Letter to AMC March 5, 2024 Re Dues Increase

Dear AMC --

I am writing to oppose the proposed 35% dues increase and advocate for a revised budget proposal. The dues increase and the budget are closely related. I’ve reviewed the proposed budget and watched the 2024-25 budget webinar. The presentation was well done, answered a few of my questions, but leaves many unanswered.

The agenda item for the March 9, 2024, AMC meeting mentions the budget "and notes", but there are no notes to describe the expense items in the budget in detail, nor any explanation of changes from the previous year. The webinar did little to clarify this: only a pie chart in the last minutes of the presentation.

My recollection of the previous AMC meeting was that the Treasurer said that two budget proposals would be presented, one assuming the dues were increased, the other if the dues were not increased. Instead there is only one budget, with the Treasurer saying that if the dues are not increased, the budget would be the same but that AML would have to cut some $20K in expenses. In a $4M budget, that's a 0.5% reduction, almost trivial. If the budget changes by such a small amount depending on whether a large increase in dues is adopted or not, this suggests that the dues increase is not necessary.

The budget projects that membership will remain at the current level of about 48,000 members. Last year's budget was based on projected membership of 51,000 members. That's a 6% decrease in membership, but dues revenue is projected to be the same, the result of the 35% increase in member dues. There is a different pattern in expenses. 2024-25 expenses are budgeted to increase by 1%. Budget expenses increased by 5% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 and by 1.5% between 2021-22 and 2022-23. While our membership has been in decline, our expenses keep increasing. These increases have not improved member experience or had any effect on membership growth.

The motion to increase the dues claims that there will be no decline in membership as the result of the proposed 35% increase. To come to this conclusion, the Finance Committee has had to reach back to 40 year old data to make the numbers work out. Following the 2018 dues increase, American Mensa lost over 3000 members, about 6%. That was after a 13% increase in dues. There have been additional declines in membership since then, about 8%. It is simply not credible that a 35% dues increase will have no impact on membership. In this respect, the Treasurer and Finance Committee are either overly optimistic or simply blowing smoke. I cannot predict how much of a membership decline a 35% increase in dues will cause, but I am very confident that the number is not zero.

At the previous AMC meeting, the Treasurer wasn't able to answer any of the AMC members’ questions of what the additional dues increase above inflation would be used for. Answers to those questions do not appear to be forthcoming.

Expenses need to be in proportion to membership. While there are fixed expenses and inflation has an effect, the budget and dues increase are completely out of sync with the size of American Mensa membership. Declining membership should be reflected in decreased expenses. Although I've heard the assertion that expenses are carefully reviewed and cuts have been made, that is not at all apparent.

The Treasurer said that the budget includes a 13% increase in local group subsidy. There isn't a motion before the AMC to increase local group subsidy, which I believe is required. More than once in the past, previous treasurers have dangled the prospect of an increase in local group subsidy as an inducement to increase annual dues only to have this forgotten soon thereafter.

I believe that the budget should be revised to reflect the decline in membership and that the proposed dues increase should be rejected.