Finance Council Update
J. Abbott Byrd, III, MD
Finance Council Chair
Four committees comprise the Finance Council, the Development Committee led by Serena Hu, MD; the Corporate Relations Committee and Long Range Planning Committees led by David Polly, Jr., MD, and the Finance Committee led by myself.
The Development Committee enjoyed a robust year in 2015 as total donations, boosted in a large part by the SRS 50th anniversary fund drive, totaled approximately $250,000. As of September 13 of this year, total endowment donations are $86,450 with $58,240 from members, $6,867 from non-members and $21,342 from other organizations. Dr. Hu and her team are working hard to increase member donations by the end of the year and to that end you will be receiving a letter asking that you keep the SRS in mind as you plan your end of the year charitable contributions. I would encourage all to dig deep for the SRS as this will enhance continued funding of SRS research projects. Dr. Hu is also planning a challenge based fundraising activity based on members and their training program to create a “Family Tree” of fellowships represented by the SRS membership. I won’t spoil this unique concept with more information but look for the details in a future letter from Dr. Hu.
The Corporate Relations Committee continues to work hard maintaining our current corporate relationships and developing new ones. We have recently added two new members to the Double Diamond status bringing the total to five. Corporate support, including exhibitors, grants and advertising, totals approximately $2.2 million per year and plays an important part in allowing SRS to continue its mission.
The Long Range Planning Committee is tasked with securing sites for future meetings. Upcoming Annual Meetings & Course and IMAST meetings are as follows:
2017 Annual Meeting - Philadelphia IMAST - Cape Town
2018 Annual Meeting - Seoul IMAST - Los Angeles
2019 Annual Meeting - Montreal IMAST - Amsterdam
As you are able to see, these are exciting venues that will ensure meeting success.
As regards the Finance Committee not much has changed since my Treasurer’s Report published in the September newsletter. SRS continues to be on sound financial footing with total assets of $12. 7 million which is an increase from $11.9 million in 2015. Our research endowment is $8.3 million with $4.4 million in the REO fund managed by Rockefeller and $3.9 million in the Legacy OREF fund managed by Vanguard. Rockefeller has enjoyed 11% annualized returns over the last five years and Vanguard, who we just joined, posted a 3.89% gain over the last 3 months ending in September. Rounding out the $12.7 million is $4 million in cash (operating and research) and $400,000 in other assets. The two main revenue generators for SRS are the IMAST and Annual meetings. The final projected net income for the IMAST meeting is $62,000 which is unfortunately $210,000 short of budget due primarily to decreased revenue from registrations (though higher than 2015 they did not reach expected levels) and increased expenses primarily from Wi-Fi and audio/visual. Final numbers for the Annual Meeting are not in yet but it is anticipated that the meeting will meet or exceed budget. The five Worldwide Courses have a combined net income of $4,000 through August with two courses left to go while the Hands-On Course are budgeted to have an income of $69,000. All numbers should be finalized by the end of the year.
It is a pleasure to serve as Treasurer of SRS and if I may answer questions, please contact me.