[LPL Board of Directors] MOTION FROM THE CHAIR - Fundraiser position
Wes Benedict
finance at lplouisiana.org
Thu Jan 31 10:07:52 CST 2013
I am voting nay on this.
I'm uneasy approving a contract without knowing what's in it on
something that would have a large impact on the budget.
I'd be more willing to consider voting for a contract that was already
written--and more like a 25% commission.
I'm comfortable if our Chairman wants to develop a proposal with Mr.
Mouser and present that for a vote.
I think the effort is likely to be unsuccessful. I've seen several
people around the U.S. volunteer to raise funds for commissions, then
not raise much because it was much harder than they imagined.
However, I am glad our Chairman thought about this, took the initiative
and made the proposal. It has put a bit of pressure on the finance
committee and others to deliver.
I spoke with Guy McLendon of Lake Charles last night. He's one of the
three of us on the finance committee. I believe he feels confident he
can raise a few thousand, and I can raise a few thousand, over the next
three to four months.
The finance committee will raise funds as volunteers with no commission.
I'd like to see other board members, in addition to Mr. Ebarb, try to
raise $300 or $1,000 from others.
Perhaps even Mr. Mouser, as a volunteer, could raise $1,000 or $2,000
from sources he's aware of.
I'm not dead set against our Chairman's proposal and will not be upset
if it passes against my recommendation.
However, I recommend giving the finance committee and the rest of the
board a few months to pass or fail before paying someone to do this.
With our Chairman's permission, I'd like to forward this email to Guy
McLendon.
--Wes Benedict - Finance Officer
Libertarian Party of Louisiana
512-659-8896
Adrien Monteleone wrote, On 1/30/2013 11:12 AM:
> Thank you Wes,
>
> Yes, the intention was to move the workload to a fundraiser and off of
> the Secretary/Treasurer and ED. Though we might set the Finance Chair
> as the person "in charge" of the fundraiser since that is more within
> their purview. We could however, do the same as with the ED and
> simply put both under the Chair's direction.
>
> Ms. Adams has indicated to me she is not very good with asking people
> for money. She's doing a heck of a job in nearly every other task we
> have her doing. She's great at coordinating and getting people
> involved, but asking for money is not her strong suite.
>
> Vinson is experienced doing so and has raised quite a bit in the
> past. As Chair, he kept the party financed on his own fundraising
> efforts without outside assistance, and as Campaign Manager for Lee
> Horne, raised several tens of thousands.
>
> Reed is of course the party Secretary and acting Treasurer. Neither is
> officially a fundraiser, and both positions have plenty of other
> duties. His non-LPL life is keeping him very busy right now, and I'd
> like to continue the trend of bringing new people on board and
> spreading duties around than to continue to shovel things one person's
> way. Just as we know and have seen that recruiting members and
> activists is itself a full time position, so is raising money. Thus I
> believe we should make a similar move and bring on a fundraiser.
>
> I don't think Wendy alone or even with the efforts of Mr. Ebarb
> continuing to pull in what they are pulling in, are going to get us to
> 20,400 in revenue. There would have to be a significant increase in
> the level of fundraising activity to do so.
>
> From what I've gathered in conversation with others, though I will
> have to verify, is that we would offer somewhere between 35% and 50%
> as compensation. I think 50% is standard fare, but I could be wrong.
>
> At 35%, we'd need Vinson to raise $31,385 or so in the year. He would
> be paid ? $10,985. I'm not sure he'd work for that amount unless he
> could pull off those numbers part time.
>
> He'd like a full-time position. My guess would be he would need 50%,
> which if we were to net $20,400, would mean he would raise $40,800 and
> keep half. Even then, I'm not sure if that is enough for him, but he
> would be in control of that by his efforts. If we went with 35%, he'd
> have to raise $75k-$90k to make it worth it to him to quite his day
> job. (which he is willing to do if the money is right)
>
> That should cover the main part of the terms. I'm still looking for
> example contracts for the ancillary stuff that goes along with the
> position.
