X-Message-Number: 33073
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:43:47 -0800 (PST)
From: david pizer <>
Subject: Re: discussion of Alcor's financial condition

Regarding the discussion on Cryonet about Alcor's financial condition and the 
point some people have made about membership growth being something that will 
bring Alcor's costs and expenses down in the future, I wish to comment on this.


THE MAIN PROBLEM:  In some cases, Alcor sells a service to be provided sometime
in the future at today's prices.  So they figure what a suspension will cost 
today and price it at a fair price.  Some "customers" do die shortly after 
purchasing a suspension, but many don't get their suspension for many years 
after they pay for it.  When those "customers" do get their suspension it may 
cost Alcor more (perhaps much more) then the price they charged many years 
earlier.

Alcor attempts to compensate for this situation by collecting dues from that 
member all those years.  


CHANGES IN HOW ALCOR OBTAINS WORKERS NOW CAUSES A RISE IN EXPENSES.  Alcor also

had a tradition of receiving volunteer labor for many years in the early days.

When I was on the Board and Vice President and Treasurer for 11 years these were
 working positions so I averaged working 20 or more hours a week at the Alcor 
facility for no pay for over 11 years.  I did this along with up to a dozen 
others who also volunteered to work for free (and pay our own car and other 

expenses too) or who worked for a below market wage and so they volunteered some
of their time at least.

In these hard times the Alcor Board may want to consider going back to more 
volunteer workers where the Alcor workers volunteer their time or some of it, 
and pay market rate for the skills Alcor cannot find volunteers for?


SOME OPTIONS: In other words Alcor needs to either: (1)  Find wealthy members to

subsidize Alcor's expenses, (2) find members to volunteer some of their time to
do work for Alcor,  (3) raise prices.

WORST OPTION:  In my opinion, raising prices in this economy will be a 
disaster.  It will have a spiraling effect as Alcor raises the prices members 

will be forced to drop.  As members drop Alcor will take in less money and have

to raise prices even more which over time which will force even more members to
have to drop and so on and so forth.
  

Besides the reduction in income Alcor will face if they raise prices, there will
be people who will not be able to afford to have the prospect of the possible 
benefits cryonics may produce.  So this option has a cost to some people more 
then money.


BEST OPTION  Alcor needs someone to work with it's wealthy members and get them

to help subsidize Alcor's expenses.  In the old days several of us helped raise

quite a lot of money, even after we left working at Alcor money kept coming in,

in the form of donations and bequeaths.   I think that very large sums could be
raised now if Alcor had a full time person working with it's wealthy members.  
Most non-profits have a person or department doing this.  Only dedicated Alcor 
signed-up members should do this kind of work for Alcor.


I am sure the Alcor Board is aware of these problems and these problems are the
number one thing Alcor Directors are working on right now.

David Pizer

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