Submitted by Jimmy Warden
NAPS Secretary/Treasurer
The spring 2024 Executive Board meeting was called to order at 8:32 a.m. on March 26 by Executive Board Chair Chuck Lum. The invocation was led by Capitol-Atlantic Area Vice President Troy Griffin. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Central Gulf Area Vice President Dwight Studdard.
Pioneer Area Vice President Ed Laster and New York Area Vice President Dee Perez were named sergeants-at-arms. Secretary/Treasurer Jimmy Warden conducted the roll call; all board members were present.
President Ivan D. Butts welcomed board members, expressing his hope everyone had successful meetings on Capitol Hill. He thanked Executive Vice President Chuck Mulidore for this year’s excellent Legislative Training Seminar (LTS).
Butts said they will assess how successful the board meeting will be as it is only one day. He said he looks forward to a productive day.
Mulidore thanked board members for everyone’s participation at LTS. SPAC contributions totaled about $12,000. He acknowledged Karen Young, NAPS’ editor, for her work in helping make LTS successful.
Mulidore said the early LTS feedback reports indicate the meeting went well; he looks forward to reading all the reports. The Postal Police reform bill was a major topic.
Warden welcomed the board members and said he looks forward to a successful meeting and addressing next year’s fiscal budget. He affirmed the board will address important NAPS business to move the association forward.
Mulidore reviewed items in board members’ folders, specifically the staffing assignments.
Lum told members the main purpose of the meeting was addressing the budget and membership. He commended Perez for his excellent results in recruiting new members. Lum said there are many opportunities for membership recruitment; non-members total just over 21,000. The non-member lists need to be reviewed monthly.
He told board members it’s also important to keep up with messaging on the “Delivering for America” plan. As board chair, he continues to attend the USPS consultative meetings. Lum said he appreciates the support he receives from the board.
The new Supervisor Apprentice Program was discussed. The Postal Service distributed a service talk that deemed the program a success; key to success is a local NAPS branch needs to be involved.
Northeast Region Vice President Tommy Roma participated in the initial program in Brooklyn. He said there were some issues, such as the trainer not being available to coach the new supervisors.
There also was an issue with the trainees working alone on Sunday operations. Roma said that was brought to the attention of the postmaster and plant manager, who immediately addressed the issue.
A motion was made by Southern Region Vice President Jaime Elizondo, seconded by Eastern Region Vice President Richard Green, to approve the fall 2023 Executive Board minutes previously sent to the board, published in The Postal Supervisor and posted on the NAPS website. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.
As of Feb. 27, 2024, the NAPS General Fund Signature FCU checking account balance was $273,742.56; the Signature FCU money market account was $125,394.01, for a total of $399,136.57.
As of Jan. 31, 2024, NAPS Property, Inc. (NPI) had $153,897 in cash on the balance sheet. There is $61,799 in outstanding liabilities (security deposits, prepaid rents and accrued expenses), leaving $92,098 unencumbered. The target unencumbered cash balance generally is set to equal one month of operating expenses to account for seasonality and one-time projects that occur throughout the year.
Effective March 1, 2023, LocalWorks leased the entire 1727 side of the 3rd floor, Suite 305, 7,250 square feet. This is a license agreement with profit-sharing. It’s assumed to be low risk, but also has no defined income model. After a period of nine months, this tenant will be reevaluated for a five-year term, based on the income derived from this arrangement.
For FY24 through Jan. 31, profit-sharing with NPI totaled $31,855. The budget was conservative and included only $3,000 per quarter.
The current cash projections assume continued vacancies on the 2nd floor, as well as suites 105 and 350. The overall pace of leasing activity remains slow. Due in part to the surplus from LocalWorks revenue-sharing, as well as savings on expenses, the budgeted contributions from the landlord to support operating deficits of $40,000/month were lowered to $35,000/month for November 2023 through January 2024 and are projected to decrease further to $30,000/month for the remainder of the fiscal year.
On Dec. 31, 2022, the property listing agreement with Cushman/Wakefield expired. On Oct. 19, 2023, a letter was written to Cushman/Wakefield memorializing the termination of that listing agreement. Cushman/Wakefield no longer is NAPS’ leasing agent. The Stoladi Group since has been seeking prospective tenants.
On Feb. 27, 2024, an agreement was signed with LocalWorks to occupy Suite 105. The agreement is the same premise as the agreement for the space it occupies on the 3rd floor.
As of Feb. 28, NAPS Headquarters’ social media results were as follows:
Facebook had 4,175 followers (up from 3,843 in February 2023, or 7.95%).
Posts continue to garner an average of about 300-1,000 views; the most engaging posts get about1,000-4,000 views organically.
The post with the highest reach during 2023 was from Aug. 1 (3.3k+ reach/views): The August issue of The Postal Supervisor magazine is now available to be downloaded from the NAPS website.
The next highest posts/reach:
The competition for organic views on Facebook’s timeline remains intense. Every year, NAPS’ page competes with numerous organizations, individuals and pages to appear on people’s timelines while scrolling through the platform. To expand reach, boosting posts can be an affordable option.
It is a cost-effective approach that can increase the number of people who see NAPS’ posts. Most of the web traffic from social media continues to come from Facebook (90%+); it’s still very important to be on the other platforms for visibility, such as Instagram and LinkedIn.
Instagram had 698 followers as of Feb. 28 (up from 395 in February 2023; up 76.71%).
LinkedIn had 726 followers as of Feb. 28 (up from 218 in February 2023; up 233.03%).
The X (formerly Twitter) account no longer is in use per President Ivan D. Butts’ memo of Nov. 2, 2022.
Web traffic for 2023 showed a 22.71% overall increase in users over 2022. The number of overall page views increased by 8.66%. Also, the data shows users who are visiting the website are clicking through about the same number of pages when they visit the website as the previous year. This is evidenced by the bounce rate remaining pretty flat.
Email remains a significant factor in boosting website traffic and readership. The news pages and magazine articles regularly published online and distributed through email also are among the most popular pages. Reposting the printed magazine articles on the website is crucial because it offers current and potential association members an additional means of accessing the information.
Furthermore, it provides the website with consistent and fresh content, which is essential for Google and search purposes. From July 1-Dec. 31, 2023, four of the top 25 pages were from The Postal Supervisor:
(#3) naps.org/Post/Compensation-for-EAS-Employees-Falls-Short-Again
(#8) naps.org/Post/NAPS-Requests-Adjustments-to-the-EAS-Salary-Range
(#10) naps.org/Post/Don’t-Let-the-Clock-Run-Out-on-HR-82-GPO-WEP-Repeal-Bill-82
(#23) naps.org/Post/USPS-Offers-New-Supervisor-Apprentice-Program
So far this year, four of the top 25 pages (20%) are from The Postal Supervisor:
(#6) naps.org/Post/Our-Work-for-EAS-Employees-Continues
(#8) naps.org/Post/Compensation-for-EAS-Employees-Falls-Short-Again
(#13) naps.org/Post/NAPS-Requests-Adjustments-to-the-EAS-Salary-Range
(#16) naps.org/Post/Fiscal-Year-2024-PFP-NPA-A-Step-Behind
It is recommended to create an ongoing content plan for publishing more original news and other types of original content/messaging on the website that will speak directly to members and prospective members. It is recommended to develop a yearly plan that is broken down quarterly.
While the magazine articles are popular, it is worth asking if there is other information NAPS wants to get out to its audience in other/newer formats. This approach could help expand NAPS’ messaging, increase website traffic and further attract potential members. Additionally, digital communication can be easily tracked.
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