Executive Director's Report

April 2001

===========================

May 13, 2001

By Ian MacEachern

(execdir@freenet.carleton.ca)

Contents:

1. Status Report

2. Administration & Funding

3. Member Services and Future Initiatives

4. System Administration

Appendices

A Chart showing Registration Donations

B Chart showing Renewal Donations

C Chart showing Membership Activity

1. Status Report

================

a) Five Key Indicators:

Mar. Apr. % Apr. %

2001 2001 Inc/Dec 2000 Inc/Dec

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ | ~~~~ ~~~~~~

1. Number of members: 7393 7259 -1.8% | 9739 -26.8%

2. Donation Revenue: $19,186 $14,316 -25.4% | $18,978 -24.5%

3. Percentage donating: 92.7% 59.8% -35.4 % | 77.5% -22.8%

4. Average Donation: $27.89 $25.59 -8.2% | $25.23 1.4%

5. Average Modem Failure: N/A N/A N/A | N/A N/A

b) Top Priorities

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(1) Renewal numbers

(2) System reliability

- Resolve modem problems (3com RAS 1500’s)

(3) Projects

- HRDC WebMail - Development phase (business plan)

- HRDC - Thin Client - implementation phase

- IC Smart Capital – modify and sign partner agreement

c) Top Priorities - Sysadmin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(1) Migrate POP server to new SS20 (donated by Alcatel)

(2) Work with 3com getting RAS 1500 problems solved

2. Administration & Funding

===========================

a) Donation Data - New Registrations

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The number of new members was slightly better than Budget in April

with 120 new members joining. Revenue was well under Budget however, at

$784 because the percentage of donors at 38 % and amount donated by each donor

at $17.42 fell well short of the predicted figures.

On a year-to-date basis, we’ve brought in 606 new members, exceeding the forecasted

392 (+55%), donating a total of $7,204 just above the budgeted $7200. (See Appendix "A")

b) Donation Data - Renewals

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The number of renewals in April by the numbers given was 521. Due to a discrepancy

in the way the numbers were calculated, the actual number is probably closer to 450, just

below the predicted 473. Of these, 75% donated but the revenue associated with

renewals was well below our forecast at $13,533 (-35%).

Year-to-date renewals numbers have a similar discrepancy. The actual renewal figure is closer to the

budgeted 1779. The total revenue is $63,019, 19% below the predicted $77,804. (See Appendix "B")

Obviously, renewal dollars are frighteningly low and this situation will have to be addressed

immediately. As noted previously, it is one of my top priorities.

c) Membership Activity:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Membership continued to decline this month: now standing at 7,259,

dropping 1.8% in the month. The year-to-date decline is some 306

members or about 4% since January 1, 2001. (See Appendix "C")

d) Sponsorship, Homepage Data and Information Providers:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We added 2 IP web pages during the month.

e) Modem Usage Data and Modem Availability

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I do not have the data for these areas this month. I will address both of these issues in my next report.

Modem reliability is another high priority area.

3. Member Services and Future Initiatives

==========================================

a) Projects

~~~~~~~~

(i) Extended Access II – City of Ottawa:

Progress will be contingent on moving ahead with Smart Capital

Project. Meeting scheduled with IT staff at City.

(ii) Industry Canada - SmartCapital:

Signing the contribution agreement with OCRI is the next step. Some modifications required.

(iv) HRDC (Office of Learning Technology): Thin Client

Reviewing the business plan with HRDC and partners.

(v) HRDC (Office of Learning Technology): WebMail

The development stage of the project calls for NCF to submit a

business plan together with a proposal for full funding. We have

been granted an extension to complete this on or before July 15, 2001.

b) New Access Servers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We’ve gone a different route with 3com. We’re now working with the department that handles warranty

service. We expect an on-site visit shortly.

c) High Tech Directory

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Met with Richard Webb once, then he was unavailable for a time. Trying to set up another meeting to discuss

the business plan.

4. System Administration

========================

a) 3com RAS 100 problems

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Andre is now working with people in the department that handles warranty issues. He is confident of

an on-site visit shortly.

b) Migrate POP

~~~~~~~~~~~

Migration should be complete Tuesday May 15.

c) I am working with Andre on a new list of priorities. These priorities will be addressed in my next

report.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix A

Registration Donations

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No. No. No. Of % Avg. Avg.

