Centennial Vision

Some feel it is important that The Augustan Society, Inc., has a vision of what it wants to become. In a perfect world, this would come first, and all other planning would be in service of that goal. In this world, the Board has shown indifference to such long-range plans, leaving Consuls to develop the program outlined below. They would welcome additional input, or the Board resuming this responsibility. The term "Centennial Vision" is adopted to avoid confusion with the Long-Range Plan or the Vision Statement, and because it would not surprise this writer if it took until at least 2057 to achieve.

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A Centennial Vision for The Augustan Society, Inc.

Introduction

The nature of a non-profit organization being what it is, and that nature being subject to wide swings of the pendulum from affluent to impoverished, from too many members to service to too few to govern, and from popularity of topic to social approbation, great effort must be expended in good times that the following bad times are not so bad as to terminate the organization.

It is also necessary that a clear view of where the organization wishes to be, what it wishes to become, and what its priorities are, is in hand and that such a vision is kept in mind, as it should drive all planning and programming, indeed the very structure of how the organization operates.

Neither of these is possible without articulating this vision. This document is a rough draft of such a vision; indeed it will always remain a rough draft, as change is the only constant. Care must be taken, however, that this change is organic, gradual, and serves the ends of the Society. Without such care, it will become "mission creep" and lead the organization to become something else.

Physical Plant

The Society has had a public Headquarters for about half of its existence, the other half being worked out of the private home of the Founder or Consuls. The advantages of a public Headquarters are many, including:

• Security from the termination of the or Consuls
• The ability to collect all Society property to one location
• The ability to bring volunteers in to assist with the work
• The ability to hire paid staff
• The ability to welcome guests, patrons, and members
• The ability to impress such guests, patrons, and members with the size and stability of the Society
• Improved ability to obtain grants
• Avoidance of the need to relocate (as often)
• Avoidance of the need to change our mailing address (with consequent loss of contact)

The Society must have a goal of obtaining (and retaining) a public Headquarters. To ensure that such a facility may be retained, we must create an Investment Fund sufficient that its revenue will cover the costs of rent, utilities, and taxes (if any).

The location of a rented Headquarters is presently constrained by the location of the Consuls, who would naturally be unwilling to commute extended distances. Should a move be coincident with replacing the present Consuls (something they would not object to), the location could be moved to any suitable place.

Further advantages may be had from owning rather than renting, including:

• The ability to modify the facility to better meet operational needs
• The ability to decorate the facility to better express our Society's personality
• The ability to do the above without concern for losing the value when obliged to relocate
• Avoidance of the need to relocate (except as the Society may feel the need)

The Society must have a goal of obtaining (and retaining) a public Headquarters that is owned by the Society. To ensure that such a facility may be retained, we must create an Investment Fund sufficient that its revenue will cover the costs of utilities, repairs, and taxes (if any).

The location of such a permanent Headquarters should not be constrained to the vicinity of the present Consuls. One would expect the use of the facility to long outlast their service, and Orlando may not be the best location in the long term. At some point, it will be appropriate to determine what considerations should be given to a permanent location, and a search for a nation, city, neighborhood, and parcel then be based on those considerations.

These two goals above are not in conflict. The first is likely to be easier to obtain, and a portion of the investments dedicated to rent under the first may be diverted to purchase the facility in the second. This is particularly true as $285,000 of the Investment Fund is the Balling bequest, which is restricted to capital purchases (by original intent, if not contract).

That said, a facility, or funds to purchase one, may appear as a gift or grant. In that case, it may be possible to leapfrog the first goal for the second. While this will of course be tempting, the Society should seriously consider if the location offered is in the long-term best interests of the Society. Worst case, we might accept the gift or grant in a sub-optimal location, then sell it and move at a later date (perhaps after the death of the patron or expiration of the grant).

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Staff

At present, non-professional staff in the form of Consuls are obliged to perform all work that must or should be done at Headquarters (and entirely too much that doesn't depend on location). Non-HQ tasks should be transferred to volunteers to the extent possible.

There are two approaches to long-term staffing: An Executive Director with substantial skills (especially at fundraising and membership development), who would take over much of the responsibilities now assigned to the Board, or an Office Manager who would focus on the clerical and mechanical aspects of the work, leaving the Board and their appointees to carry the balance of the work.

The former appears to be well beyond Society finances at this time, and will probably remain so until our membership increases by several orders of magnitude. The latter will be less expensive, and we may well be able to employ two for the same price. In either event, they will be expected to oversee the work of volunteers, both on- and off-site.

Thus I think an appropriate goal would be to find volunteers to take on all tasks that do not have to be performed at Headquarters, and that documentation of all HQ tasks be completed to the point where a competent clerk without a background in the Society our our special topics would be able to assume those responsibilities.

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Administrative Structure

At present, the administrative structure of the Society is in the process of being normalized by efforts of Consuls.

1. The membership elects the members of the Board of Directors
2. The Board of Directors elects from its number the senior officers, and from the membership elects the minor officers.
3. The Board contracts with the Consuls for facilities and services.
4. The President names the chairmen of all committees, whether of the Board or of the Membership.
5. Committee Chairmen name the members of their committees, some of which may be non-members.
6. The Order of the Augustan Eagle is headed by the President, who names the officers from that group's membership, with Board confirmation.
7. The Noble Company of the Rose is headed by a Magister Rosae who is elected from that groups membership by those members, with Board confirmation.
8. The officers of the Noble Company of the Rose are named by the Magister Rosae, with Board confirmation.

