minutes of the annual meeting held from may 9-11, 2008 - Amnesty ...

Page 8 of 17DISCUSSION OF AINZ PROGRESSQuestion and Answer Session addressed to the National Leadership Team1. How much do we have in the bank now?Tam Alexander – There is around $400,000 currently in the bank and contributions to the IS are up-todatefor 2008. However, our 2007 contribution is still outstanding, which amounts to approximately$270,000 and Andy has been negotiating with the IS in recent months to convert this sum to a loan –Andy will be attending the International Finance meeting in London next week and will be attempting towrap up negotiations. PATRICK: Please provide confirmed figures, if they differ significantly from above.2. How soon can we pay off the IS, and any interest on the IS loan?Loan is currently interest free but the precise terms and conditions need to be agreed – one of theobjectives for Andy when he attends the International Finance meeting3. Who is on the Audit and Risk Committee?Pattrick Smellie, Tu Williams, Andy Greensmith. Obviously, membership will be reviewed followingPattrick’s departure from the GT.4. From memory, the $51,000 deficit did not take account of bequests - therefore if taken into account itwill not be as far into deficit?Correct. Our objective isn’t to budget for bequests received; they are a bonus. In the new format wehave bequests in a separate section from budget/results overview to allow for more transparency.5. We are again asked to approve the 2008 budget in May - 5 months into the year? Is it intended that the2009 AM we will be asked to approve the 09-10-11 budget?It was accepted that this was not ideal. The GT review and agree a budget on behalf of the membership,outside the normal AM timeframe. The AM is then asked to formally “approve” the budget. Agreed thatit was reasonable to expect that the GT give an indication of the overall financial framework two yearsahead, so at next year’s AM, we should look to present an indicative budget for 2010 and 2011.6. Are we being too optimistic for the amount of money we expect to collect for freedom week given risingfood prices?We have ongoing forecasting through the year, so if it becomes clear we might not achieve income lines,then the governance team will adjust the expenditure. So yes there is a concern in economic downturnmay affect contributions7. Re Freedom week – do you think FW income is maxed out, and it’s not just a question of some schoolsdropping out? What are we doing to increase the FW Income?Last year we were late in the process and didn’t get as many people on the streets collecting incomparison with other years. The Catholic Schools issue was with Freedom Challenge not really freedomweek. The income budget is approx $1.6m in total, with $100,000 coming from FW, so could be 20%worse or better so hopefully strong enough to absorb the ups/downs. The key is planning. New initiativeswith FW, one is collecting at traffic lights/supermarkets etc. It used to be freedom ‘day’ which wasaffected by things like weather, so now covers more things over the whole week which definitely will makea difference.8. Why have the GT expenses increased and more than doubled since last year?The cost of the external operational review ($20,000) was included as a governance team activity – thissignificantly increased the total.9. Has closing the office in Wellington decreased our operating costs?Andy Greensmith - overall, the new office in Auckland is more expensive than old office in Auckland butthe overall operating cost of consolidating operations into a single office saves approx $70,000 in the firstyear.