[LPL Board of Directors] MOTION FROM THE CHAIR - Fundraiser position

[Reed Ebarb]

I like Mr. Benedict's approach. That would be much more preferable.

> I am fine with that approach.
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------
>
> Howard Kearney
>
> Membership
>
>
>
> From: scc-bounces at lplouisiana.org [mailto:scc-bounces at lplouisiana.org] On
> Behalf Of Wes Benedict
> Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2013 3:46 PM
> To: Mailing list for LPL Board of Directors
> Cc: Guy Mclendon
> Subject: Re: [LPL Board of Directors] MOTION FROM THE CHAIR - Fundraiser
> position
>
>
>
> Thank you for adding Guy to the discussion.
>
> At this point, it sounds to me like you just want to start discussing and
> negotiating a proposal with Mr. Mouser.
> I don't think you need this motion to discuss and start negotiations on a
> proposal with Mr. Mouser.
> I just think you would need a motion approved by the board to sign and
> enter
> into a contract with Mr. Mouser.
> Since you are talking about an April time frame, that gives plenty of time
> for the Finance Committee (me in particular) to put up or move out of the
> way.
>
> I think it would be appropriate, if the chair wanted, and no one else
> objected, to withdraw his motion, and continue his non-binding discussions
> with Mr. Mouser, with the board expecting a possible proposal to be
> considered at the April meeting.
>
> --Wes Benedict
>
>
> Adrien Monteleone wrote, On 1/31/2013 1:05 PM:
>
> Thank you Wes,
>
> Vote Received.
>
>
> As with Mr. Ebarb, I will attempt to address your concerns. Some appear to
> be the same, so please refer to that reply as well.
>
> I have no intention of having a signed contract in place without the
> Board's
> knowing what is in the contract.  I'm not asking for approval of an
> unwritten document.  Perhaps the amendment I suggested to Mr. Ebarb would
> address that concern as a clarification.
>
> As for the commission level, that of course is negotiable, but recall, it
> is
> not an expense on our part per se.  We would not be paying unless the
> money
> was raised, thus there is no real impact on the budget.  Both sides of the
> equation increase accordingly. No negative net change to our cash assets
> occurs.
>
> As for the likely success of the contract, all I can say is if no one was
> any good at it, the other parties wouldn't be raising billions. To be
> sure,
> Mr. Mouser is not a professional.  But I would like to attempt to offer
> him
> the opportunity to put his skills and experience to use. And as a former
> chairman, who has already performed this service for the party, and is
> known
> to many members with whom we have lost contact with, I would think he
> would
> stand the best chance of success that a non-professional possibly could
> have.
>
> I see it like this:  we can raise only so much on our own dime and time.
> He
> is a former activist, chair, and fundraiser for the party.  He will either
> be able to raise more funds than we can, or he cannot.  If he cannot, then
> my next consideration would be to hire a professional firm or individual
> with no ties to the party.
>
> There is lots of work to do in this party.  Wendy is doing some, and could
> and would like to do more.  As it is, we raised her pay, gave her some
> security with a year long term, and extended some compensation for
> personal
> expenses incurred on behalf of the party.  She's agreed to the contract
> because she believes in the party and in the work she is doing.  But the
> amount we can afford right now is woefully inadequate.  (it comes to $6.25
> per hour, assuming only 40 hours a week worked)
>
> If we are to be serious about advancing the party, our candidates, and
> making an impact in elections, we need to ramp this up much bigger than
> where we are now.  We can't do it all at once, but I consider this a
> crucial
> step in getting there.
>
> We will need additional staff, and we will need an office.  That alone
> will
> necessitate hiring a fundraiser.  Being able to pay our Executive Director
> enough so that she doesn't have to work a second job and can focus all of
> her time on the LPL also necessitates hiring a fundraiser.  I would like
> to
> see one in place no later than April.
>
> In conclusion, paired with the suggested amendment, and an April time
> frame
> for formalizing this contract and position, and for those who haven't,
> getting a chance to meet Mr. Mouser, I think that will be sufficient time
> to
> judge our own efforts with respect to Mr. Ebarb's letters, and the Finance
> Committee's activities.
>
> I've added Mr. McLendon to the conversation, though of course, only Board
> members can vote.
>
> You mentioned a 3rd member on the Finance Committee?  Feel free to include
> them as well for their opinions on the matter.
>
>
>
>
> In Liberty,
>
> Adrien Monteleone - Chairman
> Libertarian Party of Louisiana
>
> On 1/31/13 10:07 AM, Wes Benedict wrote:
>
> 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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