Highlights:
Non-convention annual revenue is down by ~$500K from 2019 ($1M in 2023 vs. $1.5M in 2019), which is the most recent year in the cycle.
All LNC members combined gave just under $1,500 to the Libertarian Party in November.
To put that into perspective, Angela McArdle, who is both Chair and named herself Executive Director, gives $5 per month to the Libertarian Party, yet reimbursed herself for $1,297.15 this year for “general fundraising expenses.”
There were three months in 2023 where revenues exceeded expenses, January (barely), April and October. The Libertarian Party has run a structural loss nearly the entire time since the 2022 convention in Reno.
Sustaining membership is nearly at a 15-year low (just slightly above 2006 and 2015). Sustaining members have declined from just over 16,000 members in May 2022 to just over 12,000 members in November 2023.
Annual revenue in 2023 is projected to be worse than any year in the past 20, at just barely over $1MM (2009 and 2015 are the only two years in the past two decades that it’s been close to that low).
Membership revenue for 2023 is approximately half of what it was in 2019. General fundraising is less than 2% over what is was in 2019. Project/Program revenue declined by nearly 90% from 2019, due to cutting out nearly all programs and projects (training, LP News, outreach, campus activism, etc.) in favor of doing activities outside of the Libertarian Party.
There is less than $50K in convention revenue for the entire year of 2023. Would be interesting to compare this to the 2019 numbers, but those are not included in the financial reports.
There are nearly $94K in current liabilities. If those liabilities were paid, the $163K cash reserve would drop to $69K and be $21K below the reserve target. Keeping them as liabilities allows the Treasurer to crow about the strong cash reserves, but it’s an accounting trick.
The LNC is pursuing multiple lawsuits of choice around the country, using expensive outside firms instead of the Special Counsel who is on a monthly retainer, but they’ve raised just over $6K for the entire year for the Legal Fund. They have spent nearly $86K on Legal services this year, meaning they only spent $80K more on lawsuits than they raised on lawsuits.
An organization with declining membership and revenue needs a plan to increase membership and revenue. Replacing internal software systems and staff is the kind of activity without direction that poor managers often use to avoid being held accountable for their poor results.
“We have to do something! This is ‘something,’ so let’s do it!”
Mr. Hagopian has realized that he would be more effective outside the position of LNC Treasurer and will not be seeking re-election to the position at the May 2024 national convention.
The LNC has brought in just under $50K in 2024 convention revenue YTD.
The proposed 2024 budget assumes that Convention revenue will be $500K, an increase of $211K over the 2020 convention revenue total of $288K.
Only $450K to go..
Also, from the Related Party transactions table, it appears that 10 members of the Libertarian National Committee have quit in 2023.
The LNC has 17 voting members, 25 if one counts regional alternates.
Steve Dasbach interjected: Note that the vast majority of the membership decline occurred since January 2023. Most members gave the new regime time to establish themselves, make staffing changes, and start showing results. When the promised results didn’t materialize, they chose to not renew their memberships.
Even a hostile takeover group is given some space by people not in the group to try to execute their change in strategy.
But we are now 19 months into a 24-month term and the Chair has fired/pushed out over half of the staff and replaced them with, among others, herself and her baby’s father, and continues to pursue outside projects like rallies that benefit separate non-profit organizations.
Unless you are a loyalist to her or her group, there’s nothing motivating you to continue to give money to that kind of “stewardship.”
Very short comments like “the party is over” do not get approved here, although that’s the executive summary of my views. I laid out my case in great detail on several posts one night, and none of those comments were approved either.
My basic thesis is that the trajectory from here on out will be downwards, the LP will not be rescued or revived, and no other libertarianish parties will ride anywhere to the former LP level of success, much less surpass.
I know that runs counter to the prevailing opinion of this site, but I would have hoped you’d have the intellectual honesty to not memory hole opinions simply for disagreement. There was no foul language, the comments were on topic, and I’ve asked what happened several times, but those comments were not approved either.
In related LNC business, the list of motions for the next LNC meeting now includes
“Notice of motion to remove Convention Committee member with some discussion to take place in executive session regarding liability and for volunteer and staff privacy. 20 mins
Discussion of appointment to convention committee. 5 mins.
Discussion of financial goals. 15 mins”
Third Party Watch is aware of the identity of the Convention oversight Committee member to be removed. This knowledge puts us ahead of the LNC’s, several members of which contacted I shall not say whom in order to find out the answer. They found out.
