In his report to the board, corporate services manager David Woltman said both revenue and expenditure were down, with the COVID-19 lockdown last year the major contributing factor to both.
Year-to-date revenue was down $1.24 million on budget. The main contributing factors were a drop in member subscriptions ($541,000) due to lower membership numbers and lower average fees received due to a six-month delay in introducing last year’s fee increase because of the lockdown, and cancellation or deferment of college/section conferences ($508,000) and associated sponsorship ($228,000).
Increases in other income included the recovery of members’ indemnity insurance legal fees ($126,000). NZNO’s investment portfolio performed better than the budget had forecast and was valued at $10.414 million on December 31, 2020.
Expenditure for the nine months to December 31, 2020, was $1.69 million below budget, due mainly to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Travel and accommodation expenses were down $693,000 and general expenses were down $328,000 as regional conventions were cancelled, and hui ā-tau and the NZNO annual general meeting and conference were held online. College/section conference expenses were down $566,000; staff costs were down by $103,000 (but the outcome of staff bargaining was not reflected in the financial statements); member expenses were down $84,000 due to savings on honoraria because of board vacancies; and printing and stationery costs were down $78,000, partly because there was no print issue of Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand in April.
Legal expenses increased by $314,000 due to more work and greater complexity of legal representation of members. Vehicle expenses increased $48,000.
In his report, Woltman said membership was 50,329 at December 31, 2020, a net decrease of 2.5 per cent since March 2020. The majority of the decrease was through registered nurses retiring and students leaving at the completion of their courses.
Forecasting to March 31, 2020, Woltman said there would be a deficit in the current year of $788,000, down from the planned deficit of $890,000. Member subscriptions are forecast to be down $757,000 for the full year. Sponsorship and event registration revenue were down by $212,000 and $38,000 respectively due to COVID-19 impacts, with savings of $379,000 and $68,000 on general expenses and member expenses respectively. In the forecast, travel and accommodation expenses retained the current year savings of $693,000 and were projected to increase to $790,000, with continued use of Zoom meetings.
After taxes and revaluation of the investment portfolio, a small deficit of $68,000 is forecast.
This article has been written from reports and minutes taken from the February 2021 board of directors’ meeting.