[Lnc-business] Upcoming budget increase requests

Sun Sep 4 22:45:58 EDT 2016

Joshua, how about you make the call for a meeting? The only day off the
table for me is 9/17 due to the Social Media training- which I hope other
regionals might take advantage of.

I will support an online meeting whether or not my transparency proposal
gets heard, though I respectfully suggest that it be included.  I think the
goals that I suggested would fit in with this budget discussion.

-- 
*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 Sun, Sep 4, 2016 at 8:41 PM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I agree.  I would join in a request for such a meeting, including a budget
> piece, so long as the total length is not expected to exceed 3 hours,
> preferably 2.  That is, I would not want to simply add the budget item to
> the proposed agenda that is already circulating, but if we removed enough
> items to make room for it, I'd support that.
>
> We're talking about a rather significant change, and one with strategic
> importance.  I think it deserves to at least be discussed in person.  It's
> a primary responsibility of ours.  It can probably also be handled in
> relatively short order if we first get everything in a row and get the
> relevant facts before us, as we've been doing.
>
> Joshua A. Katz
> Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)
>
> On Sun, Sep 4, 2016 at 9:24 PM, Caryn Ann Harlos <carynannharlos at gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
>> It seems to me that this continues to be an excellent argument for a
>> September meeting.  I know I feel less and less comfortable supporting or
>> opposing anything without an actual deliberative assembly. That has also
>> been the sense of my regional members so far.
>>
>> --
>> *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 Sun, Sep 4, 2016 at 5:00 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Aaron , I'll try to answer that exactly on Tuesday.
>>>
>>> In advance of my exact answer, would you care to suggest an amount you
>>> think would sound concerningly high to you, an amount you think is expected
>>> or completely reasonable, and an amount you think is comfortably low?
>>>
>>> Do you have other questions you'd like us to work on that you can ask
>>> now?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sep 4, 2016, at 6:32 PM, Aaron Starr <starrcpa at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> At first I understood that "all of these budget increase requests are
>>> the result of good news".
>>>
>>> With further inquiry I now understand that is not the full explanation:
>>> "There have been some raises and bonuses given that also affect overall
>>> compensation--with my own total compensation being the biggest factor there
>>> (as you know I was given a new contract by the LNC in July 2016)."
>>>
>>> We are certainly aware of the change caused by the new executive
>>> director contract. That explains some, but not all, of the requested $60K
>>> increase for the balance of the year.
>>>
>>> Before supporting an increase in budget for compensation we should all
>>> understand that there is a distinction to be made between increased
>>> expenditures due to timing differences (or even an increase in activity)
>>> versus increased expenditures resulting from pay raises.
>>>
>>> How much was paid in bonuses so far during 2016?
>>>
>>> Not including the Executive Director, how much has the annualized cost
>>> of compensation increased on account of changes in pay rates?
>>>
>>> Aaron Starr
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>> On Sep 2, 2016, at 10:15 AM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> I haven't taken the Policy Manual out to read it in detail before
>>> providing this response, and I haven't taken the time to investigate
>>> line-by-line every 2016 expenditure, but in general, unless I'm mistaken,
>>> the budgets that the LNC passes are annual limits on expenditures, not
>>> monthly limits. Some months we may go over the average monthly budget
>>> limitation, and some months we may go under the average monthly limit.
>>>
>>> Beyond monthly variations, however, as you noted below, we have indeed
>>> consistently spent at a rate that, if continued through to the end of the
>>> year, would put us over the 2016 annual compensation budget.
>>>
>>> My thinking for the 2016 effort was that we should plan for success, but
>>> be prepared for the worst, and also front-load our expenses when it
>>> mattered the most. So, I was comfortable spending over the average monthly
>>> limits in the first two-thirds of the year when we had the very large
>>> critical projects of the *national convention*, and *50 state ballot
>>> access,* that take a lot of staff time. Had things gone really poorly
>>> this year, we would still have had the option of cutting back staff
>>> sufficient to meet whatever budget restrictions were in place later in the
>>> year. As an exaggerated example, in theory, if things had going really
>>> really poorly, we could terminate every staff member except for Robert
>>> Kraus, terminate most contractors, and I could have resigned myself (or be
>>> terminated). Again, that's not what we expected, or hoped for, but it was a
>>> way to meet budget requirements if needed.
>>>
>>> It turns out, things have gone really well--far better than the LNC or I
>>> projected. And my thinking back in early 2016 was that if things did go
>>> very well this year, the LNC would likely want to increase the budget later
>>> in the year.
>>>
>>> There have been some raises and bonuses given that also affect overall
>>> compensation--with my own total compensation being the biggest factor there
>>> (as you know I was given a new contract by the LNC in July 2016).
>>>
>>> The bottom line is, we can add people and hours and pay and continue
>>> working to grow this party, or we can cut people and hours and pay, and
>>> shrink it. My recommendation is to grow.
>>>
>>> In summary, we have been spending more than our average monthly budgeted
>>> amount, and I recommend increasing the budget.
>>>
>>> This email took me an hour to write because I was trying to be rather
>>> careful. Hopefully I got all of my facts right, or at least close enough.
>>> I'll be correcting a fact in a response to Alicia.
>>>
>>>
>>> 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 2:48 AM, Aaron Starr 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
>>> <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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>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
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>>>
>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>
>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lnc-business mailing listLnc-business at hq.lp.orghttp://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>
>>>
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>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *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>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Lnc-business mailing list
>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lnc-business mailing list
> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>
>

-- 
*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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