Executive Director's Report August 1998 =========================== September 9, 1998 By Christopher L. Cope (execdir@freenet.carleton.ca) Contents: 1. Funding and Public Relations Update 2. NCF Administration 3. Member Services and Future Initiatives 1. Funding Update ================= a) Donation Data - New Registrations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New member registration continues to lag behind our projection at about half the Budget amount. The average donation is about what we expected, so the revenue from new registrants in August was again about half what we forecast. On a year-to-date basis, we are behind Budget by $5,646 or -18%. No. No. % Of Avg. Regist New Budget Regist Memb $ Budget Regist Donat'n Memb. (No.) Var Donate Donate Amount ($) Var Donat'n All New ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ All'97 6,923 2,295 33.2% $47,395 $72,000 -34% $20.65 $6.85 Avg'97 577 191 33.2% $ 3,950 $ 6,000 -34% $20.65 $6.85 Jan. 305 666 -54% 145 47.5% $ 3,308 $ 4,262 -22% $22.81 $10.85 Feb 254 562 -55% 132 52.0% $ 3,246 $ 3,594 -10% $24.59 $12.78 Mar. 242 538 -55% 131 54.1% $ 2,965 $ 3,441 -14% $22.63 $12.25 Apr. 239 526 -55% 117 49.0% $ 3,412 $ 3,364 1% $29.16 $14.28 May 222 442 -50% 123 55.4% $ 3,067 $ 2,826 9% $24.93 $13.82 Jun. 462 512 -10% 153 33.1% $ 3,301 $ 3,279 1% $21.58 $ 7.15 Jul. 591 823 -28% 153 25.8% $ 3,551 $ 5,268 -33% $23.21 $ 6.01 Aug. 356 750 -53% 114 32.0% $ 2,338 $ 4,800 -51% $20.51 $ 6.57 Sep. 767 $ 4,908 Oct. 696 $ 4,454 Nov. 529 $ 3,387 Dec. 413 $ 2,642 ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ YTD'98 2,671 4,819 1,068 40.0% $25,188 $30,834 -18% $23.58 $ 9.43 Avg'98 334 602 -45% 134 40.0% $ 3,149 $ 3,854 -18% $23.58 $ 9.43 b) Donation Data - Renewals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The number of renewing members was more than double the forecast amount for August. The average renewal donation however, was considerably smaller than the Budget prediction resulting in monthly revenue from renewals being substantially on target (+4%). On a year-to-date basis however, we are some $80,026 (-39%) under Budget. No. % Of Avg. Renwl No. Budget Renwl Renwl $ Budget Renwl Donate Renwl (No.) Var Donate Donate Amount ($) Var Donatn All Ren ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ All'97 13,235 18,000 8,611 65.1% $186,716 $202,500 -8% $21.68 $14.11 Avg'97 1,103 1,500 718 65.1% $ 15,560 $ 16,875 -8% $21.68 $14.11 Jan. 1,544 1,734 -11% 965 62.5% $23,167 $ 27,123 -15% $24.01 $15.00* Feb 1,320 1,470 -10% 869 65.8% $21,415 $ 37,467 -43% $24.64 $16.22* Mar. 1,620 1,601 -1% 899 55.5% $22,759 $ 34,426 -34% $25.32 $14.05* Apr. 1,337 1,616 -17% 938 70.2% $23,555 $ 36,535 -36% $25.11 $17.62* May 1,028 1,336 -23% 653 63.5% $15,838 $ 34,662 -54% $24.25 $15.41* Jun. 670 478 40% 428 63.9% $ 9,410 $ 23,953 -61% $21.99 $14.05* Jul. 476 206 131% 333 70.0% $ 6,657 $ 8,832 -25% $19.99 $13.99 Aug. 310 188 65% 218 70.3% $ 4,722 $ 4,551 4% $21.66 $15.23 Sep. 192 $ 4,307 Oct. 174 $ 4,233 Nov. 132 $ 3,643 Dec. 886 $ 8,656 ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ YTD'98 8,305 8,629 -4% 5,303 63.9% $127,523 $207,549 -39% $24.05 $15.35 AVG'98 1,038 1,079 -4% 663 63.9% $ 15,940 $ 25,944 -39% $24.05 $15.35 * previous month calculations re-stated to correct error in formula. c) Funding Drive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Funding Drive is in high gear now, with 267 members donating $9,013 in the month of August. These donations were unrelated to renewal or registration. As at the date of this report, here is are the results of the Funding Drive so far: No. of Period Donors Donation ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ 30-31 Jul-98 11 $ 300 All Aug-98 267 $ 9,013 1-10 Sep-98 150 $ 4,796 ~~~ ~~~~~~~ 428 $14,109 The period July 30 to September 10, represents approximately 35% of the time allotted for the Drive - ending November 30, 1998. The amount donated so far at $14,109 is also about 35% of the target. It appears that we are on track and that the drive will reach our goal. d) Membership Activity: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The number of members appears not have changed during the month. This figure is misleading. Our plan was to discontinue archiving while we search for a replacement Sysadmin and accounts which reach the very overdue stage, were to be suspended rather than archived. This way, the office could re-instate those accounts without the need of a Sysadmin. The project was not completed however and at the moment, the system neither archives nor suspends such accounts. 1251 Members accounts reached the 60 days overdue in June, representing the maximum number of accounts which could be archived. Typically we renew about half the number of members getting this notice, so our membership number is inaccurate by approximately 600. Restated on this basis, our membership would stand at 18,267 or about 1.4% decline from last month. |Member | Current |To line| Actual |Ratio |Number Forecast Number Number Number # of % inc.