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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	890
Proposal	2018 GPUS Annual Budget
Presenter	Steering Committee
Floor Manager	Gloria Mattera
Phase	Closed
Discussion	01/22/2018 - 02/11/2018
Voting	02/12/2018 - 02/18/2018
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	33 0.6666
Consens Quorum	43 A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background

After an exciting Presidential campaign year that brought significantly new resources to the Green Party, in terms of both financial and human capital, GPUS expanded staff significantly in 2017, going from 2.75 FTEs in 2016 to 4.5 FTEs in 2017. Staff costs were further increased after GPUS made good on promises to provide staff with a health benefit, in keeping with our values. Unfortunately, revenue in 2017 has not kept us with expectations coming out of the Presidential campaign year. As such, GPUS has spent approximately $100,000 more this year than we have brought in. (Note: the 2017 budget expected $404K in expenses and $375K in revenue; actuals are closer to $275K in revenue and $375K in expenses).

This dire situation was unknown to many in the party due to the unplanned absence of our treasurer, Brian Bittner, who walked off the job early in the year without any attempt at giving notice or transferring responsibilities to others in an orderly fashion. Thus, current treasurer Hillary Kane, who was elected in late May, has been building systems from scratch; she eventually uncovered the woeful state of our finances.

While there are still reserved funds available in our accounts, the Finance Committee believes that it is fiscally irresponsible to put forth another budget that plans on deficit spending. Instead, we are aiming for a balanced budget. Current fundraising is bringing in about $20K per month which equates to $240K per year. However, fundraising must pick up if we are to make any progress as a party. Thus, we are recommending a budget that reflects a slight increase in fundraising revenue of $250K. The remaining revenue, $25K, comes from the Annual National Meeting and merchandise sales, which is fairly typical.

Going from a 2017 budget of $404K in expenses, to a 2018 budget with $275K in expenses is a painful process. The proposed budget reflects austerity and shared sacrifice. First, most non-essential items have been cut entirely or drastically reduced. Note, by “non-essential” we do not mean to imply that the expense is not very important. Many important items are cut in this “austerity” budget. The shared sacrifice comes from the fact that while most of our committee budgets are zeroed out or reduced significantly, the largest burden is falling on staff. All full-time staff will see reductions in hours; consultations with the employee union has led to an agreement on the total line item for staff salaries ($132K compared with current outlays of $175K). The union has decided that they would prefer that all staff see some hours reductions but remain employed, rather than have any one or two members be laid off or otherwise bear the brunt of the cuts. Once, this proposal passes, the GPUS Steering Committee will continue to work with the employee union to determine exactly how those cuts will take place.

The GPUS Steering Committee is committed to turning this financial ship around and is recommitted to investing the time and talent needed to increase revenues. We note, that recent innovations in fundraising championed by Mike Dennis have led to positive returns; these developments are not long enough for us to feel confident in proposing greater expenses at this time, but we are hopeful that together, we can get back on a track of growth rather than decline.

This is an exciting time for the Green Party. Despite the financial situation (which is not horribly unusual in a post-Presidential year), we have newly reinvigorated committees doing great work. For the first time in years, the CCC held an in-person campaign school; the diversity committee, which hadn’t been active in some time, held an anti-oppression train-the-trainers in December; the outreach committee, also newly reorganized, sponsored several events and opportunities that introduced GPUS to new audiences. The Fundraising Committee is purchasing lists of registered Greens from party registration states, to allow us to solicit from new audiences. If we all step up to the plate as volunteers, we can build on this momentum and be in a more financially robust position heading into 2019.

Therefore:

The Steering Committee, in consultation with the Finance Committee, the Fundraising Committee, and the employee union, present the 2018 budget for adoption. These documents include a breakdown of the annual budget into quarterly estimates, and a prioritization of expenses into three operational tiers based on increasing fundraising success.

Proposal

The National Committee of the Green Party of the United States hereby adopts the proposed 2018 budget.

Resources

Budget narrative: https://drive.google.com/open?id=146DrkvMHEZJ5CzV_nG1dzalPHfhzVV8__lK3WqO1OnQ

Budget itself: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RuwJk0eVTPTKQPv6d6ACokc-8i-RBkjPKXKQahELe8o

Contact: Hillary Kane - hillary.aisenstein@gmail.com

References

GPUS Fiscal Policy – http://www.gp.org/fiscal.policy # 08

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