[grc] Planning for affording staff

[al davis]

On Wednesday 28 January 2015, Susan Raybuck wrote:
> Since we are beginning to plan for a capital campaign to
> build our station in Wimberley, I've been advised that we
> should build into our campaign the funding requirements for
> a full-time staff person for two years.

I think in your case, that's bad advise.

People at big stations usually have no clue about how to succeed 
on a small scale.

To estimate your budget, you need to consider what the listeners 
are capable of supporting.  Not understanding this, getting in 
beyond the resources available, is a major cause of complete 
failure.

A quick check tells me that you are serving a rural area with a 
low population:
70 dbu:  2479
60 dbu:  5280
50 dbu: 11818

A rule of thumb .... convert those numbers to dollars, one 
dollar per person.  On the average, that's how much money 
available to you, per year, including everything.

Taking these numbers, you should be able to run on an annual 
budget of $5280.  If you are really good, you might get $11818.  
If you are really bad, you will fall below $2479.

At those numbers, you can't afford paid staff at any normal 
salary.  You need a (nominally) all volunteer organization.

> I assume that core paid staff member for a start-up station
> would be the station manager. Yes? 

No.  Keep volunteers in control.

The station manager is a decision maker, not necessarily doing 
the work.  The decision making part is not a huge time consumer.  
It is best that the decision maker is not influenced by a 
paycheck.

Paid staff, paid help, is for work that must be done.  There are 
certain jobs that must be done, no matter what.  There is no 
controversy over what must be done, it just must be done.  For 
this, you can hire someone and say "it is your job to make sure 
this gets done."  .. and no more.

It is likely that the same people might be doing paid work and 
also volunteer work.  It is important to maintain the 
distinction.  If a paid person also volunteers, that time is not 
paid time.  It is highly desirable that the paid people also 
volunteer.  It might even make sense to make it a requirement, 
almost, meaning to recruit for the paid positions from your 
volunteers.  Just remember, paid staff are paid for specific 
work, not whatever happens to come up.

One possibly paid position would be a secretary level position.  
The duties would be to make sure the bills get paid and 
paperwork gets done.

The other possibly paid position would be to raise money, with 
the pay being perhaps a portion of the grants and underwriting 
brought in by this person.

You may need paid help in technical matters.  An LPFM should not 
be much work, nowhere near half time.  Tech isn't all the same.  
There's the computers, studio, transmitter, remotes.  It is rare 
to find an individual who is skilled in all these.  The 
computers-transmitter overlap is especially rare.

You really can't afford any more, and this only in the best 
case.  Your key to success is that volunteers must do 
everything, and you need a network of people you can talk to who 
are not billing you by the clock.  People here, people you met 
at conferences.

So make that first paid position "administrative assistant", 
"operations assistant" or something like that.  Again, the basic 
duty is to make sure that certain work that must be done 
actually gets done.  NOT to make policy.

Or start all volunteer, and when you notice certain work isn't 
getting done that way, offer to pay to have it done. .. a 
bounty, a stipend, to someone who can and will make the 
commitment.