HLAA Convention Open Board Meeting - Part 1

This meeting commenced at 8:30 AM on Thursday. The board held a regular meeting and committee meetings in the days leading up to the convention, so much of this meeting consisted of reports from the various committees.

This report is presented in two parts. This is part one.

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Executive Committee Report

The first report was from the Executive Committee (EC) and was presented by Board Chair Anne Pope. She announced that the organization has come up with a strategic plan, which includes goals for the board, for the committees, for the board, and for individual board members. The goals for the board, committees, etc., will be discussed in more detail throughout this meeting, but Anne shared the goals for the board members. Each board member will:

1. recruit three new HLAA members.

2. make five contacts with hearing loss professionals to discuss HLAA

3. raise $1,000 and make a personal donation

4. make one corporate contact for Terry to follow up

5. identify one media opportunity to market HLAA

Many of these goals have a "hidden" sub-goal - to get the board out into the community and talking about HLAA.

The EC and the Financial Committee also discussed the fact that many individuals, including some board members, don't understand the various funds in which money is kept, e.g., the Annual Fund (day to day operating expenses) vice the Reserve Fund (rainy day fund). HLAA's Annual Fund is sufficient to cover expenses this year. But the reserve fund, which should have enough cash to cover operations for six months to a year, is woefully under funded. The third fund is the Endowment Fund. Money in this fund is not spent, but is used to generate income, which can be spent however the board chooses.

The EC has committed to follow up on the recently conducted board evaluations.

Between now and November the EC will look at different options to honor Rocky Stone, the founder of HLAA in an ongoing way. They will be considering a variety of options.

Financial Committee Report

The Financial Committee (FC) report was presented by Pete Fackler. It consisted of four parts: 2006 Fiscal Year Audit, 2007 Budget Status, a proposal to change the organization's fiscal year, and the 2008 budget process

2006 Fiscal Year Audit

The bylaws require a completed audit within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year. HLAA's fiscal year currently ends in December, which means that the audit is due by the end of April. This year's audit is not yet complete, and is expected in another three weeks. HLAA has received a clean opinion letter, which states that the financial statement as presented is representative of the organization's finances. So the FC is not expecting any major issues with the audit.

The delay in the audit is due to the heavy work schedule of our auditor at the time the audit is to be prepared, and to some new audit regulations.

The FC report at the February board meeting indicated an operating deficit of $20,000, but an overall surplus of about $100,000 when investment gains are included.

The auditors will also issue a management letter, which informs the board of steps they should take to improve operations. The FC has informed the auditors that they will provide a written response this year, indicating whether they agree or disagree with the individual recommendations. They are taking this action to provide a clean resolution to the recommendations and to indicate what actions will be taken as a result.

2007 Budget Status

The board currently has the 2007 financial numbers through five months on hand. The highlights are:

The convention budget is on target. The FC expects it to produce a surplus of about $100,000.

The first session of the Walk4Hearing was held in May, and a second session will be in September. The May National Walk raised $30,000 against a $70,000 annual goal. The local walks raised $410,000 against a $480,000 annual goal. Note that the goals are for both the May and September sessions, so the FC expects both the national and local goals to be reached.

The local money is split 50/50 between HLA National and the local chapter, which means that the budgeted income for the national organization is $240,000.

The overall budget looks pretty good for 2007. There is currently a little deficit, but the FC believes that is due to the timing of revenues vs. expenses, rather than to any underlying issues.

Two line items of concern are Academy Income and Web Advertising Income.

Proposal to Change the Organization's Fiscal Year

The Fiscal Year is currently the calendar year. Part of the reason for the delay in the audit report is that our report is due when the auditors are very busy with tax season. So someone made a proposal to change the fiscal year, and the FC thought it was an idea worth considering. They asked our auditor to estimate what the costs to do so would be. The FC expects the costs to be minimal, consisting of an additional audit (to cover the partial year) and some forms to notify the state and federal governments of the change. The auditor will also report on when might be a good time to make the change.

2008 Budget Process

One goal for the 2008 budget process is to have the EC involved early, so that their questions can be addressed before the November board meeting. To accommodate that goal, the FC would like the first draft of the 2008 budget to be complete in September for a FC meeting around the end of September. At that time the FC would work out the detailed budget and report to the EC, with a goal of finalizing the budget by mid October.

Following the FC report, Anne Pope commented on the reason the FC is considering a change to the fiscal year to accommodate the auditor's work schedule. She commented that HLAA can't afford to have a full time financial person on staff, and that Sean Smith, the Financial Services Coordinatoris works with the organization on a part-time basis at very reasonable rates.