There exist a variety of other structures that might be worth consideration:

1. Strong Executive Director, with a weak Board whose duties are reduced to contracting with the Executive Director.
2. Strong Board of Directors, with a weak staff, headed perhaps by an Office Manager.
3. Shared power between the Board of Directors and an Executive Director (similar to the present situation).

In future, the Society needs a structure that is not dependent upon one or two people. There are three non-exclusive ways to approach this state:

1. Delegate duties as widely as possible, avoiding concentration of unrelated duties in any individual.
2. Document the process and procedures of each role in sufficient detail that a competent individual (with appropriate subject knowledge) would not how to proceed.
3. Identify mission-critical tasks and hire them done, either by outsourcing or hiring staff.

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Chivalry

The Chivalry Department would engage in the following activities:

Recognition of Orders of Chivalry

Presently, the Chivalry Committee will consider recognition of Orders (and organizations of a chivalric nature) only when presented with a petition and payment. Delistings are done motu propicio.

While it seems that the Chivalry Committee have a very clear idea of what constitutes or disqualifies an Order from respectability, this needs to be documented for the guidance of those who follow. These standards should also be published, so as to offer perspective on our list of recognitions.

We should work toward the goal of having a fully comprehensive and public listing of Orders the Society considers worthy. We should also maintain a private list of those we have found unworthy, along with the disqualifying conditions, so as to speed reconsideration should those change.

Library Support

The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will advise the Library Department in matters of accession, classification, and deaccession of materials on this subject.

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Genalogy

The Genealogy Department would engage in the following activities:

Lineage Certification Committee

Presently, the Genealogy Committee will review lineages submitted and compare the data and sources to contemporary genealogical standards. A fee is exacted for this service based on the total number of generations involved (including first and last), but if portions of the lineage have been previously approved, a credit will be issued for those duplicated generations.

Presently, this work may be cursory, with only spot-checking of sources, or it may be an in-depth review with most sources verified, as it may seem necessary and appropriate to the Committee. This may or may not be an adequate process for the future.

We should work toward articulating and publishing the standards to be applied, including the question of when an in-depth survey might be needed.

Lineages should be published and available in a suitable form -- that is to say, deleting most data more recent than the latest release of US Census data.

Library Support

The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will advise the Library Department in matters of accession, classification, and deaccession of materials on this subject.

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Heraldry

The Heraldry Department would engage in the following activities:

Heraldry Committee

Society Departmental Arms and Logo Design and Registration

The Heraldry Committee will design arms or logos for all Society sub-groups, committees, and offices. There will be no fee involved unless there is an expense to the emblazonment of same.

Library Support

The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will advise the Library Department in matters of accession, classification, and deaccession of materials on this subject.

Online Armorial

Index to Arms Registered or Published by the Society

This index will be a part of the Online Armorial, and form one means of access to the blazons and emblazonments.

Ordinary of Arms Registered or Published by the Society

This ordinary will be a part of the Online Armorial, and form one means of access to the blazons and emblazonments.

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History

The History Department would engage in the following activities:

Library Support

The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will advise the Library Department in matters of accession, classification, and deaccession of materials on this subject.

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Nobility

The Nobility Department would engage in the following activities:

Library Support

The Department, either through the main Committee, a sub-committee, or a designated officer, will advise the Library Department in matters of accession, classification, and deaccession of materials on this subject.

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Communications

The Communications Department will produce print publications, online publications, reprints, back issues, web sites, and email services.

Augustæum

Augustæum is the members newsletter. By definition, it carries items that are not of enduring value, which should be sent to the Omnibus instead. It is intended to be published more frequently than the Omnibus, but may be mailed with it.

Presently, the frequency is bi-monthly, and the size is normally 4 pages, though occasionally 6 pages are printed. It is often accompanied by flyers, notices, and other publications, such as the Rose Newsletter.

Regular features include:

• Announcements of new members, elections, appointments, honors, arms registrations, and recognitions.
• "Library Top Ten", a list of ten items from the Library catalog that one member feels are of interest.
• News of conventions, meetings, publications, fundraisers, and other programs
• Help Wanted — an item advertising a particular post, not to be repeated for the following year plus one issue. (Thus a January notice in one year would not be repeated until March of the following year.)
• Lists of donors to various campaigns, members of Sub-Groups, or senior members
• If four pages are not filled, an Editorial.

In future, the frequency should be increased to monthly, but not at the cost of length. Four pages (or even six) mail for the same price as two, so that would be inefficient.

A survey should be conducted to test the level of interest in publishing this electronically, and a decision made about the value of devoting the time needed to reformat (versus publishing as a PDF file).

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Library

The Library collection is and should remain publicly accessible. Presently, this means "by appointment", and mail loans have been banned by the Board.

We should have a goal of making the Library open on a reasonable schedule (sufficient to qualify for grants). Mail loans should be resumed as quickly as possible, though those should be limited to Augustans at first to see what reasonable rules and fees might be.

The collection should cover all five Augustan subjects, plus ancillary topics found useful, such as maps, style guides, and some general encyclopediae.

Long range goals for collection development should include:

• Completing sets now held only in part (e.g.: one of several volumes)
• Obtaining current editions of items held
• Books and publications cited in Society publications (including affiliated publications such as JAMS)
• Books and publications reviewed in Society publications
• Books, articles, and theses written by Augustans
• News articles and other material about Augustans

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Sub-Groups

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