Five-Year Plan

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For medium-range planning, the Board of Directors of The Augustan Society, Inc., has delegated responsibility to the Order of the Augustan Eagle and assigned them the task of developing and maintaining an rolling Five-Year Plan for the Society.

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

This document presents a plan for The Augustan Society, Inc. to continue to stabilize and grow according to its mission. With a mind toward the organization's 75th anniversary, this plan also includes some long-range desired outcomes, but the focus of this report is on actionable and measurable items that may be undertaken during the next five years.

Structured in a sequence based on the Mission and Values Statements below, this report presents ideas and recommendations in three areas:

Recommendations have been made by individual Board members and Consuls, in committee discussions, and in Board meetings. Where possible, proposed measurements of success have been indicated.

This should be considered a "working document" that can be amended and developed according to the needs of the organization and as new information is gathered. This document should also be updated to reflect the results of initiatives. It is further recommended that portions of this document that are undeveloped be submitted to existing relevant Committees and Sub-Groups for development and evaluation on a periodic basis.

It is ultimately the recommendation of this document that it function as the basis for a series of annual business plans for the organization. While we cannot accomplish all things in a single year, we can certainly break down this large body of recommendations into plans and tasks that we may be able to accomplish and measure on an annual basis.


PART ONE - VISION STATEMENT

We work to further chivalric values in society by the manner in which we conduct ourselves and our business.


PART TWO - MISSION STATEMENT

The Augustan Society, Inc. promotes the study and traditions of chivalry, genealogy, heraldry, history before AD 1700, and nobility by providing unique, high-quality resources, including a library, publications, and services for members and the public.


PART THREE - ADMINISTRATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

As the Society grows, there are fundamental needs which must be met. This list below includes a range of resources to develop and implement organizational infrastructure that have been identified as essential to the Society's growth and wellbeing.

