked "So for the increase in Compensation are we just talking
> about increased hours for Nick Dunbar and Casey Hansen because the rest are
> salaried?"
>
>     No, that is not all. I'm not going to disclose every bonus, pay-raise,
> or hour increase on this list, but if Nick Sarwark asks me to, I'll have
> Robert Kraus compile a list and send it to whomever on the LNC requests it.
>
> Alicia asked "The new people being brought in to help with the
> presumed-temporary surge, how are they treated, as employees or
> contractors?"
>
>     There's been a combination, depending on the circumstances.
>
> Alicia asked: "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."
>
> Many contractors do show up in other budget categories, but some
> contractors also show up in the compensation category. Andy Burn's extra
> hours have not been booked to the compensation budget category at least so
> far.
>
> Alicia asked: "Where do the other contractors fall in the budget
> categories?"
>
>  I'm not going to list every contractor here - we have dozens, but some
> are booked to Admin, at least one to Affiliate Support, dozens in Ballot
> Access, at least two to Brand Development/Political Materials, at least one
> in Media, probably a few in Member Communications.
>
>
> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
> 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.orgfacebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
> Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
>
> On 9/2/2016 3:31 AM, Alicia Mattson wrote:
>
> 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 <%28805%29%20583-3308> Home
>>
>> (805) 404-8693 <%28805%29%20404-8693> 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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>
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>
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>

-- 
*In Liberty,*
*Caryn Ann Harlos*
Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
<http://www.lpcolorado.org>
Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
<http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org>
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