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    <p>It's not just the time tracking, it's the categorization that can
      be tough. Tracking your time in .1hour increments isn't so hard if
      you typically stay on the same task for an hour.  If you switch
      categories every .03 hours, it gets messy.<br>
    </p>
    <p>If I get a call from an irate state chair about something a
      candidate said, is that considered affiliate support, candidate
      support, or member services?<br>
    </p>
    <p>Would you try tracking your efforts according to the LNC
      categories for a week? I know you do ballot access, admin, APRC
      work (what category is that? - does it depend on whether you're
      reviewing LP News, something for LP.org, or a candidate piece?)</p>
    <p>Try tracking your hours for the national LP for just one week. I
      realize you are a volunteer, and it's staff paid time that is 
      important to track to allocate to the financials. I just want to
      be sure you realize what you are asking for because I'm not sure
      you'd be asking for it if you really understood the outcome.</p>
    <p>See attached financial report plus image below. We track this
      stuff, but it's inherently fuzzy input numbers chopped up into
      fine detail. <br>
    </p>
    <p>The image below from our financial report shows an example of how
      we allocate our time (it looks like it's time allocated to LP
      News, but it's not just that).<br>
    </p>
    <p><img src="cid:part1.7E1A5285.D3D998B7@lp.org" alt="" height="100"
        width="750"></p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <p>If we provide unhappy members even greater financial detail than
      what's on the attached 14 pages, I suspect they'll still be
      unhappy. <br>
    </p>
    <p>Be advised I wrote this note quickly and apologize if I've got
      some facts and interpretations wrong and shouldn't spend anymore
      time on it. <br>
    </p>
    <p>Still hoping to see you track your national LP hours for a week
      and apply them to the proper categories.<br>
    </p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lp.org/membership">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/2/2016 3:49 PM, Joshua Katz
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote
cite="mid:CAG3paOQZUkJ27cut=w26AqG3HQm0i6Ckr4hsxbwbo54Vp1+6uA@mail.gmail.com"
      type="cite">
      <div dir="ltr">Interestingly enough, my LP class requires
        timesheets in .1hour, so I've been doing this since August.  It
        is frustrating, but I do not stop what I am doing every few
        minutes to log hours; I sum up every so often.  I recognize that
        timesheets are not perfectly accurate, and I would not object to
        a standard of 1 hour rather than .1.  If the system is too
        cumbersome and you have particular feedback on how we can
        allocate hours more effectively, the EPCC is eager to hear it,
        and I know I am very open to modifications.  I'm not open to the
        idea of dropping all staff time into a black box, personally. 
        What I object to, additionally, is having a policy but then
        budgeting as if it didn't exist.</div>
      <div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
        <div>
          <div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
            <div dir="ltr">
              <div>
                <div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                </div>
              </div>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
        <br>
        <div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 2, 2016 at 2:38 PM, Wes
          Benedict <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
              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>An interesting experiment would be for each LNC member
                to track its hours for one month according to the
                Functional Allocation of Expenses procedures requested.
                It would give you some hands on experience in dealing
                with the reality that we switch categories often every
                few minutes, like from:<br>
              </p>
              <p>40 - Admin (this conversation)</p>
              <p>88 - Outreach (LNC photos on the website)</p>
              <p>80 - Media or 85 - Member Communications (delivering
                the message the LNC wants)</p>
              <p>85 - Member Communication (recording the termination of
                the membership of person who disapproves of LNC buying
                meat)</p>
              <p>40 Admin? or 55 Branding? or 70 - Ballot Access?  -
                approving staff getting a poster about ballot access
                printed.<br>
              </p>
              <p>I literally switch tasks every few minutes. Trying to
                track this in detail is very tough.</p>
              <p>I really would like to see the LNC track themselves for
                a month. You'll find out how hard this is after one
                hour.<br>
              </p>
              <p><br>
              </p>
              <pre class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-signature" cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
              <div>
                <div class="h5">
                  <div class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-cite-prefix">On
                    12/2/2016 3:21 PM, Joshua Katz wrote:<br>
                  </div>
                </div>
              </div>
              <blockquote type="cite">
                <div>
                  <div class="h5">
                    <div dir="ltr">
                      <div>I pointed out earlier the concern I am
                        expressing here, but I did it briefly and
                        without much explanation, because I wanted to
                        know if, in fact, I have misunderstood, if I was
                        making a big mistake, and if my concerns were
                        unfounded.  All of that remains perfectly
                        possible, but the fact that I have not received
                        an explanation making those points suggests to
                        me that perhaps I am onto something important.</div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>80% of the proposed budget is accounted for
                        by administration and compensation.  A member
                        seeing that might be excused for believing that
                        the national party simply consumes 80 cents of
                        each dollar received.  This would be a mistake,
