Here is a forward by a Florida caver of NSS President Wm Shrewsbury's summary
of the budget situation and the proposal to cease a printed NSS News.
Roger G. Moore
This is a response by Wm Shrewsbury to the proposal to end the printed NSS News.
Wendy
-----Original Message-----
From: Wm Shrewsbury <presid...@caves.org>
To: NSSwest <nssw...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Mar 19, 2013 8:53 pm
Subject: RE: [NSSwest] BOG proposal to end the printed News
Everyone,
There has been a lot of discussion about the upcoming budget proposal before
the board. This post is a quick synopsis and not meant to be all
inclusive.
The EC meets each year to create a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Primarily due to things beyond our control, such as the national economy, we
have had to trim our budgets for the last five years. Small surpluses in
various areas have allowed us to keep our services at a level that has not
affected the membership at large.
Last year we moved our Regular members to a digital version of the Journal.
This was well received. About a dozen members wished to continue to receive
hard copies, and they have subscribed to it as an additional publication
with a member discount. The EC understands that these the Journal and the
News are appreciated differently by our membership and how it can be used.
This year the EC trimmed all the minor line items first (it all adds up).
We then moved to alternate solutions. By far the lions share of the budget
lies in the OVP and EVP departments.
In the OVP department many items are fixed (with slow increases over the
years) Internet, phone, paper, postage, etc. While it is the largest
budget there are very few places to make cuts. As has been noted here we
have proposed releasing our part-time shipping clerk. This has not taken
effect, pending the outcome of the Boards budget decisions.
The next largest department is the EVP. Many of the items in this
department are blue-line. For those who may not know, line items in blue
in our budget are funded by restricted funds and thus are not part of the
budget; money in = money out. Items in the EVP department that could
assist a deficit budget include:
- Publish the ACA digitally with a limited run in paper. This is a viable
choice. It allows us to distribute the ACA to our membership quicker and
eases the size restraints budgets would impose on it. The EC opted to
include this in the budget.
- Publish the News digitally with a limited run in paper. Of all the items
we considered, this was one of the toughest. There have been quite a few
requests for several years from members to obtain their News electronically,
and just as many who would prefer paper to electrons. This idea was no
stranger to the EC we have been talking about permitting an al a carte
system for members since the fall of 11.
We would like to offer a digital News to our membership. As a "thank you"
we would like to offer a dues discount. You will find a compromise in the
proposed budget The News would be distributed digitally, regular dues
decreased to $35 with a paper subscription option at a member discounted
price. We have proposed this step to balance the budget in a timely manner.
This budget was presented as a "wake up call". The entire Board, Officers
and Directors alike, are pouring over our numbers and listening to the
membership. Many options have been presented, several of which will take
time to examine. A few that are currently on the table include:
- The Board may direct the EC to research more options and present those
options in a few months, leaving the service level as it currently stands.
- Borrow from one of the larger funds to cover the shortfall as we institute
a membership drive. This would treat the symptom of this year's shortfall,
but it does not resolve the cause. We must increase our membership to a
sustainable level.
- Print the News as a bi-monthly publication, the same size as it currently
is, with additional content in the web-based version. We have not had
adequate time to fully review this option.
- Leave the News as a monthly print publication and raise dues by $10. We
would offer a discount to those who wish to receive the News
electronically. This would nearly close the gap, however it is anticipated
that membership drives might be impeded by a dues increase.
Please bear with us as we attempt to balance our budget while maintaining
our services to you. It will be difficult at best until we can increase our
membership.
The reality is that we need 11K members to maintain our current member
services. We have been hovering around the 10K level for the last several
years. We cannot continue to maintain the our same level of service unless
we increase our membership to a sustainable level.
To start this membership drive off, I'd like to encourage you to talk to
your caving peers who are not currently members. This will allow us to
spread the cost for everyone. The most effective recruitment is a one on
one conversation between friends. Please help us help you help the Society.
Thank you,
Wm Shrewsbury
President, National Speleological Society
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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