<div dir="ltr">With the benefit of a few days thought, I have some more comments on this discussion.<div><br></div><div>First, it is not disputed, I think, that we're largely seeing this spike as the result of events not of our own making: a libertarian feeling in the air, horrible R and D candidates, a loss of faith in many institutions including the major parties, etc. Part of it is actions the party took that worked well with those conditions, such as running the most credible, experienced ticket we have ever run, and doing so in a year where one major candidate is not trusted and the other is not credible. </div><div><br></div><div>So, the question naturally arises - is this long-term growth, or a one-time spike? Furthermore, will the proposed changes make a difference in maintaining the growth long-term?</div><div><br></div><div>Suppose you ran, let's say, a private school, and enrollment fluctuated year to year. One year, you had a major spike, so you were awash in money. What would you do with it? Some things would be dictated to you - you'd need more teachers, for instance. We cannot get away from having more staff to get items out and to process the administrative details, whether we do that with more people, more hours, or some combination. I leave it to the ED to determine that - from a board perspective, it seems obvious to me that compensation needs to increase, and the amount requested is reasonable.</div><div><br></div><div>What else would you do? Well, you'd want to keep enrollment high the following year, too, so maybe you'd use the extra cash to fund more admissions/recruitment staff and events, even if that meant socking it away for future events. You'd try to convert the crest of the wave to a permanent situation. </div><div><br></div><div>You might also invest in infrastructure that will save you money in the future. For example, if you have many small buildings, you might consider covering them with solar panels while you're flush with cash, in order to decrease future electrical payouts. </div><div><br></div><div>Finally, you'd know you want to maintain a new high, but you'd deal with the possibility of not doing so by saving some money. </div><div><br></div><div>What are the equivalents here? Well, that's the million dollar question. We need to take actions that convert, as I put it, the new roof we've got, into strong, sturdy walls. One answer, I think the wrong answer, is to say "Presidential spike, won't be maintained, sock away all the money, plan for a lean four years." You might call that the Joseph answer. Joseph is wrong. Boards should not be premised on long-term pessimism, or the belief that good things won't last but bad things will. </div><div><br></div><div>However, it is equally wrong - the Potifar answer - to just assume that current conditions are the new reality. </div><div><br></div><div>Rather, our use of this money is the decisive question. We can let everyone who has come in blow away, or we can take actions to stop that. The only actions we can take, really, have to do with allocation. So this is actually a crucial question before us. I largely tend towards the answers the ED gives, but I'd caution the board not to be swayed by the belief that a vote for these particular changes is a vote for continued growth, and vice-versa. The way we allocate money will decide which reality takes hold, and we will be held responsible for the outcome either way. </div><div><br></div><div>So, are the proposed changes the best ways to allow staff to take actions that will maintain our growth? I'm not sure. Let me put out a few ideas.</div><div><br></div><div>I asked about both the compensation lines and the fundraising lines. Suggestion: determine what it would cost to hire a full-time, dedicated fundraising director. Yes, we have staff with expertise in fundraising, and we have contractors with expertise in fundraising. If any of them were interested, they could seek this position, but the point is to have someone working just on this, not several people pitching in on it in addition to their main jobs. Just as Wes is capable of putting things in boxes, but that is not what his time is best spent doing, the same can be said for several people. Additionally, one person having full-time responsibility for this would mean a more coherent fundraising program, stretching across several functional areas, yet having one message. Instead of this board fighting about urgent-grams or commenting on our favorite fonts, let's build the type of structure that gets the best results. Whatever it costs, I would suggest we'd need to fund two years (of base pay) because it will take time to see results, especially when results this year will be hard to judge. </div><div><br></div><div>What about maintaining membership? Well, I personally am not a membership hawk. Last term, we did not adopt a membership goal. I don't know if we will this term. It's hard to justify, given that, too much effort and expense on maintaining membership. If we chose to, however, what