New Budget Month Memb Memb $ Budget Regist Donat'n

Memb. (No.) Var Debit Donate Donate Amount $ Var Donat'n All New

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~

1999

Oct. 201 400 -50% 103 51% 2,047 4,000 -49% $38.83 $19.09

Nov. 260 400 -35% 100 39% 2,305 4,000 -42% $40.00 $15.38

Dec. 114 400 -72% 65 57% 1,794 4,000 -55% $61.54 $35.09

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~

Total 2,521 4,200 -40% 1,198 48% 28,153 42,000 -33% $23.50 $11.17

Avg 210 350 -40% 100 48% 2,346 3,500 -33% $23.50 $11.17

2000

Jan. 162 98 65% 73 45% 1,743 2,500 -30% $23.88 $10.76

Feb. 191 98 95% 64 34% 2,021 2,500 -19% $31.58 $10.58

Mar. 153 98 56% 92 60% 2,871 2,500 15% $31.21 $18.76

Apr. 115 98 17% 66 57% 1,620 2,500 -35% $24.55 $14.09

May. 112 98 14% 59 53% 1,707 2,500 -32% $28.93 $15.24

Jun. 122 98 24% 51 42% 1,368 2,500 -45% $26.82 $11.21

Jul. 114 98 16% 59 52% 1,508 2,500 -40% $25.56 $13.23

Aug. 137 98 40% 55 40% 1,691 2,500 -32% $30.75 $12.34

Sep. 128 98 31% 60 47% 1,751 2,500 -30% $29.18 $13.68

Oct. 115 98 17% 66 57% 1,773 2,500 -29% $26.86 $15.42

Nov. 107 98 9% 61 57% 1,667 2,500 -33% $27.33 $15.58

Dec. 111 98 13% 69 62% 1,842 2,500 -26% $26.70 $16.59

Total 1567 1176 33% 775 49% 21,562 30,000 -28% $27.82 $13.76

Avg 131 98 33% 65 49% 1,797 2,500 -28% $27.82 $13.76

YTD 621 392 58% 295 48% 8,255 10,000 -17% $27.98 $13.29

2001

Jan 186 98 90% 83 45% 2,252 1,800 25% $27.13 $12.11

Feb 141 98 44% 88 62% 1,996 1,800 11% $22.68 $14.16

Mar 159 98 62% 82 52% 2,172 1,800 21% $26.49 $13.66

Apr 120 98 22% 19 45 38% 784 1,800 -56% $17.42 $6.53

May 98 1,800 - - -

Jun 98 1,800 - - -

Jul 98 1,800 - - -

Aug 98 1,800 - - -

Sept 98 1,800 - - -

Oct 98 1,800 - - -

Nov 98 1,800 - - -

Dec 98 1,800 - - -

YTD 606 392 55% 298 49% 7,204 7,200 0% $24.17 $11.89

Avg 152 98 55% 75 49% 1,801 1,800 0% $24.17 $11.89

Proj 1818 1176 55% 894 49% 21,612 21,600 0% $24.17 $11.89

Appendix B

Renewal Donations

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No. No. % Avg Renwl

No. Budget Month Renwl Renwl $ Budget Renwl Donate

Renwl (No.) Var Debit Donate Donate Amount ($) Var Donatn All Ren

~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

1999

Oct. 320 309 4% 207 64.70% 4,843 6,300 -23% $23.40 $15.13

Nov. 268 314 -15% 292 109% 7,886 6,400 23% $27.01 $29.43

Dec. 405 387 5% 339 83.70% 11,200 7,900 42% $33.04 $27.65

~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

YTD 6,587 8,892 -26% 5,554 84% 149,521 181,400 -18% $26.92 $22.70

AVG 549 741 -26% 463 84% 12,460 15,117 -18% $26.92 $22.70

2000

Jan. 741 580 28% 441 60% 13,453 14,800 -9% $30.51 $18.16

Feb. 899 549 64% 520 58% 19,069 14,000 36% $36.67 $21.21

