[LPL Board of Directors] MOTION FROM THE CHAIR - Fundraiser position
Adrien Monteleone
chairman at lplouisiana.org
Thu Jan 31 17:53:52 CST 2013
If there is no objection then, I withdraw my motion.
Though it had the votes to pass as is, I would prefer if there were more
agreement on the question.
And please note, I am not doing this to push anyone to step aside from their
current positions. Regardless of if we have a fundraiser or not, we still need
a Finance chair. The position has many hats, as does the committee. Most
important of these in this regard is oversight of party fundraising
activities, which would include oversight of a hired fundraiser.
I will speak with Vinson some more, and set up an interview and formal vote at
the April meeting.
In Liberty,
Adrien Monteleone - Chairman
Libertarian Party of Louisiana
On 1/31/13 3:46 PM, Wes Benedict wrote:
> 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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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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