Whereas notes of “doom and gloom” may have their place in accurately reflecting present and future prospects, as well as in stimulating constructive action, on occasion such wariness may be misleading and may even discourage creative efforts.
I confess that as treasurer I sometimes contribute to the doom and gloom, since I am concerned about operating budgets that drain our resources, I am troubled by our meager reserve funds, and I worry about the demographics of our membership. Taking as my model the ancient prophets of the Old Testament, I periodically cry out “We must mend our ways! We must live within our means! The Poor House lies around the bend unless we save for the future and prepare for the unexpected!” I suspect this message has been adequately conveyed, and perhaps some mellowing is in order.
Though I will present to the membership specific numbers in May after our auditors complete their work, I think as spring approaches and rebirth is in the air it is timely to report that our fiscal performance for 1998 was rather good. Based on a fairly aggressive yet prudent investment strategy in a soaring market, our Association's unrestricted net assets increased by well over a quarter of a million dollars in the past two years.
For 1998 we had predicted a $12,000 shortfall in our annual operating budget. Through the hard work of those responsible for various cost centers, plus our success in dues collection and a successful December national meeting, the American will have a surplus in our 1998 operating budget of about $70,000. These funds will be invested in the Members Capital Fund.
It is also important to note that whereas many of our sister organizations (AMA, the American Psychiatric and Psychological Associations) have suffered significant losses in membership, our membership has gradually increased. In January 1979 we had 2,616 members. There were 3,020 members in January 1989, and in January 1999 there were 3,321 members in the American (a full graph of membership statistics will be presented to Council in May).
Thanks to the leadership of the Affiliate Council, 80 percent of our candidates are now affiliate members, and through the hard work of the Membership Committee under the leadership of Elise Snyder, in May we will be adding about 100 additional members to our roles — individuals who graduated from our institutes but for various reasons either did not join the American or elected to resign (see page 10).
So in these difficult times for our field, 1998 was a strong year fiscally and in our membership numbers. These are some rays of sunshine, and I think we should be pleased.