The Words of the Graham Family
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The Words of the Graham Family |
A moment of truth.
This is the time of year when the treasury coffers are dwindling and the exchequer is wondering about the future viability of operations.
The UTS Alumni Association has a few solid supporters, but they can frankly be counted on the fingers of two hands. A couple of those supporters have each given a significant sum, the others have given a $5, $10 or $30 donation each month during this year. Their continued investment has been appreciated enormously.
To be clear. The UTS AA is separate from UTS, and receives no funding from UTS, or from HSA-UWC, or for that matter from GPFF, or any other institution or organization.
Some good news is that the UTS Alumni outreach is approximately 800+ UTS Alumni who are on the mailing list. The outreach is primarily through web and email communications www.utsalumni.org and there is also a Facebook presence UTS Alumni.
The number of alumni now exceeds 1750. It is not easy to discover and ferret out where they all are in the world, but every 6 months I have made an effort to contact the alumni who are Missing in Action through web searches and word of mouth. The maintenance and development of the alumni database is in itself, of course, a time-consuming effort.
Each week The Cornerstone is opened by 280-320 readers. Some of you visit once in a while, others are "regulars".
This year UTS Alumni AA was able to hold "reunion weekends" in Las Vegas and Barrytown. Some alumni in LV were able to at least see the Founder, probably for the last time. All bills were paid and the account books were balanced.
Every week I reach out by phone to at least one or two alumni.
I also try to acknowledge all alumni birthdays that I am aware of.
This October and November UTS Alumni networking meetings are being organized in communities throughout the USA (see the White Plains event in this week's Cornerstone).
My tenure as president of the UTS AA is scheduled to conclude in June 2013. I had been hoping to have a better financial base in place so that there might be a better paid, more attractive part-time job for the future president. Unfortunately my previous funding attempts were not successful and so a hand-over to the next president may prove difficult. To be honest, I sometimes wonder if anyone else would want this position.
Expenses: I currently receive a stipend of $250 per month for my work. There is $10 for office expenses per month, $15 for email marketing per month, $25 per year for the web site registration. There are occasional expenses for incidentals e.g. occasional travel to NYC.
If and when the money runs out (at the current rate this month) then I will be cutting back the publication of The Cornerstone to once per month. My administrative work in other areas will also be greatly reduced.
Ongoing donations will provide approx. $60 per month which should allow me to "keep the lights on" till next June 2013.
I feel a great love for the UTS Alumni, so I hope to continue to offer the support that I can, though obviously with much less time commitment.
If the UTS Alumni AA is valuable to you, and you enjoy receiving the Cornerstone, and see the need for an ongoing alumni organization then please make a gift. The web site www.utsalumni.org provides the information. Do what you can.
Thank you for all your support up till now.
Robin Graham
PS If there are further funds made available then of course I will keep up the publication of the Cornerstone and other administrative work that I do. Otherwise I have to make up the money elsewhere to keep the family's household budget in some kind of balance. For many of you $250 per month may seem not so much, but in my situation it is golden.
Whatever happens, it has been a pleasure to be of service and I will continue do what I can. I know that times are tight for everyone.