Open Letter to NPAC Members From President John Lehmann

[John Lehmann]

By John Lehmann, 2013-15 NPAC President

Change seems to be the only constant in our industry and not surprisingly, the same holds true for the News Photographers Association of Canada.

At the 2013 Annual General Meeting during the April conference in Calgary, I was elected to the NPAC board. I know this change was sudden and somewhat unexpected for many but as one of the original founders of this organization, I felt I could help refocus the direction of our group.

Looking ahead as president, I'd like to share three points that form the goal of making us a better organization. We need greater transparency within the organization, become a better advocate for Canadian photojournalists and be more mindful of our expenses.

Financially speaking, NPAC is in a grim state. The current board has reviewed the organization's accounts spanning the past three years and revenues have steadily declined as expenses have increased. This trend has left the organization with a deficit of about $10,000. This may seem like an insurmountable amount of debt but I strongly believe that with a financial strategy in place and control of spending, we'll get out of debt and be a more financially secure organization.

So where and when did things go wrong?

The NPAC annual conference is our organization's biggest revenue generator but it's also our biggest expense. The 2011 Winnipeg conference was well planned and had an excellent lineup of speakers but it was very poorly attended by the membership which resulted in a financial loss.

In 2012, the conference in Ottawa was well attended and had some of the best speakers we've ever brought in but the cost of holding it our nation's capital far exceeded our revenues.

Finally, this year's conference in Calgary ended up in the red when the final tally of costs were added up.

Adding to the organization's financial headache is an assessed HST payment of $4,500. After being advised by accountants and a lawyer that we did not need to charge this tax on our NPOY entries and conference tickets because we are a not-for-profit organization, a quarterly-federal audit indicated otherwise and billed us this amount.

It is this domino effect of compounding losses that has our organization on the ropes and one of the main reasons I felt I needed to get involved again.

Moving forward with ideas and reaching our goals when debt has such a strong stranglehold on our finances is impossible. With this in mind, the executive board will institute the following changes for members of NPAC.

1. Budgets will be put in place for conferences and strictly enforced by two board members, the president and treasurer, who will approve all expenditures.

2. The price of a professional membership in 2014 will increase from $60 to $75 and a student / retired membership will increase from $30 to $35. If you want to avoid this membership price increase, renew your current membership before November 30, 2013.

3. The National Pictures of the Year fee will increase to $10.00 per entry. However, this increase will have a ceiling of $150.00 per member. A member can have up to 20 entries plus a Photojournalist of the Year entry for a total of 21 entries at a cost of $150.00.

4. The cost of attending the annual conference and the National Pictures of the Year Awards will increase for both members and non-members. A full weekend member's pass to the conference will now cost $165.00 (up from $150) and a member's ticket to the Awards Ceremony is $30.00 (up from $25).

5. In addition, we intend to work harder with our sponsors and advertisers to increase opportunities for them to reach out to our membership and provide a competitive price and effective way for them to do so.

As president, I hope you can accept these changes as a move to being a more transparent organization and understand the executive board takes its role seriously with only the interest of the membership in mind. The very survival of the country's only organization representing photojournalists depends on instituting these changes.

Another area I'd like to address is our organization's ability to be a voice for all Canadian photojournalists. The publishing industry is undergoing dramatic shift which is undoubtedly having a profound impact on our members. How we as group respond and participate in this reshaping will determine our future role in this profession. It's with this in mind that I am proposing to strike a two to three person committee whose sole purpose will be to represent Canadian photojournalist's interests and rights on local and national levels. The committee will give NPAC members a louder and clearer voice and be proactive within the publishing community. If you're interested in participating in this initiative, let me know and we can discuss ideas and a strategic plan.      

Thank you for supporting NPAC in the past and I hope you can see the value in continuing your membership and participating in the various programs and initiatives carried out by our group. All NPAC board members can be contacted anytime if you have ideas or suggestions on how you might contribute to the future of NPAC.

Sincerely,

John Lehmann, NPAC President
president@npac.ca

Ben Nelms,
vice-president@npac.ca

Jason Payne, Treasurer
treasurer@npac.ca




(Edit: added a link to the 2013 AGM page. - Warren Toda)

[David Chidley]

Thank-you John for the startling Open Letter on the financial state of NPAC.  I am thanking you first-and-foremost for stepping up to the plate, and providing leadership on this crucial issue. 

I am not replying to be critical of anyone in the organization past or present.  But as you have proposed, it is simple economics, we can't spend more than we bring in!! on any aspect of the organization unless it is a calculated and justifiable expense where the funds will be made up from other sources. 

It is a disappointment that we have had three conferences run at a loss.  It is a bigger disappointment that it happened for three years in a row unchecked.  It can happen unexpectedly, I realize that certain factors occur that cause either attendance to drop,  sponsorships to vanish or unexpected costs increase, but yes as you propose realistic budgeting is key to the process.  All five of your changes are sound decisions, and the budgeting will be key for us to change direction.

When printing the NPAC magazine, the number of pages printed were directly based on the amount of advertising that ad manager Simon Wilson was able to sell.  If sales were small so was the magazine.   When ads were plentiful pages increased, and we made money on the magazine, over three solid years. 

I have no problem personally with higher dues and entry fees, obviously it is justified to get us back on our financial feet.  I have only been able to attend one of the past three years conventions, and I know all have been first rate, I followed all the updates wishing I was there.  Unfortunately they conflicted with a two week job/trip I have every spring.  They are great, but obviously we need to, as you have proposed, control costs and increase the income. 

As for the Tax issue, wow, that really sucks.  Is there any opportunity to appeal the decision?

I am extremely busy these days, and have not had the opportunity to get more involved in the organization, but I really believe that we need more people to do just that! 

I support you, Ben and Jason as you tackle this major issue and hope we get more members stepping up to the plate.  I will be sending you a private message with two ideas/areas where I am offering to volunteer.  Nothing earth-shattering, but hopefully something that will be of some small help in expanding NPAC membership. 

-Dave Chidley

[Fred Lum]

wow, that information is sobering.

[Keith Morison]

Thanks for this John, it is indeed sobering.

Like Dave, I am not replying to be critical of anyone in the organization past or present.

Generally speaking, it is easy for 'not-for-profits' to get into this sort of trouble easily. They are generally run by well meaning members who are not professional administrators and who likely don't have experience, or a support network, to rely on.

Careful budgeting and planning are key elements to 'righting the ship,' and heading off in the right direction.

One thing I've always done with my non-profit projects is to plan for a surplus of ~10 to 15% from any activity. (read, conference) Chances are you'll end up breaking even thanks to unexpected costs but every now and then it works out and you can build a reserve to lean on. (which is perfectly acceptable to Revenue Canada as long as the surplus is reasonable and there is a plan for it.) Whatever is done, don't plan for a loss - as it sort of sounded like was happening - because you'll rarely break even with that mindset.

Now, you say the trend in losses has left the association with a ~10,000 deficit. Further, you say we were assessed a $4500 payment for HST (although the service was provided in a GST only province.)

May I ask who's covering the deficit? After all of this is there still a positive - or zero - bank balance?

For those who hadn't noticed, the 'financial statement' for 2012 was posted online some time ago at http://goo.gl/WFLFyu In round numbers, the association ran a 21,200 deficit on a 90,700 operating budget. (income of $69,500)
The statement is also much more sparse than most I've seen, which only makes good governance that much more difficult.