Changes

For medium-range planning, the [[Board|Board of Directors]] of The Augustan Society, Inc., has delegated responsibility to the [[Order of the Augustan Eagle]], which is to say the [[Eagle Council]], and assigned them the task of developing and maintaining an rolling '''Five-Year Plan''' for the Society. The Eagle Council, in turn, has created of themselves a Committee-of-the-Whole to consider and recommend changes to the Five-Year Plan. At present, the Eagle Council lacks sufficient members to obtain a quorum, and the [[Board|Board of Directors]] has assumed temporary responsibility for maintenance.

The January 2016 draft of the plan follows, with marked updates through July 2018. [Bracketed] notes are from [[Headquarters Staff]]:and are not part of the adopted plan.

'''The Future of the Augustan Society —FIVE YEAR PLAN'''

<li>An Onsite Volunteer Coordinator will be needed to match local volunteers to tasksonce a public facility is had.</li>

<li>Digitizing in support of [[Back Issue Sales]]; cross-check of OCR documents [''Note: Two volunteers One volunteer now working.'']</li>

<li>''Indicators of success: number of volunteer hours donated. The [[Eagle Assistant Chancellor]] to report the total to the [[Eagle Council]] annually.</li>

<li>''Indicators of success: continue to gain 5% [annual] return.''<br>[''Note: The [[Assistant Secretary]] believes it is necessary to increase the principle of this Fund, above and beyond said return.'']</li>

<li>2014 - Augustan Library Fund [''´Note: there is no defined purpose for this fund. The amount collected remains in the General Fund.''] <ol type="a"> <li>This pilot project aimed to collect $10,000 in FY 2014</li> <li>This campaign and collected $2,284</li> <li>''Indicators of success: participation from 95% of membership, meet 50% of goal''<br>[''Note: [[Headquarters Staff]] feel strongly that it's counterproductive to claim that failing by 50% is success.'']</li>

<li>2017 - Augustan Headquarters Fund (to purchase permanent location) [''Note: No such fundraising has begun as of July. [[Headquarters Staff]] feel a purchase is unlikely in this decade, barring a six-figure donationwas conducted.'']</li> <li>2018 - suggestion needed, no fundraising was conducted</li> <li>2019 - suggestion neededHeadquarters Building Fund, no fundraising was conducted</li> <li>2020 through 2024 - No fundraising attempted.</li>

<li>Over 36,300 000 books have been were cataloged to dateby 2022</li>

<li>It is estimated that between 1525,000 to 2535,000 volumes remain to be cataloged.</li> <li>''Indicators of success: all books and ephemera cataloged at a rate of 10% per year'' [''Note: The current rate of cataloging is approximately 300 volumes per year, or 1% to 2% per year. Increasing this rate to 10% of the collection will require work to be transferred from Headquarters to volunteers or other projects discontinued or transferred away from Headquarters. It may prove more practicable once the post of Assistant Secretary is patently unrealistic, though obtaining a public Headquarters could help substantiallyabolished.'']</li>

<li>A direct mail project is recommended, with a letter to be sent to all members suggesting that book and ephemera collections and personal papers be donated to the Society</li>

<li>''Indicators of success: mailing sent on annual basis, mentions made three times annually in various publications.'' [''Note: ''[[August&aelig;um]]'' and [[Social Media]] will publish this once these programs have been launched, the ''Omnibus'' will not.'']</li>

<li>Donations that are not received for specific purposes are placed in this fund. [''Note: In 2015 & 2016, such unspecific donations are being were placed in the Annual Fundraiser, with the same effect. It is unclear what should be done in years without an Annual Fundraiser.'']</li>

<li>Memberships Organizational memberships in scholarly organizations [confirmed 2016-9]</li> <li>Board members attend relevant events and conventions, representing the Society [confirmed 2016-9]</li> <li>Work to promote and advertise those publications that would attract new members or inquiries [new 2016-9]</li>

<li>Headquarters Building Chairman to be named and to assist in search</li> <li>Possible renovations or building maintenance to be performed before move -in [''Note: Staff expect this to be a non-trivial expense, but a necessary one as it will be quite difficult to reach the walls, floors, and ceilings after move-in, and we would at the least need to replace acoustic tile ceilings. A possible grant to support this work has been identified.'']</li>

<li>Paid staff or [[Executive Director]] position has been discussed [''Note: As has an An unpaid Executive Director, was discussed without action. An Executive Director would require a [[By-Laws]] amendment.</li>

<li>Consideration of this position should wait until move into [[Library]] is complete near and needs of the organization can be better assessed.</li> <li>[[Consuls]] are The Assistant Secretary was unsure if a paid [[Executive Director]] is was needed, necessary, or affordable. It may well be They suggested that competent clerks could perform most of the Society's administrative work, with volunteers covering matters requiring expertise.</li> <li>A post-Metcalf plan needs to be established. [[Note: The office of Consul will be discontinued on 31 December 2017. The Metcalfs intend to continue in most of their other elected and appointed positions, but at a lower level of effort.'']</li>

<li>Capture institutional knowledge and directions for processes in the [[Staff Wiki]] [''Note: In progress; on schedule to complete first draft by Completed in December 2017, with ongoing updates, corrections, and additions.'']</li> <li>Determine how to handle transition from the present [[Consuls]] Metcalfs once they retire. [''Note: They have elected Mrs. Metcalf has retired. Mr. Metcalf will step down to "retire" at the position of [[Office Manager]] by the end of 2017. This does not mean that they will abandon their other roles, including landlordAugust 2024.'']</li>

<li>Fill vacancies in leadership positions[''Note: Filling vacancies with persons holding other offices is counter-productive.'']</li>