would make it happen? I should point out that I'm actually more of a membership hawk at the moment than I was last term, because it is really bad to see membership drop in large numbers, and it's worse to see new people wash out. If the people who are joining now are not retained, I will see that as a failure on our part. I'll see that as them now having license, for the rest of their lives, to say "yep, totally tried that third-party thing, even paid membership dues, and nada." So what do our new members want? I don't know, and I suspect none of us really do. Firms can find that out, though, for some money. A survey of a sample of new members would be beneficial, I think. </div><div><br></div><div>Here's something else - engage and involve them. We say people aren't joiners anymore, but what we really mean is that they aren't just joiners. They don't want to write a check once a year and be ignored. They want to be a part of the organization, they want things to do. Yes, they want communication, but more than a newsletter, they want tasks. They don't want to be thanked - nothing wrong with saying thank you, but saying it in the wrong way implies "we appreciate you helping out, but you're still on the outside." People want to be integral. We can strengthen, beginning at the end of November, the work we do helping people make contact in their affiliates. Last term, we considered the question of a 'functional affiliate' and how to get all of our affiliates to be functional. This is important. In the meantime, what can we do, on a national scale, to get new people involved, other than dropping messages about it to the state party? How can we follow-up with the volunteer who signed up on <a href="http://lp.org">lp.org</a> without running the risk of saying "oh, they didn't? I'll remind them again?" One way is to have more happening nationally. I think the "let national be national" plan means more national-level activity - not competing with states for volunteers, but filling the gaps so that people always have the chance to volunteer, are always involved in a project, and are always engaged. </div><div><br></div><div>At the same time, people join parties, for the most part, to be engaged in political activity. That doesn't exclude the administrative work, of course - so long as the payoff is visible. But it does mean that the less-committed-but-eager new volunteer needs more of the things they expect if they're going to build a long-term relationship. Sure, people will stuff envelopes, but I think they'll build a relationship faster by campaigning. So we need more campaign activities with visible payoff - i.e. more people in office, more focus on recruiting new volunteers into local, winnable races. The best way to keep a volunteer is to have them knock on doors for a winning candidate the very month they join. </div><div><br></div><div>The money is a sign of a new energy, a new life, and a new supply of members. Let's turn them into a strong party, not a party left scratching its head and wondering where everyone went after all the great energy last year.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz<div>Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)</div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Sep 2, 2016 at 12:55 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">
<p>Caryn, will do.</p>
<p>I'm going downstairs to run the postage machine for a while now.
Apparently Robert is too busy to do it for now.</p>
<p>And if the postman fails to show up again today, I'll be loading
my truck and delivering packages to the post office myself so they
don't have to wait till Tuesday to get to the post office.</p>
<p>It's not that I'm too good for this work, but I'd rather assign a
lower paid person to do it most of the time.</p>
<p>Casey Hansen has been out sick for a few days as has our newest
intern. <br>
</p>
<p>We have used this Labor Ready company a bit
<a href="http://www.laborready.com/" target="_blank">http://www.laborready.com/</a> but the down side is you aren't
guaranteed the same person each time and so you do a lot of
retraining. I think that was booked to "Branding" because they
were packing the branding materials. My time packing materials is
booked to compensation.</p>
<p>We're burnt out every volunteer willing to show up.<br>
</p><span class="">
<p><br>
</p>
<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>
</span><div><div class="h5"><div>On 9/2/2016 1:39 PM, Caryn Ann Harlos
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">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.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-- <br>
<div data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><b>In Liberty,</b></font></div>
<div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><b>Caryn Ann Harlos</b></font></div>
<div><font size="1">Region 1 Representative,
Libertarian National Committee </font><span style="font-size:x-small">(Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah,
Wyoming, Washington) - <a>Caryn.Ann.