| |Of New No. of Members Members Members Members -dec. |Lns :1 |Members Members Renewed Un-arch Archvd. ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~|~~~~~~~| ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ May. 62,877 n/a|169 372| 372 1,831 0 0 Jun. 43,170 -31.3%|169 255| 654 654 18 20,361 Jul. 28,280 -34.5%|169 167| 651 605 103 7,919 Aug. 27,980 - 1.1%|169 166| 484 448 68 7,739 Sep. 22,996 -17.8%|169 136| 467 320 100 6,145 Oct. 21,527 - 6.4%|169 127| 314 248 76 1,870 Nov. 21,361 -0.8%|169 126| 234 529 266 61 501 Dec. 21,125 -1.1%|169 125| 193 413 728 42 421 Jan. 20,996 -0.6%|169 124| 305 666 1,544 16 495 Feb. 20,970 -0.1%|201 104| 254 562 1,320 74 343 Mar. 21,000 0.1%|201 104| 242 538 1,620 13 316 Apr. 20,317 -3.3%|201 104| 239 526 1,337 55 899 May. 19,332 -4.8%|201 96| 222 442 1,028 43 1,255 June 18,779 -2.9%|201 96| 462 512 670 62 1,095 July 18,517 -1.4%|201 92| 591 823 476 40 911 Aug. 18,867 1.9%|201 94| 356 750 310 - * - * * d) Member Usage Data ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No. Of No. Of | Max # Avg # Max % Avg.% | Avg. Weekly Unique | PPP PPP PPP PPP | No. Sessions Users | Users Users Usage Usage | Busy ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ | ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ | ~~~~ Sep. | 9.3% 0.7% | Oct. 80,169 | 3.3% 2.0% | Nov. 74,359 10,150 | 39 12 13.3% 6.4% | Dec. 74,816 9,655 | 39 14 20.7% 7.4% | Jan. 74,270 9,683 | 52 19 27.7% 10.1% | Feb. 71,271 9,299 | 52 19 27.7% 10.1% | Mar. 72,417 9,333 | 52 19 27.7% 10.1% | 1.2 Mar.EA | 26 5 54.2% 10.4% | Apr. 65,844 8,576 | 49 19 26.1% 10.1% | Apr.EA | 32 9 66.7% 18.8% | May 64,439 8,235 | 58 22 30.9% 11.7% | 1.1 May EA | 34 12 70.8% 25.0% | Jun 60,643 11,109 | 62 26 33.0% 13.8% | 1.1 Jun EA 4,992 910 | 34 12 70.8% 25.0% | Jul. 59,638 7,470 | 67 30 35.6% 16.0% | 1.1 Jul EA | 34 12 70.8% 25.0%| Aug. 57,236 7,203 | 68 32 68.0% 32.0% | 1.1** see below Aug EA* | 35 15 72.9% 31.3% | * EA: traffic on the Extended Access Lines at Our Mitel node ** Results obtained from software to test for busy signals: Connect on 9 attempts: 3 0.1% Average: 1.1 Connect on 8 attempts: 5 0.2% Median: 1.0 Connect on 7 attempts: 3 0.1% Maximum: 9.0 Connect on 6 attempts: 10 0.4% Connect on 5 attempts: 16 0.6% Connect on 4 attempts: 16 0.6% Connect on 3 attempts: 27 1.0% Connect on 2 attempts: 52 1.9% Connect on 1 attempts: 2,608 95.2% ~~~~~ ~~~~~ Total in sample: 2,740 100.0% e) Sponsorship, Homepage Data and Information Providers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While we did not sign up any new connection sponsors this month, we did get two new organizational accounts: Army, Navy, Air Force Veterans and Lowertown Foodbank. The total number of Information Providers dropped to 307, but we did sign up 6 new IPs this month: Embassy of Ecuador, Unity Canada, One Parent Families Association, Lowertown Foodbank, Pastel Society of Canada, Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans Association of Canada. All 6 chose to publish their information as a website rather than a menu. In addition, 3 existing IPs published webpages bring the total count to 75. Org. Org. | Line Line | New Total Free -Dec. | Home of Accts Accts | Spons Spons | IPs IPs Pages % | Page Memb ~~~~~ ~~~~~ | ~~~~~ ~~~~~ | ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ | ~~~~~ ~~~~ Apr. | 1 1 | 2 | May. 4 4| 1 2 | 4 | Jun. 0 4| 1 3 | 2 | Jul. 1 5| 1 4 | 2 | Aug. 1 6| 0 4 | 2 | Sep. 2 8| 0 4 | 1 | Oct. 3 11| 0 4 | 1 | Nov. 3 14| 0 4 | +/-300 55 |1,224 5.7% Dec. 0 14| 1 5 | 1 301 57 3.6% |1,205 5.7% Jan. 1 15| 1 6 | 28 329 56 -1.8% |1,310 6.2% Feb. 2 17| 0 6 | -7 322 67 19.6% |1,316 6.3% Mar. 1 18| 0 6 | -1 321 66 -1.5% |1,319 6.3% Apr. 4 22| 0 6 | 0 321 65 -1.5% |1,319 6.5% May 4 26| 0 6 | 0 321 71 9.2% |1,231 6.4% June 1 27| 2 8 | 0 321 68 -4.2% |1,194 6.4% July 1 28| 0 8 | -2 319 66 -2.9% |1,175 6.3% Aug. 2* 31| 0 8 | -12 307 75 13.6% |1,184 6.3% * 2 New organizational accounts: Issues Army, Navy, Air Force Veterans and Lowertown Foodbank g) Government Grants ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (i) Industry Canada: Industry Canada has not yet announced a formal process for 'Urban CAP applications, but it now appears that they will favour smaller cities first. We are continuing to explore opportunities which may exist, perhaps by focusing on one of the smaller communities in the region. h) Public Relations Update ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FreeNews - monthly is available in text format, at "go freenews" and on the web at: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/freenews/. Ads were run in both Monitor Magazine