[WCUSP] Response Requested from WCUSP/WILPF

[C.J. Minster]

Joan, could you clarify your email? Who is Marla and what do you agree with?

Perhaps you meant Marlene. In a previous WCUSP thread, I pointed out 
that WILPF listservs cannot be used to raise money for other 
organizations. Marlene refuted this, saying that it was important to 
allow members to give where they felt the money would be most useful. My 
response was that I'm not trying to regulate how our members use their 
money, rather just that WILPF resources should not be used to raise 
money for other groups.

My emails regarding the US Social Forum fall under a different category. 
WILPF's active program entities are already deeply involved in planning 
for the US Social Forum. We are not trying to raise new money for the 
USSF - we are trying to gather money from committees and campaigns to 
ensure WILPF's participation in the USSF. WILPF must pay a fee to 
participate in the USSF. Through the Steering Committee, we have set a 
limit on how much we are willing to raise for the USSF's general needs 
and it is not a lot of money.

I was not a member of WILPF twenty years ago, so I cannot respond to the 
other part of this conversation regarding a building in DC directly. I 
can say that a lot of extremely effective organizing is happening around 
the country without the expense of office buildings. MoveOn is a perfect 
example of effective, net-based organizing.

I believe what WILPF needs is more visibility, more members, and more 
strategic planning on all levels. I'm tired of most people not knowing 
who we are. I want our membership to GROW. From a larger membership 
base, we can plan for a larger paid staff. Since our membership has not 
grown in the last several years, I do not think it would be prudent to 
spend our currently available money on buildings or additional staff.

I also would welcome more people participating in fundraising for 
national WILPF. We don't have any interest to live on - in order to 
survive, we must use the money that comes in. We struggle every year to 
be financially prudent in our budget process, which is accepted via 
consensus by the national board. As a volunteer board member, I guess 
I'm a bit personally hurt at the accusation that I make poor financial 
decisions for our organization.

I suppose I agree with Joyce that this isn't an effective thread of 
conversation. On the other hand, I think it is important for us to be 
honest in our conversations and resolve this conflict between members' 
perception of "national's financial pattern" and the reality that we the 
board are your sisters struggling alongside you to keep WILPF viable and 
effective.

C.J.

------------
C.J. Minster
Program Chair, US Section
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
http://wilpf.blogspot.com

~current affairs blog~
http://www.socialupheaval.com

~cultural affairs blog~
http://www.angelheadedhipster.com
>>    ----- Original Message ----- 
>>    From: JoanWDrake at aol.com 
>>    To: marlsan at cavtel.net ; cjminster at gmail.com ; wcusp at wilpf.org 
>>    Cc: rbirchem at a1usa.net ; afg at mcli.org ; dannpowers at bellsouth.net ; marie.boroli at wilpf.ch ; Brcadwallader at earthlink.net ; edibal at bluewin.ch ; mduckles at uclink.berkeley.edu ; susi.snyder at wilpf.ch 
>>    Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 10:55 AM
>>    Subject: Re: [WCUSP] Response Requested from WCUSP/WILPF
>>
>>
>>    I agree with Marla -- WILPF cannot downsize its own operations while yet pledging financial support to other organizations. As much as we would like to be members of worthy causes & projects such as, in this case, the Social Forum, our treasury must not be tapped to support others as our own organizational operations go begging for funds. I am particularly concerned that WILPF's Capitol Hill Legislative Office in Washington, DC, has been shut down for more than two years, despite the fact the Yvonne Logan's mother left a bequest to WILPF during the 1980's to purchase a building in which to permanently locate that important program -- what ever happened to the proceeds from the sale of the building on D Street Southeast, funded by that bequest, in which WILPF's Legislative Office was located? There has been very poor oversight of the US WILPF treasury through the years at the management level and an uninformed board has had the power to make poor financial decisions that have squandered substantial resources. It is a pity that we have violated a major rule of economic survival by operating on our principal rather than on our interest. 
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
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