: Question #1) The IJA has both professional and hobbyist jugglers. Some are historians, some are practitioners. Some see juggling as an outreach activity, some see juggling as a personal journey. Given this diversity, What are the primary goals/functions of our organization? Providing service to jugglers is still a good goal to pursue. It is nice to think that the IJA serves a wider community than just members, but the reality is that non-members don't contribute much to the bottom line. Jugglers now tend to identify primarily with regional juggling groups first and the IJA second, if at all. : Question #2) One of the most exciting changes to the IJA lately has been the publication of additional financial information. Given this data, how serious is the financial status of our organization? If nothing changed, the IJA could probably limp along for the forseeable future with an imbalance between services and revenues. Given a generally downward trend in festival attendance and membership, that is an unlikely long term scenario. : Question #3) Reviewing the financial statements I did not find any huge quick fixes to boost the IJA's financial situation. Nevertheless, there may be many little changes that can add up to increased revenue and/or create cheaper festivals/membership. What changes should a new board member promote to improve our financial situation? The festival is widely seen as expensive and exclusive, particularly by jugglers who have never experienced one. I think the festival should be more of an outreach program to build long term membership. I hope the free day at Reading works to boost both the IJA and regional juggling efforts. Well, the majority of members don't attend the festival, so their only contact is thru JUGGLE. The festival tries to cover expense shortfalls in other programs (mostly JUGGLE). Tinker with either at your peril. Or don't tinker and watch the slide continue. : Question #5) I agree with the prevailing opinion that increasing membership will solve many of our current problems. I have also read many excellent suggestions on this forum to aid in this quest. Which membership ideas should a new board member promote and what problems are they likely to encounter trying to realize them? Increase access to the festival without decreasing revenues? : Question #6) I believe our board to be comprised of sincere, hard working individuals who are doing everything in their power to help the IJA. Given that, I expect that changes/improvements are going to be difficult and/or complex. What problems are currently restricting the effectiveness of our board and what problems/difficulties might hamstring the effectiveness of a new board member? The staff have been doing what they do for longer than most Board members have been on the Board (excepting Art, of course). You have to get a geographically disperse group to agree thru occasional phone meetings to a plan, and then convince the staff that the latest great idea isn't going to blow up in their faces - experience possibly to the contrary. Good luck.
: Question #4) Conversely, what expenses are critical to making the IJA what it is and/or should be, and should not be tinkered with by a new board member?