By Gil Gullickson, AAEA President-Elect
There’s a joke about a Depression-era butcher who stayed in business with funny math. One of his sales pitches involved selling 8 pounds of beefsteak for 8 cents per pound.
“Eight times eight is 88, but since I like you, I’ll sell it to you for 80 cents,” said the butcher to a befuddled customer.
Unfortunately, raising revenues in real life isn’t as easy as it is in an old 1930s joke. Ditto for cutting spending. The AAEA board of directors and accompanying committees have been wrestling with this dilemma as we try to resolve the $24,000 deficit incurred in 2017-2018 that I outlined in an October Byline. We also considered feedback from members on how to best do this.
It’s tough.
We looked, and there are some areas to cut. We have saved $4,000 by not printing a membership directory, for example.
For the most part, though, the deficit we face is a revenue one. We face a loss of income from a drop in revenues from corporate sponsorships and from the Ag Media Summit (AMS).
The drop-off in corporate sponsorships is understandable. Low commodity prices are leaving everyone with less money than just five years ago.
Ditto for the AMS. These days, AMS is barely breaking even. Any generous revenue streams we received from AMS are gone, at least for now.
The AMS steering committee will meet in Minneapolis in mid-December to review strategies for future AMS events. There may be some cost-cutting and revenue-enhancing strategies coming out of that meeting that may eventually return a larger revenue stream to AAEA.
Ditto for sponsorship income. We’ve set a goal of reaching $70,000 in corporate sponsorships for 2019.
Our partner advisory committee—chaired by Pam Caraway and Josh Flint—will update our sponsorship document using a theme along the lines of “AAEA is Your Gateway to the Farmer”
Jessie Scott and her sponsorship committee are exploring ways to potentially reach sponsors outside of AMS,such as building upon the sponsored reception that now occurs at Commodity Classic.
Membership Rates
On the revenue front, AAEA membership dues are also rising to the following levels.
- Editorial, Associate,Partner- $235 before 1/1/2019, $260 after that
- Freelance – $150 before 1/1/2019, $175 after
- Student- $50
- Retiree- $110
All first-year members, except for students, are eligible for a $50 discount.
This is the first dues increase since 2011.
To help ensure members are getting their money’s worth, our membership committee is doing its best to retain the new folks and do a better job of getting them involved in the association. Another priority for the membership committee is reaching out to potential new members who work in positions outside our traditional demographics.
Award Contests
Another area targeted to generate more revenue is the AAEA awards contests. Entry fees currently bring in $26,000, while the contests cost roughly $50,000.
We are grateful for sponsorships and will continue to maintain relationships with the companies that sponsor our contests.
Given the nature of the industry, though, we are raising entry fees to ensure these contests continue to survive and thrive. Contest entry fees are now:
- Marcomm – $35
- Design – $25
- Digital & Social Media and Writing – $30
- Photo – $15
We also have reduced judges’ fees to a maximum of $200, and created a sliding scale based on number of entries judged.
In turn, we are exploring ways to simplify contest rules and regulations and ways to make wins more prestigious and add higher value to the contests.
Financial Stability
I wish I wasn’t writing about this. Still, fiscal stability enables us to continue the great programming that AAEA/Ag Communications Network offers. If you have any input about improving our fiscal situation while still maintaining our programs, don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or any other board member or committee chair. We need to do a better job on transparency, and your input helps AAEA with this.