As with most Treasurers’ reports it is a problem to avoid rolling out boring figures – but I will do my best! The Society is in a good financial position with income very much the same in 2012 as it was in the previous year. A small reduction in subscription income was more than offset by small increases in investment income, sales and donations. Included in donations and legacies are £500 left to the Society under the will of Dr. Bernard Verdcourt, together with a number of smaller donations by members, all of which are very much appreciated.
Our expenses in 2012 were a little higher than anticipated, in particular publication costs. This reflects the ever increasing costs of distribution of heavy paper copy. We are currently exploring ways of increasing members’ access to digital versions of our publications, to help reduce mailing costs to those members who would prefer to access information digitally, rather than to use and store paper. We have paid the initial costs of using an outside agency to maintain members’ records and handle subscription collection and membership applications. In a full year this will cost between £1500 and £2000, depending on membership numbers. The handover went very smoothly and it has removed a large administrative job from the Honorary Officers of the Society. Having received some good and deserving applications, we expect to award two, £1000 grants, and the cost is in part offset by the cancellation of one of the 2011 projects which we had expected to support.
Our results before revaluing investments was a loss of £1011 compared to a £1600 profit in 2011. Our investments performed well with over 4% growth so we added £3274 to reserves against £3102 in 2011. Overall, this was a satisfactory result for a charitable body.
The outlook is for us to continue operating at around break even. We also have the reserves to enable us to consider financing the digitisation of both the Journal and Mollusc World which would involve a significant initial cost to achieve both a benefit for many members and long term expense savings. We may also be able to finance help towards the further digitisation of our extensive mollusc records. On a cheerful note we anticipate continuing for a few years without the need to consider a change in subscription rates
Nick Light
Honorary Treasurer
10th February 2013