  1. Expanded Volunteer Involvement
    1. An Offsite Volunteer Coordinator is needed to match non-local volunteers to tasks. This is not expected to conflict with the work of the Dean of Studies
    2. An Onsite Volunteer Coordinator will be needed to match local volunteers to tasks once a public facility is had.
    3. Increase in members' volunteering
      1. Committee participation
      2. Writing for publication
      3. Research as a paid service and also as an assist for staff
      4. Fundraising
      5. Digitizing in support of Back Issue Sales; cross-check of OCR documents [Note: One volunteer now working.]
    4. Indicators of success: number of volunteer hours donated.
  2. Financial Management and Development
    1. Investment Fund
      1. The Investment Fund is currently earning approximately $12,000 annually with a very cautious approach to investment that is yielding about 5% [annual] return.
      2. Indicators of success: continue to gain 5% [annual] return.
        [Note: The Assistant Secretary believes it is necessary to increase the principle of this Fund, above and beyond said return.]
    2. Fundraising
      1. Establish a Fundraising Chairman and possible committee to spearhead annual fundraising campaign
        1. Indicators of success: active member(s) contribute time and effort needed to accomplish annual fundraising campaign
      2. Establish and promote annual campaign for specific goals
        1. 2014 - Augustan Library Fund. This pilot project aimed to collect $10,000 in FY 2014 and collected $2,284
        2. Indicators of success: participation from 95% of membership, meet 50% of goal
          [Note: Headquarters Staff feel strongly that it's counterproductive to claim that failing by 50% is success.]
      3. 2015 - Augustan Library Fund [Note: 2015 saw an "Annual Fundraiser" unrelated to the Library. Funds collected remain in the General Fund.]
      4. 2016 - Augustan Special Collections Fund (to repair, rebind or replace volumes in unusable condition) [Note: This turned into a solicitation to benefit the general fund and balance the budget.]
      5. 2017 - Augustan Headquarters Fund (to purchase permanent location) [Note: No such fundraising was conducted.]
      6. 2018 - suggestion needed, no fundraising was conducted
      7. 2019 - Headquarters Building Fund, no fundraising was conducted
    3. Continue "Buy-A-Box" campaign until all books are unpacked [Note: Perhaps the goal of "all books and other materials are properly shelved"?]
      1. In mid 2014 it was determined that a critical lack of shelving space required borrowing from the Cataloging Fund to purchase more storage shelving.
      2. Requests for donation to the "Buy-A-Box" fund have been included in recent member communications and have yielded some return. The debt to the Cataloging Fund was repaid as of October 2014.
      3. Indicators of success: close deficit by end of 2014. [Note: This was achieved.]
    4. Cataloging Fund
      1. A $10,000 donation was made in 2011, with the stipulation that it be used to fund the expenses incurred cataloging the book collection.
      2. An online book catalog has been established
      3. Over 5,000 books were cataloged by 2022
      4. This project is managed by the Librarian
      5. The establishment of a publicly accessible Library location would allow the Librarian to recruit and supervise volunteers to work on the project
      6. It is estimated that between 25,000 to 35,000 volumes remain to be cataloged.
      7. 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 is patently unrealistic, though obtaining a public Headquarters could help substantially.]
    5. Establish perennial campaigns for general support
      1. Trusts, Wills and Life Insurance, life annuities
        1. Mention of these donation options may be made in regular member communications. [Note: The Augustæum Editor will publish such when received, either as articles or separate sheets.]
        2. A direct mail project is recommended, with a letter to be sent to all members suggesting that the Society be remembered in wills, trusts and life insurance, with relevant information such as tax ID. [Note: It would be imprudent to publish the Society's Tax ID number. It may also be wise to defer this until 501(c)(3) status is restored.]
        3. 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
          1. Indicators of success: mailing sent on annual basis, mentions made three times annually in Augustæum.
      2. General Fund
        1. Historically, the annual fundraiser has aimed to replenish this fund, which is used for operating expenses.
        2. Donations that are not received for specific purposes are placed in this fund. [Note: In 2015 & 2016, such unspecific donations were placed in the Annual Fundraiser, with the same effect.]
  3. Public Relations
    1. Memberships in scholarly organizations
    2. Board members attend relevant events and conventions, representing the Society
    3. Work to promote and advertise those publications that would attract new members or inquiries
  4. Headquarters
    1. Suitable location to be found
    2. Headquarters Building Chairman to be named and to assist in search
    3. 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.]
    4. Need for furniture, office supplies and equipment; budget tbd for these expenses [Note: Most such items are already on hand.]
    5. Indicators of success: location found, secured, and occupied
  5. Staff Development
    1. Paid staff or Executive Director position has been discussed [Note: An unpaid Executive Director was discussed without action. An Executive Director would require a By-Laws amendment.
      1. It may be prudent to reach for a part-time clerk rather than a full-time Executive Director.
      2. Consideration of this position should wait until move into Library is complete and needs of organization can be better assessed.
      3. Consuls were unsure if a paid Executive Director was needed, necessary, or affordable. They suggested that competent clerks could perform most of the Society's administrative work, with volunteers covering matters requiring expertise.
      4. A post-Metcalf plan needs to be established.
        1. Capture institutional knowledge and directions for processes in the Staff Wiki [Note: Completed in December 2017.]
        2. Determine how to handle transition from the Metcalfs once they retire.
    2. Fill vacancies in leadership positions [Note: Filling vacancies with persons holding other offices is counter-productive.]
  6. Membership
    1. Membership Development
      1. Membership drive
        1. Identify subgroups of potential members, e.g: college history students, members of specific orders of chivalry, New England Colonial Genealogist [also individuals who have contacted the Society for research or back issues]
        2. 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 membership save the website.]
        3. The President will be reaching out to Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honors society, for articles. This may prove a worthy model (positive or negative) for other such.
      2. Advertising
        1. Identify magazines and websites that serve membership drive subgroups
        2. Advertise membership to those subgroups
    2. Membership Participation
      1. Attendance at Annual Convention
      2. Leadership to invite participation in committees, etc. from specific members
      3. Geographical chapters (long term goal)
        1. A study of member residences (in US and Canada) suggests that some areas may already have reached sufficient membership density to make this possible, the New York area in particular. [Such groups have since dispersed as our membership drops.]
      4. Special interest groups membership increased (long term goal). This is already the immediate goal of the lineage groups and an explicit assignment of the Deans.
    3. Member Interest Survey
      1. Headquarters Staff suggests it's about time to send out another round to those who did not at first reply — though perhaps, given the largely electronic nature of our communications, it would be sufficient to contact members by email. [Note: The Dean of Studies agreed to prepare an online survey, but work has stopped due to illness.]
    4. Membership Marketing materials
      1. Digital
        1. Keep the Main Website updated [Note: This is being done continuously, with additional updates as information is received.]
        2. Web banners [Note: Our websites are not presently set up to display banner ads. Amending them will incur a non-zero cost.]
        3. PDF Brochures to promote membership targeted to those interested in our five main topics [Note: Work on these has been assigned to several Directors.]
      2. Print
        1. General brochure
        2. Standard print ads for use in advertising [Note: For greater impact, ads need to be tailored to each target audience.]
    5. Board members' recruitment efforts
  7. Staff Wiki
    1. Updates would be done on an as-needed basis. [Note: Headquarters Staff conduct continuous review, but support from officers and committees is needed.]
    2. Link to Wiki would be regularly provided to all members, perhaps in the Augustæum and in the members section of the Main Website. [Note: An alternate recommendation is that access be restricted to officers with a "need to know". At present, the Staff Wiki is open to the world as the Webmaster does not know how to restrict it. As a result, there is a good argument to be made against publishing the URL at this time.]
    3. 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.]
    4. Regular review of content to be scheduled as part of communications calendar. [Note: By whom? The Webmaster is conducting continuous review, but there's essentially no input from others.]
    5. 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.]
  8. Email Newsletter
    1. A survey of members to be undertaken to determine necessity [Note: Assigned to Dean of Studies; delayed by illness.]
    2. Content can be digital version of Augustæum [Note: This would require reformatting to avoid ugly images. Such reformatting would also make it more difficult to print and distribute without our leave.
    3. 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 programs requrie a constant stream of content; we can barly get Annual Reports submitted.]
  9. Main Website
    1. Routine review of web content on periodic basis, perhaps to be assigned to various committee and board members by Webmasters. [Note: This is presently being done by the Webmaster with no support.]
  10. Members Forum
    1. Establish a Forum for discussion on the Main Website; Moderator needed. Permitting the Moderator 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 of the President.]