Harlos@LP.org</a></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size:x-small">Communications
Director, <a href="http://www.lpcolorado.org/" target="_blank">Libertarian Party of
Colorado</a></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size:x-small">Colorado
State Coordinator, <a href="http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/" target="_blank">Libertarian Party Radical
Caucus</a></span></div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Sep 2, 2016 at 11:37 AM, 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">
<p>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). <br>
</p>
<p>Alicia asked, "Which individuals are included in the
Compensation budget category? "</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote type="cite">
<table style="border-collapse:collapse;width:182pt" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="243">
<colgroup><col style="width:182pt" width="243"> </colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt;width:182pt" height="20" width="243">Hansen, Casey T</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Howell,
Carla A.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Kraus,
Robert S</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Benedict,
Robert C</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Dunbar,
Dominick J</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Thexton,
Matthew A</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Daugherty,
Lauren</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Luckey,
Denise</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Johnston,
Robert</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height:15.0pt" height="20">
<td style="height:15.0pt" height="20">Brierly,
Elizabeth</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</blockquote>
<p>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?"</p>
<blockquote>
<p> 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. <br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Alicia asked "The new people being brought in to help
with the presumed-temporary surge, how are they treated,
as employees or contractors?"</p>
<blockquote>
<p> There's been a combination, depending on the
circumstances. <br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>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."</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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.<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Alicia asked: "Where do the other contractors fall in
the budget categories?"</p>
<blockquote>
<p> 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.<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<span>
<p><br>
</p>
<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>
</span>
<div>
<div>
<div>On 9/2/2016 3:31 AM, Alicia Mattson wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>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?<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>The new people being brought in to help with
the presumed-temporary surge, how are they
treated, as employees or contractors?<br>
</div>
<div><br>
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.<br>
<br>
Where do the other contractors fall in the
budget categories?<br>
<br>
</div>
-Alicia<br>
<br>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 1, 2016 at
11:48 PM, Aaron Starr <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:starrcpa@gmail.com" target="_blank">starrcpa@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="white" link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Wes,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I’m
still missing something here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">The
original budget for compensation was
based on a particular staffing level
at specific amounts of compensation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Aaron
Starr</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="tel:%28805%29%20583-3308" value="+18055833308" target="_blank">(805) 583-3308</a>
Home</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="tel:%28805%29%20404-8693" value="+18054048693" target="_blank">(805) 404-8693</a>
Mobile</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="mailto:starrcpa@gmail.com" target="_blank">starrcpa@gmail.com</a></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">
Lnc-business [mailto:<a href="mailto:lnc-business-bounces@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">lnc-business-bounces@h<wbr>q.lp.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Wes Benedict<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September
01, 2016 4:25 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Lnc-business]
Upcoming budget increase requests</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some contractors
and staff have been working more
hours, and I'd like to continue
working more hours, than were in the
original budget.<br>
<br>
I've got more contractors than in
the original budget.<br>
<br>
I'd like to spend more on additional
staff, including interns, as
advertised here:<br>
<a href="http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/hiring-libertarian-packaging-interns" target="_blank">http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/<wbr>hiring-libertarian-packaging-i<wbr>nterns</a><br>
<br>
<br>
With Robert's help, the numbers
below show:<br>
<br>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">FYI
– Compensation:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">Compensation
YTD *
<wbr>
$314,155 </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">Est
Amount for Sept-Oct (based on
July/Aug) $69,000 </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">Est
Amount for Nov-Dec
<wbr>
$65,000 </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">TOTAL
EST 2016:
<wbr>
$448,155 </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">*
Includes 09/07 payroll </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
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.<br>
<br>
<br>
</p>
<pre>Wes Benedict, Executive Director</pre>
<pre>Libertarian National Committee, Inc.</pre>
<pre>1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314</pre>
<pre><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></pre>
<pre><a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational</pre>
<pre>Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 9/1/2016
6:25 PM, <a href="mailto:starrcpa@gmail.com" target="_blank">starrcpa@gmail.com</a>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for
the good news!</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I would like
to understand in greater detail
the need for a $60,000 increase
in compensation. </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Aaron Starr<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPhone</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>
On Sep 1, 2016, at 12:46 PM, Wes
Benedict <<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">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>
<br>
<br>
</p>
<pre>-- </pre>
<pre>Wes Benedict, Executive Director</pre>
<pre>Libertarian National Committee, Inc.</pre>
<pre>1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314</pre>
<pre><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></pre>
<pre><a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational</pre>
<pre>Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
</div>
</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
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<div>
</div>--
<div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><b>In Liberty,</b></font></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><b>Caryn Ann Harlos</b></font></div><div><font size="1">Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee </font><span style="font-size:x-small">(Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - <a href="mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos@LP.org" target="_blank">Caryn.Ann. Harlos@LP.org</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">Communications Director, <a href="http://www.lpcolorado.org" target="_blank">Libertarian Party of Colorado</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">Colorado State Coordinator, <a href="http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org" target="_blank">Libertarian Party Radical Caucus</a></span></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">
</span></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">
</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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</pre>
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