May 27, 2009

As many of you have probably heard already, the Minnesota Senior Federation is facing closure because of overwhelming financial problems. At the May meeting, your Board of Directors met and voted unanimously to make the recommendation our members, that the Federation dissolve itself. As provided by Minnesota Statutes and our Bylaws, we will need approval of the resolutions by a majority vote of all ballots received from our members. On May 27 a ballot was mailed to each member. Please complete the ballot and mail it back to the St. Paul office by June 30, 2009 to be counted.
 
How did we get to this point? First, the Federation has never had abundant funds. For many years cash flow has been a problem. We attempted to strengthen the organization through several reorganizations, most recently last month, which eliminated duplicate administration and expenses. But that proved insufficient to cope with our lack of funds. Second, our membership has been declining since the mid-1990s. Third, our sources of funding have been dwindling rapidly, especially since the 2008 recession. Our sponsorship income has been cut in half; foundation support has gone down even more than that. Our advertising income is meager. And contributions from individuals have also decreased. The bottom line is: we need about $3500 per day in income to survive. And we are receiving about half of that. Under these circumstances, we could not continue to operate even if some "angel" were to magically wipe out $100,000 in unpaid bills. And if the members of the Federation decide not to close down, that debt will remain the responsibility of the Minnesota Senior Federation.
 
One of the Board’s major concerns has been to locate good homes for our essential programs. In that task, we have had the help of MAP for Nonprofits. They are negotiating with several different agencies to take over programs such as Advocacy, Senior Partners Care, Pension Rights and our publications. While I don’t have any final answers for you right now, I feel optimistic that these programs will continue to flourish. We are also encouraging voluntary regional groups to continue the work of the Federation. Our grassroots have always been key to the federation. Those grassroots are certainly still there.
 
Although this is unpleasant, we really have no choice. We ask members to help us properly dissolve the federation in accordance with our bylaws and the state of Minnesota.  Please vote for the dissolution of the Minnesota Senior Federation on the ballot mailed to you on May 27.
 
And thank you all for your dedication, your hard work, and your past contributions to our favorite organization.
 
Barbara Kaufman
Chair, Board of Directors

Frequent questions concerning the dissolution