<li>Identify subgroups of potential members, e.g: college history students, members of specific orders of chivalry, New England Colonial GenealogistGenealogists [also individuals who have contacted the Society for research or back issues]</li> <li>Research past programs, members, publications to analyze for success, new ideas, better understanding of membership interests and needs [''Note: This study should cover the period before 2007, as no program since has had any positive impact on membershipsave the website.'']</li>

<li>A study of member residences (in US and Canada) suggests that some areas may already have reached there is no area with sufficient membership member density to make at this possible, the New York area in particulartime.</li>

<li>[[Headquarters Staff]] suggests it's about time to send out another round to those who did not at first reply &mdash; though perhaps, given It is the largely electronic nature responsibility of our communications, it would be sufficient to contact members by email. [''Note: The [[the Dean of Studies]] agreed to prepare an online survey, but work conduct regular surveys of member interests. No schedule for such has stopped due to illnessyet been proposed.'']</li>

<li>PDF Brochures to promote membership targeted to those interested in our five main topics [''Note: Work on these has been assigned to several Directorswithout results, responsibility now lies with the Marketing Committee (presently attached to the office of Secretary).'']

<li>Updates would be done on an as-needed basis. [''Note: The [[Headquarters StaffAssistant Secretary]] conduct conducts continuous reviewand updates, but support this will end at the end of August. Support from officers and committees is needed.'']</li>

<li>Infrastructure to be developed by Bruce Metcalf. Updates to be entered by responsible volunteers. [''Note: The infrastructure is here, now we need officers and chairmen to input or update their pages. Some technical help is still needed, as above.'']</li> <li>Regular review of content to be scheduled as part of communications calendar. [''Note: By whom? The [[WebmasterAssistant Secretary]] is conducting continuous review, but there's essentially no input from others, and that office will be vacated by the end of August.'']</li> <li>Regular promotion of specific content to be scheduled as part of the [[Communications Calendar]], ''i.e.'': including a link to the nominations section when [[Board]] nominations are mentioned in print to members. [''Note: See remark about limiting access above.'']</li>

<li>A survey of members to be undertaken to determine necessity [''Note: Assigned to [[Dean of Studies]]; delayed by illnessnot conducted.'']</li> <li>Content can be digital version of ''[[August&aelig;um]]'' [''Note: This would require reformatting The change from printed to avoid ugly images. Such reformatting would also make it more difficult to print and distribute without our leaveonline format has been completed.''</li> <li>Use of service such as Constant Contact can yield useful data about member interests and allow for automated management of email lists [''Note: [[Headquarters Staff]] observe that such Such programs requrie a constant stream of content; we can barly barely get [[Annual Report|Annual Reports]] submitted.'']</li>

<li>Establish a [[Forum]] for discussion on the [[Main Website]]; Moderator needed. Permitting the Moderator This was done, then abandoned due to screen and delete posts will be essential. [''Note: A Forum is part of our main website, albeit with only post facto screening and deletion. It is presently disabled at the direction a complete lack of the [[President]]participation.'']</li>

<li>[[Heraldry Index, Study Group]]</li> <li>[[Armorial, & Ordinary Study Group]]</li> <li>[[Philatelic Study Group]]</li> <li>[[Medals & Decorations Study Group]]</li> <li>[[Photograph Collection Study Group]]</li>

<li>Furniture/Equipment [Note: Most needed Enough furniture and equipment is already on handto begin. Additional shelving and furniture for additional volunteers and researchers will be needed to keep pace with growth and activity.]</li>

<li>Research services [Note: The [[Librarian]] does not consider this to be a Library activity, though the Library would certainly support such a program.]</li> <li>''Indicators of success: location selected and established by end of 2014 (needs revision): cataloged books are shelved at library location and available for use and/or loan. Purchase of space is a long term goal, possibly beyond the 5-year scope of this document.'' [Note: Cataloged books are already shelved, but this includes only about 20% of the collection at present.]</li>

<li>Book - Uphoff, ''Chinese Imperial Genealogy From the Five Emperors through the Qing Dynasty'' [Note: Copy not yet received.]</li> <li>Book - ''Vigil, a Knight's Training Program'' [Note: While Under preparation by the [[Noble Company of the Rose]] promised support and participation, it has not been forthcoming.]</li> <li>Book - ''The [[Augustan Society Roll of Arms]]'' Volume IV [Note; [[Rolls Editor]] named in 2016.]</li>

<li>''The [[Augustan Society Roll Rolls of Arms]]'' is mostly self-funding, thanks largely to print-on-demand technology. Promotion will likely require more funding than printing. Pre-publication sales should help with that. [Note: The switch from volunteer to paid artists will oblige this program to generate a profit to pay for the registrations that never received an emblazonment.]</li> <li>[[Rolls Editor]] has resigned without replacementVolumes I thru III are being reprinted first, in full color, with Volume IV and beyond being deliberately delayed until after the first three are released. [Note: A new Rolls Editor has been named.]</li>

<li>Additional off-site volunteers are needed to edit could be helpful in editing the output of the OCR software and to reformat the material for reprinting.</li>

<li>Roll of Arms Reprints [Note: Images need colorizing and blazons need translation. Production will be trivial once those tasks are complete.]</li> <li>[[Online Armorial]]</li> <li>[[and Ordinary of Arms]]&mdash; Presently under development, delays are the result of limited volunteers and a lack of cooperation from the Heraldry Committee on blazon translations.</li> <li>Online [[Heraldry Index]] &mdash; This A very large file has been created; it is presently idle as we focus on the Armorial and Ordinary, but would be revived if a volunteer were foundtoo large to place online. [Note: The Index, Armorial, and Ordinary have been combined into a [[Study Groups|Study Group]] and a Coordinator named. Work It is progressinghoped that an online database engine can be obtained to make this data available.]</li>