Beth Vest has indicated on Facebook that the removal motion targets Robert Kraus and was made by Adrian Malagon.
Since you decided to cover Sarwark’s post and Dasbach’s comments, but not mine, I will post it here:
Wow…lots to unpack there, so I will skip all the debatable points and just post replies to the lies
The Cash Reserve Target uses the same equation as when Nick was Chair (and he knows that, just decided to frame it this way to gain favor). The equation already takes into account over $79,000 of what he outlined. But, it is still the same equation that has always been used, so we are more than 2x what our cash reserve needs to be based on the equation that previous LNCs have put in place. There is no way to game the system.
The $1,297.15 reimbursement was for hotel rooms for freedom fest where the Chair used her own card. This was disclosed, and discussed, previously. Nick is just trying to make it seem that the Chair is paying herself.
Annual Revenues this year have totaled $1,075,672 vs. $1,300,992 (November YTD 2019). Nobody is claiming this has been a great year, but that is only 17% behind, not 50%. That is just Nick’s hyperbolic refusal to use a calculator because he thinks none of you are smart enough to do the math.
In terms of comparables, the past seven non-convention years for the LNC were 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021. We are on pace to match 2009 and 2015, and be within 20% of 2011, 2013, and 2019. There were two of the past seven comparable years that were dramatically higher than 2023. Again, nobody is happy with this year’s fundraising, but comparing the page that shows annual revenues of past years to a straigtline projected revenue of 2023 (knowing we have outperformed the average of the past three months) of this year along with, knowing that previous years counted convention revenue and ours do not, is disingenuous at best, and blatant misrepresentation at worse.
Mr. Hagopian,
While it’s true that Mr. Sarwark is being disingenuous as usual, it’s equally true that Ms. McArdle and the rest of this LNC has come nowhere close to even being functional as a leadership body, let alone righting the ship from the many problems of past LNCs. I do respect that you’re one of the few good ones. I’d rather you have announced for Chair than stepping aside.
I appreciate the comment, but I have no interest in Chair. Unfortunately, there is a decent sized group of people actively working against the party in ways that I never did, even when I was completely disillusioned with our leadership (for six years). I have better things to do with my time. I will find ways to help the party where my time can be used way more efficiently and I’m looking forward to that.
‘Annual Revenues this year have totaled $1,075,672 vs. $1,300,992 (November YTD 2019). Nobody is claiming this has been a great year, but that is only 17% behind, not 50%. That is just Nick’s hyperbolic refusal to use a calculator because he thinks none of you are smart enough to do the math.’
Mr Hagopian, with respect, Mr Sarwark claimed that ‘_Membership revenue_ for 2023 is approximately half of what it was in 2019.’ (emphasis mine) He addresses overall annual revenue elsewhere.
Per your own November ’23 EOM report, the two figures for membership revenue (page 4) round to 334k (2023) and 622k (2019). That’s 53%. His ‘approximately half ‘ claim seems to be valid.
S: ‘Annual revenue in 2023 is projected to be worse than any year in the past 20, at just barely over $1MM (2009 and 2015 are the only two years in the past two decades that it’s been close to that low).’
H : ‘In terms of comparables, the past seven non-convention years for the LNC were 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021. We are on pace to match 2009 and 2015, and be within 20% of 2011, 2013, and 2019.* There were two of the past seven comparable years that were dramatically higher than 2023. Again, nobody is happy with this year’s fundraising, but comparing the page that shows annual revenues of past years to a straigtline projected revenue of 2023 (knowing we have outperformed the average of the past three months) of this year along with, knowing that previous years counted convention revenue and ours do not, is disingenuous at best, and blatant misrepresentation at worse.’
Me : Not factoring in convention years seems like a reasonable framework. You want apples to apples. But why cut 2005 and 2007 from your analysis of 2023’s revenue relative to the last twenty years? Why trim out those two non convention years, given that your EOM (page 2) bar chart that you reference as being Sarwark’s framework of analysis covers 20 years?
* I’m missing something. My math shows 2019’s non conference revenue as being 47% higher than 2023 (Projected), not within striking distance of 20%. (1501331 v 1020004) 2019 is also the third highest annual revenue amount in the last seven non conference years, but you claimed only two ‘dramatically higher’ years in that span. I think you might have slipped into talking about “fundraising” monies specifically mid-paragraph instead of carrying the earlier or subsequent “annual revenue” focus? If so, that’s oranges to apples.