>
> Yes, we would likely have to amend the budget at some point, though
> even if we were to hire him this week (I doubt it) I think we'd be
> okay till the April meeting.
>
> The budget after all, is just a model or target, it isn't a hard and
> fast "law" or "rule" we have to follow short of a vote to amend it. So
> if the money is coming in, then I don't think it matters if we are
> paying him some of it that wasn't set aside in the budget. He's
> raising it himself. The goal for this position is to free up other
> people to focus on their core tasks, especially the ED. Once someone
> is 'activated' by the ED then the fundraiser can go into action,
> hitting them up for money and soliciting monthly pledges, and special
> project donations. Certainly, she'll still have to try to get people
> to sign up as members, but she can spend more of her time on
> logistical stuff and leave the bulk of the money raising to Vinson.
>
> We don't really need to amend the budget, beyond adding in to both the
> revenue and expense side, the amount of his compensation. Since he's
> getting it as a percentage of whatever he raises, then revenues would
> increase by a corresponding amount to any incurred expenses for hiring
> him.
>
> Thus on a 50% model, Total revenues would now be $40,800 and we'd add
> $20.400 as a new Fundraising Expense item, or place it under "staff"
> or whatever line item that was. When I discuss this with him, I'll
> work on what our target goal should be and we can use that to amend
> the budget.
>
>
>
>
> In Liberty,
>
> Adrien Monteleone - Chairman
> Libertarian Party of Louisiana
> On 1/30/13 8:53 AM, Wes Benedict wrote:
>> I'm not against the concept of hiring a fundraiser, but I'd like to
>> know more about what you have in mind and how it would affect
>> finances before voting on the issue.
>>
>> At our January Shreveport meeting, I believe we passed a budget with
>> Revenue of $20,400 and Expenses of $18,600. (Please correct me if my
>> numbers are wrong--whatever ends up in the Secretary's minutes are
>> the official numbers.)
>>
>> I'd like to ask the Chairman how he foresees the budget being
>> affected and if he thinks the Board of Directors would need to vote
>> to amend the budget in order to implement a contract with Mr. Mouser.
>>
>> For example, if we foresee Mr. Mouser raising $10,000 and being paid
>> 25%, or $2,500, then perhaps we would not need to amend the Revenue
>> portion of the budget, but might need to add a Fundraising Expenses
>> budget item of $2,500.
>>
>> If we hire a fundraiser, perhaps that would take some of the workload
>> off of Mr. Ebarb, Ms. Adams, and the finance committee so they could
>> work on other things.
>>
>> --Wes Benedict
>> Finance Officer
>> 512-659-8896
>>
>> Mailing list for LPL Board of Directors wrote, On 1/29/2013 12:17 PM:
>>> To all,
>>>
>>> We had discussed at our October meeting the possibility of taking on
>>> Vinson Mouser(former Chairman for the new folks), or someone else,
>>> as LPL fundraiser.
>>>
>>> My apologies for not including it in January's agenda.
>>>
>>> Considering the new contract we've offered Wendy, and the funding
>>> goals set by the SPC, we will need some major effort to bring money
>>> into the party.
>>>
>>> I suggest we take up the issue ASAP.
>>>
>>> I'll get the ball rolling with this then:
>>>
>>> Motion -
>>>
>>> That the chairman is authorized to negotiate and offer a contract
>>> for fundraising with Vinson Mouser for the remainder of 2013.
>>>
>>>
>>> Please submit your votes, and or discussion as soon as possible so
>>> we can get moving on this.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> In Liberty,
>>>
>>> Adrien Monteleone - Chairman
>>> Libertarian Party of Louisiana
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> SCC at lplouisiana.org
>>> http://lplouisiana.org/mailman/listinfo/scc_lplouisiana.org
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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