and Ottawa Computes. These ads promoted the Harvest Ride. Commercial sponsorship has been very strong, and it now appears that the Harvest Ride, the joint "FUNdraiser" co-presented with Citizens for Safe Cycling on Sunday September 20, 1998, will be at break-even at the starting gate. This means that all money raised through pledges will be available as funding for the two organizations. Details are available at go harvest-ride or at: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ride/. i) Funding Administrivia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The on-line list of donor files was updated to reflect all August donations. Thank You letters were sent to all donors. j) Outreach ~~~~~~~~ Seniors Internet Program: The introductory program is now complete at the Kiwanian Alex Dayton Seniors Activity Centre (Carlingwood) and regular weekly sessions will commence on September 23, 1998 at 1:00 pm. The first meeting of the Abbotsford Seniors Centre Internet program will be held on September 30, 1998 at 10:00 AM. A meeting is planned for September 22nd with the Program Director of Good Companions to get our proposed program there to the next stage. Komputer Korner has committed to donate three used computers (486) to be used as access and training terminals at these three sites. The units will be provided with 14" svga monitors, built in modems and Windows95 Radio Interview: I was interviewed by Rick Harp of CKCU, Carleton's own radio station on August 31st. The interview focused our current funding drive, but touched on services as well. 2. NCF Administration ====================== a) Top Five Priorities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) Funding Drive (2) Develop Funding Strategy (3) Recruit new Sysadmin (4) Simplify Donations, Registration and Renewal (5) Technical - Install new 28.8 Kbps modems - reconfigure (drop restrictions) phone lines b) Network Upgrades & Performance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (i) Sysadmin recruitment: So far we have received 29 applications and finally, there are a couple of individuals worthy of further investigation. I have had a preliminary conversation with each, and have arranged for a technical volunteer to speak with them both. After technical vetting, we will interview one or both of these two candidates. I have also discussed our system administration needs with Carleton University, with a view to their CCS department taking on these tasks as an out-source contractor. While the early reaction to my enquiry was positive, this is a difficult time for them to react to such a request. With the beginning of the school term and a handful of their own technical problems, Ardavan Tajbakhsh has not had time to meet with his people to discuss it. (ii) ncf.CA: The domain "ncf.CA" was registered and a pointer created to our main webserver so that our website is available at: http://www.ncf.ca/ It is not intended that this address be published as our main web address and we have not yet configured mail to work with this domain. Both options are available to us at any time. (iii) PoP mail server It was necessary to replace our existing Netscape PoP mail server with an open source server (qpopper-2.53) in order to have something running that our volunteer sysadmins knew and understood. When a new Sysadmin is hired, this choice will be revisited, particularly given our desire to operate a mail service with one mailbox, but three methods of access: system readers, PoP and web. 3. Member Services and Future Initiatives ========================================== a) Member-Get-A-Member Campaign May 8th, 1998 to July 5th, 1998 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The contest closed with 1,403 new members registered and $10,446 in donations registered at the final tally. The grand prize was awarded on Friday August 28, 1998 to James (Jamie) Wong [ee763]. Wong Jamie, a six-year old FreeNet member, received a Pentium computer (donated by The Clones Society Inc, and the use of a shiny new Cadillac for a weekend, courtesy of Myers Chev Olds Cadillac) at a small ceremony held at the Clones Society premises. b) Scotia Bank - Donation collections ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jim Marshall, the new manager of the Scotia Bank on Carleton's campus, has indicated that he thinks that we can work out an arrangement whereby FreeNet members could make donations at any Scotia Bank branch in the region. We envision a system in which members could drop off there donation (possibly pick up application forms, brochures etc.) in any branch and they would use their internal delivery system to get them to Carleton where we could process and deposit them. Approval is required from head office, but I am optimistic that we get something in place before the end of the year.