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10 | november/december 2014 | Facilities Manager executive summary executive summary O ur membership should again be pleased with APPA's financial health and success. The fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 APPA posted an outstanding surplus of $260,446 and restated its March 31, 2013 surplus position to a higher positive balance of $159,065. As a result, this afforded us the opportunity to increase our commitments to both our operating and capital reserves to an increased level of $500,000 (with Operating now at $400,000 and Capital at $100,000). The APPA headquarters building not only held its value but ap- preciated slightly with an assessment at approximately $2.36 million as of Febru- ary 2014 by the City of Alexandria. APPA owns its headquarters offices outright. TAKING A CONSERVATIVE APPROACH The APPA staff and the Board of Directors understand the budget pres- sures our members face in this challeng- ing economy given the continued slow economic recovery in both the U.S. and across the globe. Therefore, we continue to take a conservative approach with our budget while focusing on offering value and quality services for our members. APPA experienced an operating surplus this year given a stellar turnout of reg- istrants for both of the APPA U (Insti- tute for Facilities Management and the Leadership Academy) program offerings last year. We also had a significant uptick in regional and/or institutional deliveries of Supervisor's Toolkit, Drive-In Work- shops, and the Academy-on-Campus programs. The regions are really on top of local deliveries and getting grassroots involvement. We were equally pleased with the turnout at the APPA 2013 Con- ference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Overall, our face-to-face educational programs are doing very well, thereby positively adding to the net bottom line. Additional revenue from job advertising sales (Job Express) greatly contributed to this surplus as well. We are continu- ing to focus on and further recalibrate all programs and their cost of delivery dur- ing this present fiscal year (2014-2015) to achieve a balanced budget. FINANCES AT A GLANCE Graph 1, on the opposite page, shows the eight-year history of revenues and expenses for APPA. Revenues continue to grow from our low point after the Great Recession (March 09-10). Expenses have stabilized somewhat given some creative approaches to managing our long-term hotel contracts and combining two major educational programs under the APPA U umbrella. Graph 2, also on the opposite page, shows this past year's revenues and ex- penses by activity/program. Membership expenses, totaling $464,665, reflects the direct cost of membership department salaries and benefits, travel and outreach efforts, printing, production and mail- ing of promotional materials, and other program supplies and equipment needs for the recruitment and retention of in- stitutional members. However, and most importantly, membership dues also pro- vide significant support for the direct cost of many APPA activities/programs such as Publication's preparation and delivery of the Facilities Manager magazine; website and database management; a portion of research and development; overall office operation; and planning and governance. Revenues and expenses are planned and monitored by staff and the APPA Board to achieve APPA's mission to support edu- cational excellence with quality leadership and professional management through education, research, and recognition. At this mid-year mark (September 30, 2014), we successfully delivered the 100-year anniversary celebration in San Diego, California. Several years of plan- ning went into the final delivery of this event. Although an expensive proposi- tion, all that attended were pleased with the outcome. An organization only turns 100 years old once! We developed and delivered several centennial video clips to memorialize APPA and, more important- ly, look ahead to the issues and challenges the educational facilities profession, the built environment, and the education enterprise will face well into the future. APPA's Financial Health at its 100-Year Mark By E. Lander Medlin executive summary