Hi Everyone,
The June Board meeting a short conference call held on the
28th June.
From a financial perspective the results for the 11 months to
31st May are a Net Operating Surplus of $1.92 million
some $1.02 million ahead of budget. This is all timing driven
due to the early billing of our major sponsors and not reflective
of what the year end result will be. The Year-end Forecast
for the 12 month Net Operating Surplus has in fact reduced from
last month to sit at $529,000 due to some last minute shortfalls in
fundraising revenue. But with now only one more month's
results to come in until the end of the financial year the Board is
comfortable the final result will not dip below this latest
forecast and with a bit of luck will end up higher. See the
attached normal monthly report for details on the YTD results and
variances.
In terms of other outcomes from the meeting:
- The Board continued its strategic focus, so spent most of its
time talking about the following topics:
- The SLSNZ Foundation. Work is now underway to develop the
Trust Deed for this and get it finalised in the very near
future.
- Strategic Plan for the Surf Life Saving Movement. More
ideas were received on this from the recent Institute for Strategic
Leadership course that used surf life saving as it's not-for-profit
case study. This gave us the benefit of over 20 top
independent minds from around Australasia focussing on our
challenges and opportunities. Particular topics they
suggested we think hard about (and they gave their thoughts on)
were our value proposition as an organisation, our funding model,
our diversity (or rather the lack of it), continuing to work on our
brand and ways to increase our community engagement. For me
it was a useful reminder that while we are already in a strong
position in some of these areas, they need to be continually
developed and polished to avoid slipping backwards!
These topics will continue to occupy the Board's thinking time -
starting with the value proposition at next month's meeting.
- On other topics, the Board reaffirmed the 2015/16 budget which
has a Net Profit target of $350,000. This is lower than the
expected 2014/15 result due to two factors - less income from State
Insurance as that sponsorship ends just before the end of the
Financial year and a significant increase depreciation due to the
new PAM database network coming on line and the depreciation of the
BOP/Coromandel and Capital Coast radio networks. However,
while the P&L result is less than 2014/15 it will still
generate the same amount of 'free cash' to rebuild reserves as this
year as the depreciation cash stays in the business.
- With the season well over, there were no new serious injuries
to review, but the Board did look at the changes Surf Life Saving
Australia (SLSA) is about to test for Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) in surf sports events. It was decided we would follow
the lead of the International Lifesaving Federation and take a
'watching brief' on the trial that SLSA will undertake over the
coming summer.
- The Board discussed the Board appointments process for the
coming AGM and the skills matrix that had recently been completed
to assist the Board Appointments Panel. On this topic I would
like to do a quick reminder that clubs need to advise their
delegates and any agenda items for the 2015 AGM by Wednesday 19th
August - this is only 7 weeks away now and there is no
flexibility in this date. You will also note that
applications are now open for the four Board member positions
rotating this year and the Presidency - the closing date for the
Board roles is Monday 20th July and the Presidency
Wednesday 19th August.
- And finally we discussed feedback from the Board members who
attended the High Performance Squad(s) Camp held in Auckland during
the month. Both Open and Youth/ Development Squads attended
and the feedback was very positive about the culture and dedication
of the group. The Management Teams for both of the squads are
doing a great job and the athletes impressed with their attitudes
and enthusiasm. The defence of our World Championship in 2016
is in good hands!
So that's it from me until my next update in a few weeks
time. Our next Board meeting is in Wellington on Sunday
26th July.
Yours in surf,
Geoff Hamilton
Chairman
Surf Life Saving New
Zealand
