05 January 2012

OGS NewsLeaf goes electronic

The Ontario Genealogical Society has announced its newsletter is being migrated to electronic format. I got that information via Elizabeth Lapointe's Genealogy Canada blog which mentions it being a green initiative.

If being green were the only motivation then I'd ask what else OGS is doing for the environment, otherwise it's just green-washing.

But the actual OGS announcement also mentions a savings of several thousand dollars "which will assist The Society in its challenge to balance the budget."

OGS pleads poverty, yet sits on total assets of over two million dollars, more than four times the society's annual expenditure.

Moving to electronic newsletter distribution makes sense, some would say overdue. It might also give the Society a measure of how much the newsletter is valued, what fraction of members will actually go online to read it? What would the OGS Board consider a reasonable percent of the membership who would do that?

Is this a sign that OGS is getting more serious about sound financial management? What other administrative savings are to be found?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry John, but I must disagree that this initiative makes sense. I like to add the newsletter to my reading pile and then read it in a comfy chair with a cup of tea. I can still do that if I want to print it on my printer, but then OGS is simply passing its printing costs on to me. Call me old-fashioned, but I like a paper copy. This initiative also makes me wonder what I'm getting for my $60. Susan

JDR said...

Susan. If I understand correctly OGS will grandfather (grandmother!) people who want to receive a printed copy and continue to send them one on request.