samsloan
2012-04-05 13:25:21 UTC
If you could look at the general membership and revenue curves for the
USCF you would see that from the early 1980s up until 1996 there was a
straight upward line. Every year in each of those years membership
went up and revenues went up. There was also a positive surplus every
year. In 1996, the USCF had nearly $2 million in the LMA which was a
general fund for the protection of Life Members. In 1996 the USCF had
just about 90,000 members, either slightly over and or slightly under
90,000. Total revenues for that year were $6.5 million. There was a
slight deficit in 1996, the first year of a deficit after many years
of steady surpluses.
Unfortunately, this slight deficit caused alarm and caused the new
governing board to make changes. One change they made was they got rid
of the existing Executive Director who had been with the USCF during
all these years of growth and surpluses. A new man was brought in
instead.
The next three years were basically flat. There was still about $6.5
million in revenues every year and slightly less than 90,000 members.
There was a small loss every year. The LMA still had about $2 million
in it at the end of 1999.
Unfortunately, the 1999-2000 fiscal year was when things really
started to go south. In almost every year from then until the present
there has been a decline in membership, a decline in services, and a
decline in revenues. The problem is we do not know why these things
started happening. There are essentially no surviving financial
records for the entire period from 1999 to 2003. There were financial
records, as we had an accounting staff working and producing reports
throughout that period. However, at the US Open in Los Angeles in 2003
it was discovered that the entire $2 million in the LMA had vanished.
The Executive Director had vanished too, never to be seen but only
occasionally heard from since. His laptop disappeared shortly
thereafter too.
When I got on the board in 2006 the first thing I wanted to do was
find out what happened to the $2 million. We got complete reports
based on good records for the period from 2004 to 2006 but there was
nothing, zero, from the period before 2003.
We know that for every year from 1999 to 2003 there was a reported
loss, but the losses were small. I think the biggest loss for any of
those years was about $50,000. This does not explain how the entire
LMA with $2 million in it could have disappeared between 1999 and
2003. Even if we lost $50,000 every year for those four years, that is
still only $200,000. It does not explain how we could have lost the
entire $2 million.
The USCF President during most of those years had a passion for
secrecy. He would not even tell the other board members what was going
on. This turned out to be most unfortunate, as we still have no idea
what happened during those years when outwardly everything seemed to
be OK. The records for that entire period have simply disappeared.
Notice that I have not named the names of anybody during this period.
This is because we really do not know who the good guys and who the
bad guys were during this period.
Ever since, the trend has been to cut the losses by reducing services.
For example, regular members and most life members no longer receive
Chess Life magazine. However, every time services are cut, fewer
members renew. I do not know what the current figures are any more. I
think that revenues are under $2.5 million or about 1/3rd of what they
were until 1999. I believe that Joe Nanna reported at the delegates
meeting in Orlando that there were only about 17,000 paid adult
members left. Most members now are either Life Members who pay no dues
or scholastic members who pay low dues.
This explains why the USCF is in such dire difficulties now. There are
few good reasons why anybody would want to join the USCF now. Probably
a lot of the new members think that things are the way they used to be
when all members received a magazine. If they knew the truth, almost
nobody would join us any more.
USCF you would see that from the early 1980s up until 1996 there was a
straight upward line. Every year in each of those years membership
went up and revenues went up. There was also a positive surplus every
year. In 1996, the USCF had nearly $2 million in the LMA which was a
general fund for the protection of Life Members. In 1996 the USCF had
just about 90,000 members, either slightly over and or slightly under
90,000. Total revenues for that year were $6.5 million. There was a
slight deficit in 1996, the first year of a deficit after many years
of steady surpluses.
Unfortunately, this slight deficit caused alarm and caused the new
governing board to make changes. One change they made was they got rid
of the existing Executive Director who had been with the USCF during
all these years of growth and surpluses. A new man was brought in
instead.
The next three years were basically flat. There was still about $6.5
million in revenues every year and slightly less than 90,000 members.
There was a small loss every year. The LMA still had about $2 million
in it at the end of 1999.
Unfortunately, the 1999-2000 fiscal year was when things really
started to go south. In almost every year from then until the present
there has been a decline in membership, a decline in services, and a
decline in revenues. The problem is we do not know why these things
started happening. There are essentially no surviving financial
records for the entire period from 1999 to 2003. There were financial
records, as we had an accounting staff working and producing reports
throughout that period. However, at the US Open in Los Angeles in 2003
it was discovered that the entire $2 million in the LMA had vanished.
The Executive Director had vanished too, never to be seen but only
occasionally heard from since. His laptop disappeared shortly
thereafter too.
When I got on the board in 2006 the first thing I wanted to do was
find out what happened to the $2 million. We got complete reports
based on good records for the period from 2004 to 2006 but there was
nothing, zero, from the period before 2003.
We know that for every year from 1999 to 2003 there was a reported
loss, but the losses were small. I think the biggest loss for any of
those years was about $50,000. This does not explain how the entire
LMA with $2 million in it could have disappeared between 1999 and
2003. Even if we lost $50,000 every year for those four years, that is
still only $200,000. It does not explain how we could have lost the
entire $2 million.
The USCF President during most of those years had a passion for
secrecy. He would not even tell the other board members what was going
on. This turned out to be most unfortunate, as we still have no idea
what happened during those years when outwardly everything seemed to
be OK. The records for that entire period have simply disappeared.
Notice that I have not named the names of anybody during this period.
This is because we really do not know who the good guys and who the
bad guys were during this period.
Ever since, the trend has been to cut the losses by reducing services.
For example, regular members and most life members no longer receive
Chess Life magazine. However, every time services are cut, fewer
members renew. I do not know what the current figures are any more. I
think that revenues are under $2.5 million or about 1/3rd of what they
were until 1999. I believe that Joe Nanna reported at the delegates
meeting in Orlando that there were only about 17,000 paid adult
members left. Most members now are either Life Members who pay no dues
or scholastic members who pay low dues.
This explains why the USCF is in such dire difficulties now. There are
few good reasons why anybody would want to join the USCF now. Probably
a lot of the new members think that things are the way they used to be
when all members received a magazine. If they knew the truth, almost
nobody would join us any more.