The crisis comes not long after 10 members of CUP left in September 2013, resulting in a 15 per cent drop in total membership, due to complaints over high membership costs. CUP may also see further trouble as a number of those member publications have now formed a service called the National University Wire similar to and rivaling the CUP wire. The most recent CUP national conference in Edmonton, Alta. also attracted fewer than the expected number of delegates and therefore did not generate as much revenue as expected. Additionally, the demise of Campus Plus left CUP with fewer dividends to generate income. With all this having taken place in a relatively short period of time, CUP lost more than $70,000 in three years and ended up in financial and existential crisis with just more than $1,500 in the bank before the fundraising campaign.