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One could say that the Board is governing the Society, but in reality you have delegated most of that task to the Consuls (and a few others). This will soon end, so you should begin the process of assuming this responsibility more directly, or of finding new members to whom it may be delegated.
As for the second job, the Board has failed completely at developing membership. The number of members today is fewer than that when the Consuls first assumed their posts in 2007. This is a large problem as we cannot find enough willing hands to support the programs of the Society, or even to fill the seats on the Board. There is as yet no Membership Chairman, no [[Membership Committee]], no membership 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 partly due to the failure to develop membership, but that’s not the only cause. Where previous Boards had established Annual Fundraisers and assessments, the small size of our membership now makes this an unreasonable approach. Worse, last year the Board walked away from a $10,000 matching grant for lack of interest (and I’m still smarting from the reaction of the donor to this rejection of his generous offer). Some new program; some new approach will be required to keep our Society afloat without curtailing operations or raiding the investments, especially as it now seems we have reached the limit of what dues our members are willing to pay.
Appreciate please that in a few years, the fees paid to us for Headquarters rent will become the majority of the Society’s expenses; in a few years more they will grow until they are larger than the Society’s net worth. If the Board makes reasonable progress on their obligations, the Metcalfs are quite willing to moderate the rate at which rent increases, but any failure or fall-back will result in a resumption of the present fee increases. Know that we do this because it is our only means of holding the Society’s shoulder to the wheel.
One option recently floated last year to general acceptance was a cap on Headquarters rent equal to 4% of the Investment Fund per annum, contingent on the Board depositing 10% of gross revenues into that Fund and making no other withdrawals. This will would prevent the expenses Headquarters' expense from exceeding the Society’s ability to pay, and the Metcalfs will be satisfied with this limit on rent as it would mean the balance of the Investment Fund would 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 from the General Fund. And it makes the perhaps unreasonable presumption that our situation will dramatically improve before the Metcalfs are no longer able to host the Society.
Another option that may have to be considered, particularly if the Society cannot elect a full [[Board]] or the [[Directors]] cannot elect a slate of working [[Elected Officers|Officers]]: Creating the office of [[Executive Director]] who would serve in place of the Board and Officers, relegating the Board to annual meetings to confirm the Executive Director. This has potential to work only to the degree that the perfect Executive Director can be found. Choosing the wrong one could quickly become fatal, and for this reason this option is to be considered high-risk.