<div dir="ltr">Wes,<div><br></div><div>Great news, especially on membership. We need to send out another media release concerning the great </div><div>contributions of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to the party's growth this year with mention of the award</div><div>given them at convention.</div><div><br></div><div>Along with Daniel and Brett, I'd be happy to co-sponsor the Treasurer's forthcoming motion on budget</div><div>corrections.</div><div><br></div><div>Live Free,</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Sam Goldstein<div>Libertarian National Committee</div><div>Member at Large</div><div>8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101</div><div>Indianapolis IN 46260</div><div>317-850-0726 Phone</div><div>317-582-1773 Fax</div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 1, 2016 at 4:27 PM, Daniel Hayes <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:danielehayes@icloud.com" target="_blank">danielehayes@icloud.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div>I will very likely be prepared to join Brett in cosponsoring a motion for the increase originating preferably from the Treasurer. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Daniel Hayes</div><div>LNC At Large Member<br><br>Sent from my iPhone</div><div><div class="h5"><div><br>On Sep 1, 2016, at 2:50 PM, Brett Bittner <<a href="mailto:brett.bittner@lp.org" target="_blank">brett.bittner@lp.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr">Wes,<div><br></div><div>This IS great news!</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you for your forward thinking on the budget, so we aren't putting ourselves in a "do it or violate the bylaws" situation for a motion.</div><div><br></div><div>I'd be happy to co-sponsor a motion made by Mr. Hagan, as he seems to be the most appropriate person to make a budget increase motion as the Treasurer, for these budget increases.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:small">Brett C. Bittner</div><div style="font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-size:small">Region 3 Representative </div><div style="font-size:small"><a href="http://lp.org/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">Libertarian National Committee</a></div><div style="font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-size:small"><a href="mailto:brett.bittner@lp.org" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">brett.bittner@lp.org</a></div><div style="font-size:small"><a href="tel:317.699.2611" value="+13176992611" target="_blank">317.699.2611</a></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 1, 2016 at 3:46 PM, Wes Benedict <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
Dear LNC:<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
More revenue and members means more membership cards and LP News to
mail out, and bigger lists to send fundraising letter to.<br>
<br>
The original 2016 Budget adopted for the entire year of 2016 was <b>$1,474,561</b>.
My preliminary estimate for August 31, 2016 YTD revenue is
$1,679,938 (July 2016 YTD) plus $412,425 (August 2016) = <b>$2,092,363</b>.
It's possible we could double the original revenue budgeted for the
entire year (although I'm not ready to predict that). <br>
<br>
Dues-paying membership has increased from <b>11,693</b> at the
start of January to approximately <b>19,300</b> at the end of
August. <br>
<br>
The original budget for branding revenue was <b>$35,000</b>. We've
already brought in <b>$205,862</b> in branding revenue (that's
mostly the stuff we sell at <a href="http://lpstore.org" target="_blank">LPStore.org</a>).<br>
<br>
Again, all of these increases in donations, memberships, and store
orders, means higher postage, credit card processing fees, purchases
of items offered at <a href="http://lpstore.org" target="_blank">LPStore.org</a>, office supplies, and some labor to
help process all that stuff.<br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
<br>
26-Brand Political Materials Revenue increase by $150,000 to
$400,000<br>
32-Fundraising Costs increase by $60,000 to $201,364<br>
33-Membership Fundraising Costs increase by $35,000 to $127,200<br>
40-Adminstrative Costs increase by $50,000 to $310,050<br>
45-Compensation increase by $60,000 to $448,800<br>
55-Brand Political Materials Expense increase by $150,000 to
$400,000<br>
85-Member Communication increase by $17,500 to $62,500<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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 <a href="http://lpstore.org" target="_blank">LPStore.org</a> 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. <br>
<br>
I'd be happy to try to respond to any questions you have on these
items. <br>
<br>
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. <br><span><font color="#888888">
<br>
<pre cols="72">--
Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
<a href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
<a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
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