This note might be considered to be a member generated supplement to the A&F Committee minutes from the Zoom meeting of November 14, 2020. The meeting included discussion about fundraising that I believe could benefit from quantitative data, as well as a couple of areas where corrections to the discussion might be appropriate. As there were a considerable number of non-committee members present at the meeting, and some of the information might be useful to the entire Board, this is sent to ODV. Fundraising Discussion Background There were meeting participants who suggested an enhanced fundraising effort, possibly with a newly hired "Chief Development Officer," and possibly one paid by commission on amount raised. Being of the opinion that I was primarily elected to promote service to the membership and Amateur Radio and not necessarily work to extract the maximum amount of financial resources from them, I pointed out that the League has more than adequate financial assets and does not need any significant change to its fundraising efforts or staff. League Financial Resources The ARRL has over twenty million dollars more in both Total Assets and Net Assets than it had in 2008. Some of the assets are needed to fund life and term memberships, and approximately $3 million is contained in (non-Board directed) restricted assets. The Board could spend $10 million on projects if any were identified that warranted funding. The following table contains data extracted from the League's Annual Reports, which can be used to validate claims about ARRL assets. Year Investments TotAssets NetAssets ------ ------------ ------------ ----------- 2002 11195513 15618589 4128490 2003 11880970 15783174 4456914 2004 12599804 16432133 5293205 2005 12822683 16208971 5293245 2006 13985195 17101810 6069566 2007 15053094 18035761 6950616 2008 12471562 14863320 -409378 2009 14909196 17820406 5837972 2010 18099375 20922322 9318932 2011 18819971 22520381 9771483 2012 17728010 21679880 10938945 2013 21157076 25795161 14508497 2014 21754401 26424199 15174762 2015 21826857 26668658 14772839 2016 23774265 28473897 16462146 2017 27478256 32702596 20511402 2018 27617702 32408211 19774776 2019 31726591 36563576 23523905 Nonprofit Fundraising by Commission Is Unethical In the meeting, I pointed out that in previous A&F deliberations, I remembered that there was something wrong with nonprofit fundraising by commission. Another Director claimed that it was not illegal. It may not be against the law, but the National Council of NonProfits, among others, points out that it is deemed to be unethical. This can be verified by searching the Internet with the words, "nonprofit fundraising by commission." Certain Directors may feel that ethics might be considered in our fundraising plans. Possible ARDC Funding Should Be Considered I pointed out that ARDC, Amateur Radio Digital Communications, the group that sold IP addresses for over $100 million dollars and plans to fund Amateur Radio and digital communications efforts at a rate of over $5 million per year, should be considered and possibly be consulted on proposed projects. One Director stated something to the effect that he had information that ARDC was going its own way and not interested in the League. However, a subsequent phone call to the ARDC President confirms that ARDC may not want simply to transfer its funds to the ARRL's bank account, but is still interested in working with the League and possibly providing funding on appropriate projects. In the past, we have discussed things like the possibility of ARDC funding initial League membership for all or some number of newly licensed Amateurs. This has not yet progressed to a point where such funding should definitely be expected. I have felt it appropriate to wait until the new ARRL CEO has firmly settled in and important IT issues are under control before bringing this and any other possible new projects to his attention. Possible ARDC funding remains something to be considered for any projects that benefit Amateur Radio. Fundraising Fundamentals - Donors Need Goals for Donations A few years ago, the ARRL Roanoke Division Vice Director introduced me to a fundraising professional in his division, Carl W. Davis, W8WZ. Davis sent me a copy of his book Because Donors Want to Share. The essence of the book is that nonprofits should consider themselves to be vehicles for donors to accomplish goals, not terminal destinations for donors' money. Previous significant ARRL fundraising has lacked this objective. Donations simply went to the League's bank account. The 100th Anniversary effort fell short of its modest goals, in part I believe, because there was no identifiable end use given for requested donations. Present Fundraising Staff Performs Acceptably The present ARRL Development Department differs from a previous version only by having the operation being headed up by someone called a Department Manager rather than a Chief Development Officer. The Department Manager has been paid approximately half the amount per year that the previous CDO was paid. However, the follow-on managers have raised essentially the same or somewhat more money per year. Summary - No Increase in Fundraising from Members Needed The ARRL has more than adequate financial resources. In fact, it has money with no plans for using it. Amateur Radio Digital Communications, ARDC, has more financial resources than the League, and is operated to distribute over $5 million annually. The League should consider working with ARDC on any proposed projects. There is no reason to change the League's fundraising staff. There is no reason to mount a significant effort to extract more money from members. There is good reason to find and implement programs that benefit members and Amateur Radio as a whole. I hope that you will work to find and eventually implement such programs. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA