Thanks Lee,
Regards, John From: swr-boun...@caver.net [mailto:swr-boun...@caver.net] On Behalf Of Lee H. Skinner Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 10:43 PM To: SWR Mailing List Subject: Re: [SWR] Fw: [NSSwest] BOG proposal to end the printed News The following was posted to the Texas Caver list: - Lee Skinner From: Wm Shrewsbury <mailto:presid...@caves.org> <presid...@caves.org> Reply-To: <mailto:nssw...@yahoogroups.com> <nssw...@yahoogroups.com> List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:53:00 -0400 To: <mailto:nssw...@yahoogroups.com> <nssw...@yahoogroups.com> 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 ³quick² 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 lion¹s 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 Board¹s budget decisions. The next largest department is the EVP. Many of the items in this department are ³blue-line². 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 ³budget²; 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 ¹11. 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 ³spread the cost² 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
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