Director’s Corner - May 2024
Partners: Among one another, in the community and beyond
Over the past few months, I shared two key ways we receive funding - through our partners the State of New Mexico and Los Alamos County. We highly value the support we receive from these two agencies, but there are limitations to how this funding can be used. We must follow the regulations the State and County set forth- there is no wiggle room for how their budget is spent.
Important items like cost of living, bonuses, and salary increases for staff are minimal in the State and County funding budgets. Nor are computer or technology upgrades or purchases, cybersecurity/IT maintenance, or support included.
In addition, paying instructors, purchasing coffee (did you know we spend over $200 a month on coffee pods at each center - thank you to our anonymous donor who helps us out), program supplies, and marketing materials are among the other things not included in our State or County budgets.
The most important part of the Senior Activity Centers, other than YOU, our wonderful members, are the staff who support, interact, and spend their days making this organization function. As many of you are aware, our centers have had high turnover for years. I’m not surprised. Until last year, many of our employees were making under $15 per hour and had received minimal cost of living and salary increases. Most of our staff do not make a wage that enables them to live in Los Alamos or White Rock without sharing the cost of housing, food, etc. with a spouse, partner, or roommate.
Recently I asked our Chief Financial Officer how much money we need to raise in donations on an annual basis just to maintain our services not covered by the State and County. She said, $70,000. I then asked, if I wanted to give bonuses, cost of living increases or merit raises, how much would I need to raise? Here is what she calculated:
Increase Additional Estimated Amount Needed
2% $14,971
3% $22,457
4% $29,942
5% $37,428
From June to December, the first six months of my time here, we raised approximately $32,000. I like to call this partner money rather than donations - our members and community are partnering to support our non-profit. Some of this money went to our Endowment, some went into restricted funds (to purchase specific items) and much of it was unrestricted. Keep in mind the minimum fundraising goal is just to keep our centers going and moving forward. It does not include the additional amount indicated above to support and retain the staff through cost of living increases and merit raises
We are committed to providing our staff with fair compensation and benefits, as well as providing other overhead-type items to provide high-quality service to our members.
We need your help to make it happen. That is why partnering with us on an annual basis is important.
The staff makes all the difference - high-quality, skilled staff equals high-quality services provided to YOU our members. Upgraded technology, the right tools to do our work, and the ability to provide support for our overhead as needed help our staff do their work.
Your generous donations can help us move towards providing a living wage for our hardworking staff, ensuring they can continue to serve our members with the dedication and commitment they deserve.
If you can donate, all donations, no matter how small, whether monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually, will make a difference in the lives of our staff and the quality of services we can provide to you our members.
You can donate online through our website (www.larso.org/donate) or send a check to 1101 Bathtub Row, Los Alamos, NM 87544.