Strategic Planning Highlights March Amigos Board Meeting

Inhospitable winter weather around the country played havoc with travel plans, prompting the Amigos Board of Directors to abandon plans to gather in Dallas for a scheduled March 5 meeting and conduct the meeting online. Board Vice Chair Steven Potter, Independence, MO, led the business meeting for Chair Carla Stoffle, Tucson, AZ.

The Board reviewed and approved the new strategic plan, Plan 2020, including changes made in the previous day’s online strategic planning session led by Secretary Gretchen McCord, Elgin, TX, and agreed on the next steps, which include a survey of the membership followed by distribution of the finalized Plan 2020 to Amigos members in late spring.

In the Chair's report, Potter announced that Stoffle has appointed the Nominating Committee, charged with developing a slate of candidates for the Amigos Board. Potter then asked for volunteers to serve on the Amigos Officer Nomination Task Force to propose Board officers for FY2016.

Treasurer Craig Stephenson, Ponca City, OK, and Amigos Chief Financial Officer Charles Cason reported on January operations performance, which showed a loss primarily due to the timing of revenue from the Member Discount Program. The Amigos investment portfolio performance for January included unrealized losses. As a result, January net operational revenues, special project expenditures, and investment losses were lower than planned. While operational performance was less than planned for the first six months of FY2016, Stephenson noted that Amigos’ net assets remained strong.

Amigos Treasurer Craig Stephenson, Ponca City, OK, reported that the organization's year-to-date net operations through January fell short of planned financial performance, while the Amigos year-to-date investment portfolio included both realized gains and unrealized losses. Stephenson noted that Amigos retains a strong reserve balance and has allocated a portion to finance recently-introduced benefits for members.

Directors approved the FY2016 Business Plan. The Plan is based on the membership fees approved by Amigos members in May 2009. The budget includes funds from the Amigos reserve for new member benefits and the e-book distribution platform development project. As Stephenson pointed out, the reserve, which he termed healthy, may be used not only to fund new program development but also to help balance the operations budget when doing so will help strengthen Amigos for the long term.

In a related matter, The Budget and Finance Committee approved a motion to establish a new administrative policy requiring Amigos to maintain a reserve balance equal to or greater than 2.5 times the average monthly budgeted expenditures in each fiscal year’s Business Plan. Under the new policy, the Chief Financial Officer is charged with notifying the Board whenever the reserve amount approaches such a balance.

In other business, the Board also approved the appointment of the accounting firm Salmon, Sims, and Thomas to conduct the FY2015 audit. Nominating Committee Chair Jennifer Goodson, Fort Smith, AR, reported on the slate of candidates for the May elections, which she said was scheduled to be completed by the end of March.