New Economic Model Review Group

December 14, 2003 (pt. 1) - minutes

Attendees:

Bonzi, Helen	Brock, Connie	Brown, Corinne
Condon, Jane	Halpern, Solomon	Jones, Deborah
Malefant, Rachel	Neece, Roger	Reichner, Robert
Rosen, James	Rudderham, Terry	Ryan, Susan
Salskov, Bob

Connie reviewed the history leading to the formation of this review group. She described the iterative process for how the two groups - Working Group and Review Group – will work together:

• Draft material from the Working Group will be sent to the Review Group. The review group will meet via conference call. Feedback/input will be gathered and brought back to the Working Group to inform and shape the next piece of work.

There was an extended discussion regarding the objectives of the group(s).

• Develop a financial model that enables all constituent parts of the Shambhala mandala to have a sound financial foundation.
• Propose structures for basic financial planning, reporting, and controls throughout the mandala that will help enable our society to flourish and engender trust from our members

Discussion highlights:
• The financial model we have been asked to develop is primarily oriented toward funding the central services of the mandala (which we agreed to refer to as “the central office”). However, the model must also work for the mandala as a whole, in particular, for the Shambhala Centers, Meditation Groups and Practice Centers.
• The timeframe for completing the work is open. President Reoch has asked us to take the time we need to ensure a recommendation “that can be successfully implemented and provide long-term solutions”. Nonetheless, it is our intent to work as expeditiously as possible.
• This group will not be articulating the specific services to be funded; others will do that work. However, it is recognized that before a new model can be fully implemented, we will need to know what level of funding will eventually be required. In order to move forward, we will most likely develop 2 or 3 scenarios to cover the range of possibilities.
• Any new model will likely have some reference to membership. Before a new model can be implemented, we will need to have an agreed upon way to count members. Again, this work will be done outside our group.
• In order to size revenue potential and impact, the Working Group is conducting a survey/census to collect basic information from centers and groups – number of members, revenue and expense.

Terry Rudderham, comptroller for Shambhala International, answered questions regarding the current financial status and the 1 year projections.

There was an extended discussion of the “12 Points” document, which summarizes key points of agreement from the finance working group at the Congress. Discussion highlights:

• The 12 points articulate the foundation for developing specific recommendations – whatever is developed should be based on these principles.
• Item 4 - funding central services. It was agreed that all entities with revenue should provide some form of funding, appropriate to their circumstances, for the central office.
• Item 4 - The model may incorporate more than one method or calculation, which could vary by size, location, or any other relevant factor (i.e. not “one size fits all”). This is to be determined as we develop the model.
• Item 4 - funding central services and item 1 – central services. Whatever the model calls for, it is assumed there will be centers or groups who will not be able to comply. Therefore, we will need a process for managing exceptions that ensures fairness, responsibility and equity.
• Item 11 - implementation. We need to manage the implementation carefully so that current donations to central office are not seriously eroded, especially during the transition period to the new model.

Connie will revise the “12 points” document to incorporate the discussion items and distribute the revised version to the review group. She noted it might be further revised based on the discussion at next Sunday’s review group conference call. The minutes and revisions will be brought back to the Working group for their next meeting on December 22.

New Economic Model – Review Group

Minutes: Dec. 21, 2003 (part 2)

Attendees: Barbato, Trish; Brock, Connie; Fallon, Aro; Flynn, Bernie; Greenspan, William; Haase, Gerry; Hastey, Bob; Jones, Lynel; Krasney, Pamela; Lyle, Francie; Robertson, Denny; Rudderham, Terry; Schreiber, Madeline; Schweri, Ellen; Smith, Judith; Teitlebaum, Larry; Thalacker, Arbie

Connie reviewed the history leading to the formation of this review group, and encouraged people to read the finance related working papers on the congress website. She described the iterative process for how the two groups - Working Group and Review Group – will work together: ∑ Draft material from the Working Group will be sent to the Review Group. The review group will meet via conference call. Feedback/input will be gathered and brought back to the Working Group to inform and shape the next piece of work.

There was an extended discussion regarding the objectives of the group(s).

• Develop a financial model that enables all constituent parts of the Shambhala mandala to have a sound financial foundation.
• Propose structures for basic financial planning, reporting, and controls throughout the mandala that will help enable our society to flourish and engender trust from our members

Discussion highlights:
• It would be useful to have a “vision” statement or “view” for finances altogether, that reminds us of why financial health and well being is important and how it relates to the overall purpose of Shambhala. This could perhaps be incorporated in the work that will be done for part 2 of our objective, “structures for financial planning, reporting and controls”.
• Some questioned the interim strategy to aggressively service debt while running the central office with such a minimal structure in 2004 and asked whether this was an open issue for our group to discuss. Connie said it was not part of our charter, that we are being asked to develop the long term solution, but that she would pass on the concern.

Connie Brock, Terry Rudderham, comptroller for Shambhala International, and Arbie Thalacker answered questions regarding the current financial status, how we got where we are today, and the 1 year projections.

There was an extended discussion of the “12 Points” document, which summarizes key points of agreement from the finance working group at the Congress. Discussion highlights: The 12 points articulate the foundation for developing specific recommendations – whatever is developed should be based on these principles.

• Item 1 – central services. It was agreed that the descriptor for practice and study should be “basic” so as to avoid the impression that it was being minimized. Many felt the list was too short, but for our purposes we are simply assuming that it is at least this long.
• Item 1 and item 3 – regionalization. It was noted that how services get delivered could very considerably, especially for practice and study, based on regional resource sharing. It was also noted that the service delivery could be based on a combination of paid staff and volunteers.
• Item 1 and item 3. Either centrally or regional, we could provide services that help centers become financially healthier, e.g. better at marketing, or better at working with conflict in the community.
• Item 8 – fundraising. Some questioned whether it was possible to eliminate dependency on fundraising to balance the operating budget.
• Item 8. It was suggested that we continue to ask all members to contribute at least $5 per month (in addition to the revenue described in item 4) to the central office. In addition to raising more money, a direct donation helps create a sense of connection to and membership in International.
• Item 8. Some thought this sounded like fundraising was being minimized.

Connie will revise the “12 points” document to incorporate the discussion items from this meeting and the Dec. 14 meeting and distribute the revised version to the review group.