HLAA Business Meeting - Part One
Editor: The Business Meeting at the HLAA Convention is a great place to
find out what's going on with the organization. If you were not able to
attend, our coverage should give you a good idea of the flavor of the
meeting.
This is part one of three parts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Anne Pope began the business meeting by noting that the organization
faced several challenges last year, but also had a number of successes.
One was a very successful advocacy effort, thanks to Brenda Battat.
Advocacy objectives included:
- Hearing aid compatibility for cell phones
- Two companies providing web-based CapTel
- FCC outreach to HLAA chapters regarding the coming Digital Television (DTV)
transition.
- Decision by the Department of Transportation to require captioning by
domestic and international airlines.
- New performance standards for cell phones
- Department of Transportation decisions regarding access on cruise ships
- Working with Apple and filing a complaint with the FCC regarding the
lack of accessibility of the Apple iPhone
- An easier FCC complaint process.
A second very large success last year was the Walk4Hearing, and that
was successful in large part because of the hard work by so many of the
people in the audience.
Chief among the areas that didn't go so well is the organization's
finances. Peter will discuss that in a minute, and will note that this has
been a pattern in the recent past. Also HLAA is still having some problems
with membership. 2007 was the first time in many years that membership in
the national organization has fallen below 8,000.
Financial Report
Peter Fackler noted that he is finishing his first year as Treasurer.
He said that this is not a "business as usual" report and to be sure he
gets it right, he will be reading rather than speaking more
extemporaneously. He stated that the Financial Report will be posted on
the website in two or three weeks, and that anyone who wants a hard copy
can get one by contacting the national office.
2007 was a watershed year, with an operating deficit of $151,000.
Operating expenses exceeded revenues by $72,000, there was a write-off of
old accounts receivable of $69,000, and a write-off of $10,000 for
terminating the online store.
Several factors contributed to an operating revenue shortfall,
including a drop in magazine advertising revenue and underutilization of
the Academy. Revenues from the Walk4Hearing exceeded expectations.
Net worth at the end of 2007 was $559,000, which is down $20,000 to
$30,000 from a year earlier.
For 2008 HLAA needs to rebuild their capital base. They have had
deficits for five of the last six years, but they are starting to turn
that around. They are ahead of budget so far in 2006. Walk4Hearing
revenues are strong and the convention finances are in good shape. Major
challenges will be to build magazine advertising revenues and to build our
web advertising capacity.
The Academy [Ed. The American Academy of Hearing Loss Support
Specialists] has not met expectations and will be reviewed for revisions.
Peter is projecting an operating surplus of $40,000 for 2008, and is
encouraged by the new sense of entrepreneurship and savvy that Brenda
Battat brings to the table. HLAA needs to grow the base of recurring
revenues. An annual budget of $1.3 to $1.4 million is not a lot of money
to run a national organization.
Walk4Hearing is now about 22% of the revenue base, and it didn't even
exist in 2005! But it's really about a lot more than money, because it's
really attracting a lot of new people, especially young people. The walk
has about twenty sites throughout the country this year.
Q. Will the economy affect our efforts to raise money?
A. Yes, to some extent. But there's not a lot we can do about that. For
many of us HLAA is one of the few things we hold dear, so I'm hoping that
we won't see a big impact there. I expect to see advertising affected, but
perhaps not so much as in the more cyclical industries.
Q. I belong to the Lion's Club. Back in the 1920s they heard a speech
by Helen Keller and adopted blindness as a project. Of course, Helen
Keller was also deaf, and I think that's something we should exploit. Has
HLAA approached organizations like the Lions to raise funds?
A. We have worked with them on their low-cost hearing aid project, but not
on fundraising. I think that's a very good suggestion and we should follow
up on it.
C. I think one of our problems is a lack of leadership training. Too
many chapter presidents like being the president and they don't work on
developing other leaders. I encourage the board to work with Toastmasters
to develop a leadership training program. They are absolutely the best at
that.
Q. I've noticed that there aren't many workshops for leaders of state
organizations and local chapters, and I think we used to have quite a few
of those. Why have they been cut?
A. We have had complaints that there are often too many things going on at
the same time during our conventions, and one result is disappointing
turnouts for some workshops. So we've had to cut back on some activities.
I remember some Chapter Leaders Roundtable discussions at which we had
just a couple of people. So when we had to cut activities, those were
among the ones we considered. We're going to be looking at our convention
strategy in general and deciding where to go with it.
C. The banking industry is very competitive, and one of our local banks
will donate $50 to the charity of choice of new accountholders. Also some
rewards programs allow people to designate a nonprofit organization as the
reward recipient. HLAA might consider developing those programs.
Q. Is there any concern about the increasing pressure being put on the
state and local organizations to increase fundraising? I'm also wondering
what the board is doing to raise money?
A. Regarding the Walk4Hearing what we need to do is get more people
involved so we don't keep relying on the same people to raise more and
more money. For example, the League for the Hard of Hearing will partner
with us for a walk this year, with revenues to be split 50-50. The Walk is
so important from both a fundraising and an awareness point of view.
Brenda will address what the office is doing to raise more money.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