Mar. 738 647 14% 667 90% 22,097 16,500 34% $33.13 $29.94

Apr. 598 588 2% 430 72% 17,358 15,000 16% $40.37 $29.03

May. 501 412 22% 344 69% 11,745 10,500 12% $34.14 $23.44

Jun. 374 208 80% 334 89% 11,335 5,300 114% $33.94 $30.31

Jul. 277 157 76% 251 91% 8,912 4,000 123% $35.51 $32.17

Aug. 214 129 66% 215 100% 5,948 3,300 80% $27.67 $27.79

Sep. 223 78 186% 244 109% 4,633 2,000 132% $18.99 $20.78

Oct. 182 106 72% 178 98% 5,031 2,700 86% $28.26 $27.64

Nov. 298 208 43% 296 99% 7,467 5,300 41% $25.23 $25.06

Dec. 339 482 -30% 291 86% 10,579 12,300 -14% $36.35 $31.21

Total 5384 4144 30% 4211 78% 137,627 105,700 30% $32.68 $25.56

Avg 449 345 30% 351 78% 11,469 8,808 30% $32.68 $25.56

YTD 2976 2364 26% 2058 69% 71,977 60,300 19% $34.97 $24.19

2001

Jan. 674 395 71% 460 68% 18,874 17,266 9% $41.03 $28.00

Feb. 451 468 -4% 364 81% 13,597 20,465 -34% $37.35 $30.15

Mar. 405 443 -9% 441 109% 17,015 19,399 -12% $38.58 $42.01

Apr. 521 473 10% 83 338 65% 13,533 20,674 -35% $40.04 $25.98

May. 426 - 18,620 - - -

Jun. 295 - 12,911 - - -

Jul. 155 - 6,779 - - -

Aug. 113 - 4,924 - - -

Sep. 122 - 5,323 - - -

Oct. 133 - 5,813 - - -

Nov. 117 - 5,119 - - -

Dec. 210 - 11,001 - - -

YTD 2051 1779 15% 1603 78% 63,019 77,804 -19% $39.31 $30.73

Avg 513 445 15% 401 78% 15,755 19,451 -19% $39.31 $30.73

Proj 3862 3350 15% 3019 78% 120,114 148,294 -19% $39.79 $31.10

Appendix C

Membership Activity

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Current % Forecast Forecast

Actual inc Number Number Number Number Number Number

# or of new of New of of Memb Memb

Memb dec Lines Ratio Memb Memb Renewl Renewl Unarch. Archived

~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

1999

Oct. 10,669 -4.00% 213 50 201 400 320 309 8 652

Nov. 10,600 -0.60% 213 50 260 400 268 314 268 597

Dec. 10,325 -2.60% 213 48 114 400 405 387 22 411

2000

Jan. 10,005 -3.10% 213 47 162 98 741 580 13 323

Feb. 9,992 -0.13% 213 47 191 98 899 549 1 217

Mar. 9,924 -0.68% 213 47 153 98 738 647 24 195

Apr. 9,739 -1.86% 213 46 115 98 598 588 19 329

May. 9,345 -4.05% 112 98 501 412 10 506

Jun. 9,079 -2.85% 122 98 374 208 12 454

Jul. 8,678 -4.42% 114 98 277 157 20 515

Aug. 8,344 -3.85% 137 98 214 129 26 506

Sep. 8,091 -3.03% 128 98 223 78 28 415

Oct. 7,972 -1.47% 115 98 182 106 8 252

Nov. 7,755 -2.72% 107 98 298 208 17 325

Dec. 7,590 -2.13% 111 98 339 482 3 303

2001

Jan 7,565 -0.33% 186 98 674 395 0 211

Feb 7,495 -0.93% 141 98 451 468 14 223

Mar 7,393 -1.36% 159 98 405 443 5 82

Apr 7,259 -1.81% 120 98 521 473 3 255

--

*** Ian MacEachern, Executive Director ***

National Capital Freenet / Libertel de la Capitale nationale

tel. (613) 520-2600 ext. 8024 -or- fax (613) 520-3524