As we approach the mid-point of our fiscal year, it appears that ARPAS remains on a solid financial foundation and directly on our chartered course. This report reflects financial information that was available on May 31, 2015.
As of May 31 ARPAS has received $129,027 in regular member dues, which is just $3,000 short of our budgeted membership revenue. Likewise, corporate sponsorships, the other big-ticket membership-services revenue source, stood at $16,000, which is just $500 short of our 2015 budgeted level. In total ARPAS has received $154,400 of all “Membership Services,” which is 98% of our 2015 budget level for that category. Membership Services accounts for nearly 59% of ARPAS’s operating revenue (does not include unrealized investment gains), so this is a significant signal that we are on course for a good revenue year. That said, it is of course important for us to seek out members who have not renewed their memberships to encourage them to renew.
The Professional Animal Scientist (PAS) journal is a significant ARPAS activity for which there are discrete revenues and expenses. The month-to-month or short-term snapshots of revenues versus expenses of PAS are often misleading. For example, PAS ran a $13K deficit in 2014; however, over the first five months in 2015 the revenues of PAS are out-pacing expenses by just more than $3K. Over the years the journal has effectively been self-sufficient. The leadership of ARPAS has decided to contract Elsevier to publish PAS in the near future (final details pending), which is intended to increase the profile of the journal as well as the financial success. Stay tuned!
In my opinion, one of the most significant success stories of ARPAS has been the establishment and growth of the ARPAS Foundation. The Foundation began in 2010 with private donations and reserve funds from ARPAS. From that beginning, the ARPAS Foundation now has $153,244 in net assets invested in a Morgan Stanley account: 75% fixed income and 25% equity in accordance with the directive from the ARPAS Foundation board. ARPAS has distributed a portion of its unspent income to the Foundation in recent years; that amount was $20,000 in 2014. The Foundation is already having a positive effect on the future of ARPAS by using the income from the investments to pay the exam fees for graduate students and qualified undergraduate students who attended the ADSA–ASAS joint annual meeting the last years. I feel very encouraged by this investment in the future of our organization and our profession. Our organization owes a great deal to the leadership, wisdom, and generosity of our executive vice president, Kenneth Cummings.
As I submit this report, I am signing off as treasurer of ARPAS. It has been an honor to serve you and this outstanding organization over what has quickly become seven years. Best wishes to all of you, and you likely have not seen the last of me!
Respectfully submitted,
Carl W. Hunt, Past-Treasurer