[Lnc-business] Observations on Proposed 2018 Budget

[Alicia Mattson]

Regarding convention budgeting, I recommend that you budget for convention
revenues to equal convention expenses.  As we sell more packages and
increase revenues, it also increases expenses by a related amount.

Our platform calls for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S.
Constitution.  I'm not sure how we position ourselves as the fiscally
responsible party if our board adopts budgets with $250k deficits.

-Alicia


On Sat, Dec 9, 2017 at 3:26 PM, Aaron Starr <starrcpa at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear LNC members,
>
>
>
> I have some comments about the proposed budget figures that I hope you
> will find useful.
>
>
>
> *General Comment. *Given that October’s YTD financial statements had
> reserves standing at $82K, adopting a budget with a $254K deficit is
> probably not a prudent move. My general suggestion is that we should adopt
> budgets based on our fears, not our hopes. It’s easier to make additions
> later, if we outperform our budget, but far harder to make cuts effectively
> once the money has already been spent.
>
>
>
> *Confidential Salaries and Contractor Compensation.* The sheet detailing
> these figures does not disclose all compensation (only the portions
> attributed to administrative expense). This makes it unclear to the LNC
> that built into this budget is a very large increase in staffing that is
> causing our budgeted expenses to well exceed our budgeted revenues. To make
> an informed decision, the LNC should insist on seeing a listing of all
> compensation paid to staff and contractors (both admin and non-admin)
> during 2017 (including those who are no longer employed) with a projection
> of what the full year figures will be. Those figures should be shown next
> to a similar listing for 2018 for comparison.
>
>
>
> *Recurring Pledges.* The assumption is that the revenues will increase by
> 15%, starting with the first month. Given the challenges with membership
> levels, this might be optimistic.
>
>
>
> *Convention Revenue.* Convention Revenue should be budgeted to match
> Convention Expense. The current budget shows a profit of $10,000.
>
>
>
> *Convention Banquet Fundraising.* Using the average of the Presidential
> and Non-Presidential figures for Convention Banquet Fundraising is overly
> optimistic. It would be more appropriate to use the Non-Presidential figure
> of $23K. If our actual experience is better, we can modify the budget
> upward at that time.
>
>
>
> *Other Event Fundraising.* I’d like to see better support for the $50K
> figure and the associated $7.5K expense.
>
>
>
> *Political Materials. *I suggest that figures lower than $100K for
> revenues and expense would be more appropriate, as this is a
> non-Presidential year.
>
>
>
> *Direct Mail Fundraising Expense. *The general and donor renewal expense
> include $48K of contract expense with notes suggesting there has been $4K
> per month in such expense during 2017. That does not appear to be true.
> Please look at that closely.
>
>
>
> *Online Contribution Expense – Donor Renewal. *Budgeting $36K for
> Facebook and Text Messaging, methods for which we have no successful
> experience, seems high. I suggest that we start with a smaller figure and
> then only expand upon that amount once we have evidence that this is a
> productive use of funds.
>
>
>
> *Affiliate Development.* I have seen no support for the $60K figure.
>
>
>
> *Media Relations. *This figure is increasing $48K because of the addition
> of a contractor.
>
>
>
> *Candidate Support and Training.*  This figure is increasing $48.6K
> because of the addition of a contractor.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Aaron Starr
>
> (805) 583-3308 Home
>
> (805) 404-8693 Mobile
>
> starrcpa at gmail.com
>
>
>
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>
>
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