The AERC board of directors made the difficult decisions necessary to develop a sound working budget for 2006 and eliminate the originally projected gap of over $100,000 that I discussed in last month's column. As stated in a prior column, AERC has a healthy balance sheet—that is, we have some "savings for a rainy day."

The steps the board took in the past month ensure that AERC will not "live beyond our means" in 2006. To understand AERC finances one must understand that AERC is more than just a sanctioning and record-keeping organization that supports rides and gives awards. AERC's charter calls for a nonprofit organization that supports our sport and the welfare of the horse through education, research, and support of trails. So the BOD is taking steps to develop new sources of funding to support this non­profit work.

Before going into the particular steps the BOD has taken, I will note two factors that contributed to the potential gap:

Convention. First, convention revenues recently have decreased while convention expenses have increased. In 2006 the convention will move East again. While our current budget is prudent in what we believe the convention will contribute financially, we believe the convention in 2006 can be a resounding success, fun and educational for the membership, and very sound financially. We have picked a great location in San Antonio—the Crowne Plaza Hotel—and the Convention Committee has developed a good, sound seminar program including outstanding education speakers (see page 32). The entertainment program looks equally great. Hope to see you at the convention. We know you will have a great time!

Sponsorship. Second, in September we received notification that one of AERC's major sponsors would not be renewing for 2006. This created more urgency for the board to develop a sound working budget. Through the efforts of Randy Eiland, chair of the Sponsorship Committee, we are optimistic that we will find a new major sponsor. Efforts are also underway to find a new sponsor for the new member discount. We would like to thank Sundowner Trailers for their many years of AERC sponsorship.

Working closely with our treasurer, Patti Pizzo, and the Finance Committee, the board concluded that AERC needed to increase revenue by $40,000 to $50,000 and that the rest of the gap should be closed by expense reductions and improvements in productivity.

At our September 13 conference call we focused on the revenue questions and took three steps:

1. Increase in rider entry fee from $4 to $5 per rider, that is, $1 per rider per ride

2. Increase day member fee from $10 to $15 for riders who are not current members

3. Elimination of the new member discount unless we can find a new sponsor.

While I regret having to make these changes, I will take responsibility for pushing the BOD to do so. I prefer the course we took rather than raising the annual dues. By keeping annual dues low we hope to attract more members. Many of our benefits such as ride records, awards, ride insurance, etc. benefit those who do the most rides so the ride entry fee increase will come mainly from those who derive the most benefit from AERC.

We also agreed to eliminate the up-to-$500 travel and lodging reimbursement available for each BOD member for travel to the board meeting held in conjunction with the 2006 convention. This will result in a projected savings of around $13,000. Note we had implemented the reimbursement for BOD members after a majority of the membership supported this as a way to encourage more people to run for the board. While there is still $500 per board member allotted for travel expenses related to the midyear meeting, we feel we cannot afford reimbursement of $1000 per year. The BOD of course serves without pay and will now go back to paying for their expenses to attend the BOD meetings held in conjunction with the convention.

During the October 3 conference call we approved a working budget that closed the gap and anticipates a profit by reducing the expense side of in the operating budget through a series of measures:

-- productivity improvements by the office (e.g., savings in areas like printing and postage for the yearbook and Endurance News)

-- reducing the spending of AERC committees from their original requests

-- curtailing significantly our trails grants and research programs, unless we procure additional funds.

We will also be exploring new sources of revenue for AERC:

-- new sponsorships

-- a planned giving program

-- a non-voting affiliated membership program for equestrians who would like to benefit from our support of trails for long distance riding and from our education program but who are not endurance riders.

We are working on the first idea presently, and will be discussing the last two ideas with the membership over the next few months. I am particularly excited about the possibilities of a planned giving program. AERC now has an established track record of being a leader in working with land managers in the development and preservation of equestrian trails, has started addressing key questions of our sport through targeted research, and has expanded our education program. Therefore we can offer avenues for supporters of our sport to provide a legacy through targeted planned giving.

I am now optimistic that we have a financially sound working budget and a path forward for raising additional funds to support our nonprofit purposes without unduly burdening the membership with cost increases. We welcome your ideas and are developing more means of communication between the board of directors and the members. Our vice president, Mike Maul, is leading that effort. Also we will provide several forums for discussion at our convention in San Antonio.

Come join the excitement in San Antonio and join in the dialog.