March 2024 - 24

BOARD News
These are highlights of actions
taken by the ACBL Board of Directors
during its face-to-face meetings held
prior to the Fall NABC in Atlanta and
a special meeting held in January.
The Board, task forces and committees
continue to meet regularly
through Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Budget
The 2024 operating and capital
budgets were approved. Budgeted
revenues for 2024 total approximately
$16.4 million while estimated operating
and administrative expenses
total approximately $16.7 million,
an estimated loss of approximately
$313,000. It is believed that the revenue
derived from 2024 online special
games will substantially reduce
the loss. The capital budget totals
$543,000, the majority of which will
be spent on the modernization and
migration of applications that reside
on the AS400.
Building membership
A new plan was put into place for
distributing a share of dues payments
to units. Instead of all units receiving
11% of the dues of their members,
units will receive between 5% and
15% based on activities aimed at reducing
lapse of existing members and
recruiting new members.
As a result of this motion, ACBL
has developed the 5/5/5 plan, a
unit-level membership-building and
retention program that will launch
April 1. Units will automatically
receive a base of 5% for the intended
purpose of building and retaining
membership. Units will then have
the opportunity to earn an additional
10% - 5% for renewing lapsed and atrisk
members and 5% for recruiting
new members - a total of up to 15%.
ACBL is providing the tools, training
and resources necessary for success.
Communication opportunities, primarily
conveyed to unit presidents,
are ongoing.
24 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2024
Supporting Junior bridge
The amount distributed annually
from the Junior Fund to United
States Bridge Federation to send
youth and Junior teams to international
competitions was increased
from $50,000 to $65,000 to cover the
increased cost of travel. The motion
also stipulates that any contribution
to any bridge federation will be subject
to timely receipt of documents
and the Board's satisfaction that
contributions are justified.
Goodwill reception timing
A change was made last year reducing
the number of Goodwill receptions
per year from three to one, starting
in 2024. This item was clarified
to establish that the annual Goodwill
reception will be held consistently
during the Summer NABC. The
reception will honor the Goodwill
Member of the Year, the Volunteer of
the Year and the Honorary Member of
the Year. Summers are traditionally
the best-attended NABCs and provide
the most opportunity for Goodwill
members throughout the ACBL to
participate in extending our appreciation
for these special volunteers.
Preventing conflicting
tournaments
The Codification was amended to
establish distance as the criteria for
determining whether there is a conflict
with any previously scheduled
sectional or regional (or traditional
date regional). Who will resolve
conflicts within the same district,
between different districts within
the same region and between different
regions was defined.
The requirements for distance
from a sectional to another tournament
were later amended at the
special January meeting.
During that meeting, a number
of housekeeping motions were
addressed along with significant
changes to the Code of Disciplinary
Regulations. These changes to the
Disciplinary process were communicated
to districts in February.
Grass Roots Fund
A motion to cap the annual distribution
of Grass Roots funds to
$25,000 per year per district failed.
The Grass Roots Fund was established
in 2011 primarily to subsidize
travel expenses for players advancing
to the NABC. A few large districts
raise considerably more than
$25,000 while the vast majority raise
far less. The Board and management
will work toward a more equitable
approach and formulate plans to
increase attendance at NAP/GNT
events.
Governance
Governance developed four " housekeeping "
motions that addressed the
responsibilities of the Audit Committee,
deleted unneeded content from
the Codification regarding Audit
procedures, summarized rather than
specified terms of the executive director
employment, and deleted employee
and consultant policies having
to do with employment constraints,
recognition awards, retirement
policies and educational and health
benefits. All passed unanimously and
are effective immediately.
NABC site selection
The Board unanimously approved
the selection of the Dallas Hyatt
Regency as the location for the Spring
2027 NABC.
Elections
Margot Hennings, Region 4, was
elected as ACBL president for a oneyear
term through Dec. 31, 2024.
Cindy Shoemaker, Region 10, was
elected as ACBL vice president for
one year.
David Lodge, Region 11, was elected
as ACBL treasurer for one year.
Paul Cuneo, Region 9, was elect
March 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2024