PART FOUR - STUDY & TRADITIONS

  1. STUDY & TRADITIONS - HISTORY
    1. History Committee
  2. STUDY & TRADITIONS - GENEALOGY
    1. Genealogy Committee
    2. Approved Lineages [Awaiting documentation]
    3. Certified Lineages [Note: This issue has been tabled until our present system of lineage review has been documented.]
  3. STUDY & TRADITIONS - CHIVALRY
    1. Chivalry Committee
    2. Chivalry - Recognized Membership (and Rank)
    3. Chivalry - Recognized Orders
    4. Chivalry - Recognized Orders Qualifying for SDLKJ
  4. STUDY & TRADITIONS - HERALDRY
    1. Heraldry Committee
  5. STUDY & TRADITIONS - NOBILITY
    1. Royalty & Nobility Committee
    2. Nobility - List of Current Royalty [Note: The R&N Committee has amended this to be a list of fontes honorum.]
  6. STUDY & TRADITIONS - STUDY GROUPS
    1. Family of Augustans Study Group
    2. First Peoples Study Group
    3. Heraldry Index, Armorial, & Ordinary Study Group
  7. STUDY & TRADITIONS - SUB-GROUPS
    1. Order of the Augustan Eagle
    2. Noble Company of the Rose
    3. Society of Descendants of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
    4. Society of Descendants of Ireland
    5. Society of Descendants of Scotland
    6. Society of Descendants of the Conquest
  8. OTHER
    1. Insignia Sales [Note: The only insignia sales at present are of Society insignia and those only to eligible members.]


