Everything you wanted to know but were afraid no one could answer!
Money, where it comes from and how it's spent, may be harder to question and discern in an organization than its public programs and policy. Although analysts may understand the origin of both the wish to question and the tendency to obfuscate, we should recognize the realistic legitimacy of such questions and acknowledge the need to inform the membership of what the Treasurer is doing.
Over the last four years, Dr. Robbins has instituted a computer system and chart of accounts which enables us to begin to allocate the direct costs of programs, offices, and activities and to know at the end of the year what we've spent out of pocket. The Treasurer, who signs all checks except Central Office payroll checks, also receives fiscal reports as the money goes out, assuring appropriate control. This year we plan to allocate and add the time and expenses of the Central Office staff to the costs of our many programs and begin to budget for the meetings, site visits, Newsletter, and other activities of the Association. Only then, when we actually know what each activity costs the membership, can there be a knowledgeable questioning of whether these expenditures are conforming to the priorities of the Association.
Why the pressure to budget now? Inflation is an obvious answer. Everything costs more—supplies, hotel rentals, legal and accounting costs. The Association increasingly must look at costs. Despite the previous Treasurer's careful management of our funds, we dipped into our interest (not capital) to make ends meet in 1980. Inflation has also made the officers of the Association more aware of the personal financial sacrifice involved in time devoted to the organization, and the members are more conscious of the bite of annual dues.
In addition, we are also facing an erosion in our base of dues-paying Active Members. At this time we have 309 Life Members, and, when that group of enthusiasts who became Members shortly after WWII reach 70 years of age, we'll increase the percentage of those Active Members excused from dues from our current 24% to an even higher proportion. Then the inflated financial burden will fall on fewer Active Members! At the same time, we must decide whether to relocate our Central Offices and consider the pros and cons of ownership or another rental. Either decision will entail a major expense.
How are these decisions made? The Financial Planning Committee, under Dr. Alex Kaplan, serves as an independent consulting team to the Treasurer, and two members, Drs. Schlossman and Bradlow, function specifically as investment advisors. Mrs. Fischer, because of her long experience with the Association and its administration, is able to estimate Central Office expenses and discover possible economies. The Executive Committee is active in organizing and implementing our financial planning. The membership, however, properly informed and questioning, is a resource we haven't utilized until now. I hope that you will write both questions and suggestions to the Newsletter or to me, so that a dialogue with clarifications and corrections can help to establish the priorities of the coming years and their costs.
Judith S. Schachter, M.D., Treasurer
Pittsburgh