                        but it would be an understandable mistake - and
                        one we can easily prevent.  </div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>This member would be mistaken because
                        compensation is not consumption.  Staff does a
                        lot of things.  Staff work is a very large
                        proportion of what the national party does. 
                        When we see an affiliate support line with a
                        rather small number on it, it conceals the fact
                        that staff spends a good amount of time
                        supporting affiliates.  Since staff time is
                        split between different functions, we have a
                        timesheet policy allowing staff time to be
                        billed to different lines.  </div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>So this brings us to, perhaps, a bigger
                        problem:  even knowing this, the member reading
                        this budget has no idea how much of staff time
                        is spent on what projects.  Perhaps most
                        importantly, neither does the LNC.  Certainly
                        the LNC is not giving direction as to how staff
                        time should be spent.  We have, essentially,
                        created a black box into which we place 50% of
                        the annual budget.  </div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>A budget that breaks down staff time the way
                        it is to be billed, and that funds staff time
                        from line items, also allows members, at a
                        glance, to see what priorities the national
                        party has, and to know easily and quickly what
                        staff is doing.  Most importantly, it assures
                        members that these priorities are being set by
                        those they elect to make such decisions, not
                        being left to the ED, or to chance, or to
                        "whatever is most pressing at the moment."  I
                        have said before that my most pressing </div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>After all, functional and operational
                        transparency require not only that members see
                        and hear us talking, but that we are talking
                        about the things that members need to know.  If
                        we make ourselves open, but exercise no control
                        over fully half the budget, we are not
                        transparent.</div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>This is not at all hard to fix.  We know the
                        proposed total compensation.  We may modify it
                        at our meeting.  A portion of that, perhaps 20%,
                        should be left in the compensation black-box. 
                        The LNC can decide what we'd like to prioritize
                        by setting percentages to various functional
                        lines.  The remaining compensation multiplied by
                        the percentage gives the amount to be moved from
                        compensation to the appropriate line item.</div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>Maintaining is also easy.  Simply fund
                        compensation from the various lines, in
                        accordance with the timesheets received.  The
                        Treasurer can, in turn, keep an eye on the
                        lines, and see if some lines are over or under
                        funded.  If so, the board can decide how to
                        react - by amending the budget, or by
                        instructing staff to respect the priorities set.
                         </div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>I am not known as a transparency champion. 
                        In large part, I have a different notion of
                        transparency from many of my colleagues.  The
                        above shows the sort of transparency I worry
                        about.  I hope, though, that my colleagues who
                        are known as transparency champions will join me
                        on this issue, and join me in requesting that we
                        not place 50% of our annual expenditure in a
                        black-box line item such that members cannot use
                        the budget to determine what it is that we do,
                        and we cannot use the budget to govern the
                        organization.</div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>For my part, I am disinclined to vote for a
                        budget that black-boxes 50%, and that charges
                        80% to administration.</div>
                      <div><br>
                        <div>
                          <div>
                            <div
                              class="m_-7317621363026609069m_8278745216533835877gmail_signature"
                              data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
                              <div dir="ltr">
                                <div>
                                  <div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz
                                    <div><br>
                                    </div>
                                  </div>
                                </div>
                              </div>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                    </div>
                    <br>
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                  </div>
                </div>
                <pre>______________________________<wbr>_________________
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<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/<wbr>listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.<wbr>org</a>
</pre>
    </blockquote>
    

  </div>


______________________________<wbr>_________________

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</blockquote></div>
</div>


<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
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<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a>
</pre>

</blockquote>
>From 
FCC: im
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