PART FIVE - SERVICES

  1. LIBRARY
    1. To obtain and occupy rented facilities for our offices and library [Note: The Librarian feels that publicly accessible facilities are needed.]
      1. Feasibility study - financial
        1. We have essentially conducted such recently. It would require an additional $12k/an. income or an additional $250k in the Investment Fund. Both would need to increase to keep pace with inflation.
        2. Renovations/Updates
      2. Furniture/Equipment [Note: Most needed furniture and equipment is already on hand.]
    2. Grand opening
    3. Library Catalog [AKA: Online Public Access Catalog or OPAC. This was opened to public access in 2014.]
    4. Research services [Note: The Librarian does not consider this to be a Library activity, though the Library would certainly support such a program.]
    5. 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.]
  2. COMMUNICATIONS (name changed from Publications)
    1. Communications Committee — Consider peer-reviewed publications [Note: This was reviewed in 2013 and found unworkable at that time.]
    2. The Augustan Omnibus - Annually [Note: Presently published semi-annually. The Editor-in-Chief would be happy to see the frequency reduced from a financial and time perspective; perhaps not from other perspectives.]
      1. Increase frequency [Note: The Editor-in-Chief does not believe that the flow of articles and reviews or the volunteer staff are sufficient to support a third issue per year without an unreasonable reduction in page count.]
      2. Increase The Augustan Omnibus average page count [Note: The Editor-in-Chief observes that this is limited by articles, volunteers, and budget at present.]
      3. Periodically evaluate design/layout to remain current within field [Note: This is an ongoing task of the Art Director.]
      4. Subscription Development
    3. Book - Revised Little Manual of Heraldry
    4. Book - Germond, A Continuation of Paget's 'Ancestry of the Prince of Wales' [Note: Work is in progress, though hampered by slow work on digitizing.]
    5. Book - Uphoff, Chinese Imperial Genealogy From the Five Emperors through the Qing Dynasty [Note: Copy not yet received.]
    6. Book - Vigil, a Knight's Training Program [Note: While the Noble Company of the Rose promised support and participation, it has not been forthcoming.]
    7. Book - The Augustan Society Roll of Arms Volume IV [Note; Rolls Editor named in 2016.]
      1. The Augustan Society Roll 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.]
      2. Rolls Editor has resigned without replacement. [Note: A new Rolls Editor has been named.]
    8. Book - Rose Roll of Arms — This project has been approved by the Rose Council, but work has stopped for lack of a Rose Herald. Additional support on blazon translation is needed from the Vice-Justiciars. [Note: Additional artwork may be needed if all are to be represented.]
    9. [Note: There are also two other book proposals from Joseph Uphoff, copy has not been received.]
    10. Back Issue Digitizing Study Group and Back Issue Sales
      1. This is an ongoing project.
      2. Additional off-site volunteers are needed to edit the output of the OCR software and to reformat the material for reprinting.
    11. Chivalry Newsletter — Tabled for the time being.
    12. Roll of Arms Reprints [Note: Images need colorizing and blazons need translation. Production will be trivial once those tasks are complete.]
    13. Online Armorial
    14. Ordinary of Arms
    15. Online Heraldry Index — This is presently idle as we focus on the Armorial and Ordinary, but would be revived if a volunteer were found. [Note: The Index, Armorial, and Ordinary have been combined into a Study Group and a Coordinator named. Work is progressing.]
    16. Rosarum (formerly the Noble Company of the Rose Newsletter)
    17. Social Media
      1. Blogs - work to be featured on others' blogs
      2. Facebook
      3. [Note: A LinkedIn page exists as a placeholder.]
      4. [Note: A Forum has been created on the Main Website.]
    18. Descents from Antiquity — A major revision is in progress, as time permits. [Note: This has been converted from a Committee to a Study Group. A final report has been submitted, and no new work has been proposed, resulting in the group being dormant.]
    19. Increase variety of media in which publications are presented (paper, digital, etc.) (long term goal) [Note: The Augustæum Editor has been asked to prepare a sample issue as time permits.]
    20. Reprint Sales
    21. Used Book Sales
    22. Online Store
    23. Main Website — Our Main Website is a fixed cost based on membership, no matter how large we make it. Our Store and Library sites combined cost less than $20/month, and it would take quite substantial growth to exceed that. [Note: Server costs have risen to about $22/month.]
  3. Services [Note: This category exists in the Mission Statement, but no entry on the topic has yet been created.]



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