SOS 2015
State of the Society, August 2015
Bruce A. Metcalf, OAE, Consul
The Augustan Society is fast approaching a crossroads when the Directors will be obliged to make an important decision. We are not there quite yet, but will be in a few short years. It is not simply time to start worrying about it, it is time to start taking action, as a failure to act today will limit the choices we can make later.
The problem that will drive this decision is that our Board of Directors has only three jobs, and you are at present only taking care of one of them. These three jobs are:
- Governing the Society
- Developing Membership
- Generating Sufficient Revenue
I will say that the Board is governing the Society, but in reality they have delegated most of that task to the Consuls. This is sufficient (so long as we remain willing), but it limits the Society to the amount of time and energy the Consuls have to offer. Still, it is at present sufficient, just.
As for the second job, the Board has failed completely at developing membership. The number of members today is essentially unchanged from that when the Consuls first assumed their posts in 2007. This is a problem as we cannot find enough willing hands to support the programs of the Society, or even to fill the seats on the Board. The Board has recently tried advertising in a couple of places, but there is as yet no Membership Chairman, no Membership Committee, no campaign, no program or policy designed specifically to encourage people to join. This is a failure, and one that will cause our Society to evaporate if not corrected.
At the third job, developing sufficient revenue, the Board has also failed. This is only partly due to the failure to develop membership, though that’s a part of it. Where previous Boards had established annual fundraisers as assessments, requiring participation, the current Board is unwilling to assess even $25 for the "Buy-A-Box" Fund (our most popular program to date). Further, the Board has exempted themselves from required participation in revenue programs, demonstrating an unwillingness to lead by example, and discouraging others from contributing thereby. For if the cost of membership is too great for the taste of our leaders, why should our members value it more highly?
These failures might be trivial if the Society’s expenses were essentially constant, but they are not. Our storage units’ rent has been rising faster than our dues, and the Consuls’ fee for the use of their home as Headquarters has been and will continue to double each year. If naught else, this alone will soon financially cripple the Society.
This then is the nature of the crossroad ahead. Unless the Board takes decisive action or we enjoy a large (and presently unexpected) bequest, the options available at that crossroads will be:
- The Board must start doing jobs II and III – membership recruitment and fundraising – either directly or by naming an active chairman and committee.
- The Board must hire someone to do jobs II and III, which will probably require the Board to find the funds to pay that someone, as we likely aren’t large enough that anyone would take on these tasks on spec.
- The Board must give away our collection and other assets to another worthy non-profit organization, with the resultant disassembly of the Society and loss of purpose.
- The Board may do nothing, and allow Consuls to sell off parts of the collection and other assets as necessary to fund continued operation of the rest, which will be a short-term remedy at best.
- The Board could deliberately disband the Society, or through inaction allow it to dissolve.
None of these options are appealing. Even the first would require substantial additional effort by the Board. It may also take substantial time to make measurable progress on those jobs. Still, the Board must begin now if we are to avoid, or even to delay arriving at the crossroads. Consuls are willing to help, beginning with a willingness to continue in most of our present roles. We appreciate that in a few years, the fees paid to us for Headquarters space will become the majority of the Society’s expenses. If the Board makes reasonable progress on their obligations, Consuls are entirely willing to moderate the cost of rent, but any failure or fall-back will result in a resumption of the present fee schedule. It is our only means of holding the Society’s shoulder to the wheel.
One option recently floated to general acceptance was a cap on Consular fees equal to 4% of the Investment Fund per annum paired with the Board depositing 10% of gross revenues into that Fund. This will prevent the expenses from exceeding the Society’s capacity, and Consuls will be satisfied with this reduction in fees as it means the Investment Fund will continue to rise at an achievable rate. But this proposal would require firm and continuing action by the Board of a type not recently seen. It would also require the Board to generate the rent for the storage units.
So. Will the Board take up their duties and address the issues of membership and fundraising? Or will you “fiddle while Rome burns” and permit the Society to quietly slip away from us?
Time will tell.
You, as one of the Directors responsible, will decide. By your actions... or by the lack thereof.
