Message From the NAHJ President | National Association of Hispanic Journalists

Michele Salcedo

Saludos:

It’s no secret that the finances of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists have been buffeted by the changes in the industry and the recession. The financial news coming out of Denver’s convention isnâ€™t complete and it isn’t great, but it’s better than we thought at the time of the general membership meeting. Although sponsorships dipped and attendance was lower than anticipated, we didn’t have to pay a penalty to the hotel as we originally thought.Â

Sponsorship checks are still coming in. We are grateful for our sponsors’ support, and hope to continue our relationship well into the future. Published reports about sponsors not coming through and that our finances are in worse shape than other journalism organizations are flat out not true. For those who doubt that statement, there is this: We are not in debt. Not allÂ journalism organizations can make that claim.Â

When it looked like we were about to face a cash flow shortage in September, our Executive Director Ivan Roman requested authorization to borrow up to $50,000 from an investment fund to cover basic expenses–payroll, rent, office equipment and supplies–for about a month. Our balance in that fund is about $138,000, allowing for fluctuations in the stock market.Â

On Thursday afternoon, August 12, the board was asked to approve a bridge loan from that fund of up to $50,000 to be tapped as needed to cover up to two payroll cycles. It was structured that way to minimize commissions and fees from liquidating stock. It was to have been repaid no later than June 1, 2011, at 3 percent simple interest, so that we would return more money than was taken. Iâ€™m proud to say the board agreed and acted promptly. The eight members present voted yes, and four board members who were unable to attend the conference call gave me their written proxies. One board member voted no, three others did not vote.Â

Fortunately, a sponsor payment arrived in the office on Friday making it unnecessary to activate the bridge loan. Stocks have not been sold or money withdrawn. The principal remains intact, invested in stocks as it was before Thursday’s call and straw poll was taken.Â

When and if they will be tapped depends on how we juggle the various pieces of the financial and fundraising puzzle this fall. Some $270,000 in cuts in overall expenses–including personnel and benefits, accounting services, audiovisual costs and printing–have already been made or are projected as we face this financial challenge. We continue to examine ways to trim expenses, including free or subsidized office space.Â

To ensure accountability, we will be doing a financial audit at the end of the year. Accountability is supremely important in working with donors, sponsors and in growing membership. An audit will provide independent certification of our financial condition.Â

We continue to find ways to raise revenue. We are continuing the Denver Challenge and are planning fundraising, training, and regional conferences across the country this fall. Our reduced rate membership drive to attract former members and new members has the potential to generate tens of thousands of dollars and help us meet our goal of 2010 members by the end of 2010.

There is no question that many financial challenges remain. The action the board took is one small piece of making sure the lights are on and staff in place to carry out the programs that help fulfill our mission. Your support has sustained us, so we can sustainÂ Hispanic journalists in these difficult times. And for that there is no word but thank you.Â

Un abrazo fuerte,Â

Michele Salcedo
NAHJ President

Isaac

I’m also concerned with the apparent lack of transparency, if the following is true from the Maynard Institute: “Newly elected President Michele Salcedo and Executive Director Ivan Roman did not respond to requests for comment. But both are said to have scolded board members for what Salcedo called “this public sharing of internal information.”
Michele Salcedo

Hi Isaac,

I felt it would have been disrespectful to the members to have read about the sense of the board in press reports before they heard directly from NAHJ. We’re not hiding anything, Isaac, because there’s nothing to hide. As I mentioned in the message, we’ll be doing an audit to assure everyone that our finances are in order and accounted for.

michele
Frenchie

Michele,
Can you clarify the part where it says “We are not in debt.” As I understand it, we owe money to the scholarship fund, and that’s debt.
Frenchie
Michele Salcedo

Hi Frenchie,

Happy to explain.

It’s money we owe ourselves, not money we’ve borrowed from a bank or other outside source. Money borrowed from outside is considered a liability.

Here’s an analogy: You have three bank accounts–one checking, one savings for a car and another savings for retirement. You’re a freelancer. Most of the time, your checks come in, your expenses are covered and you can even sock some money away for the car and for retirment. But then you lose a big client or two, and while you’re looking for other clients to replace the revenue, you have bills due.

There’s the cash in the car account and presumably investments in the retirement account. So you tap the savings in the car account and move it to the checking account because you need to pay bills.

You are going to pay yourself back so you can buy that car you want with cash, rather than take out a loan and incur debt, which is carried on your personal financial statement as a liability. So your assets will be reduced, but your liabilities don’t increase.

As mentioned to Brandon Benavides on his Facebook wall, we have every intention not only of repaying the money borrowed from the scholarship fund, but repaying it with interest. Russell Contreras, our financial officer, is developing a payment plan so we can keep the principal of the endowment fund intact as much as possible and we don’t have to incur penalties and commissions on selling the stock. Because we’ll be repaying the money with interest, we’ll actually return more money to the scholarship fund than we took out. It is a position the board is committed to and means we discussed the Sunday after the election.

Hope this helps. But if you have more questions, I’m happy to answer them.

michele