Certain things stand out SHOUTING RED – but nothing more than this:
Total receipts were $129,734.46.
Total expenditures were $151,022.75.
Note this includes convention revenue. At best they did perhaps $100K in non-convention but more – likely about $90K.
Expenses have NOT been curtained as they had many times previously under different LNC’s during times of financial distress. The payroll company fees alone are currently running 10 x what the prior payroll company charged. The agreement which should never had been signed should have been tossed months ago. Either replaced with another much cheaper service like they had or perhaps their esteemed accounting firm could include this in their ridiculous fee – after all that was only supposed to run $2-3K a month. They should get something for their money aside from the headaches the next LNC & Treasurer will have trying to clean up this mess.
Obviously Muck Rack and Mythos Media did not “earn: their keep unless the commissions are far higher than they should be for fundraising. Take this in house immediately. Don’t know what Freedom Calls is but would like to know if that produced any revenue. Finally why is there any costs really aside from electric & water for an HQ building that’s closed?
As I pointed out a few months ago the solutions are simple: Basically all contractor hours & hourly staff should have been cut down by 25% or more. Any staff that is not directly bringing in revenue should be looked at very carefully to see if they are adding value or at least saving the organization money. If they can not justify their existence then they need to be replaced or let go.
It also makes me very nervous that I do not see any deposits/payments to major convention vendors. 3 weeks from now some of them will supposedly come to start setting up. Previously according to FEC filings these vendors often received half their payments up front at least a year in advance. At this point I would be very very nervous some vendors may not show in which case expenses can be triple or more if you rely on the venue.
This whole situation is very sad – & just gets worse while the Chair & other officers keep saying how wonderful everything is. Makes you wonder what they’re smoking & if they can bring some of the good stuff to DC for the rest of us!
The former COC Chair had selected the vendor for a/v, as an example, back in Dec according to his remarks to the LNC in their Jan Meeting. That vendor I was told had sent an invoice for a deposit. That deposit should have been paid. 4 months ago. They should not be voting on something 1 month prior to the convention of this magnitude. I also understand there’s other vendors in same position. Told they were selected months ago & still in limbo with no deposits going out. I commend these vendors for their patience. As a business person I would have moved on long ago.
Payments to Vendors for the convention — The LNC ExComm started its vote on the A/V contract on April 18, so those payments should not be expected yet.
I remember Alicia Clark once cautioning delegates about electing ideologues, philosophers, or activists who didn’t have real world executive experience to LNC officer positions. Maybe the Party needs to again have folks like Geoff Neale, with plenty of executive experience; and Aaron Starr, savvy financial professional with a large corporation; or Nancy Neale, who could run a sizeable convention and bring it in with a nice profit; or Mary Gingell, who ran a large passenger railroad?
Thanks, Robert for your insights. In your previous position you gained knowledge of how the LP headquarters operates and what it needs to continue functioning.
Cutting hours by 25% isn’t a solution because it doesn’t fix the problem. The problem isn’t that expenses are too high, the problem is that revenue has cratered.