Hi All,
Tim wrote:
> One thing I have previously commented on is the fact that we typically
> attract people to join during the summer and then send them a big bill
> for ongoing membership at the end of winter. Those in the southern
> states, who may not yet be fully "locked in" to the sport and who may
> not have flown for some months, may decide that the expense isn't worth
> it and drop out. In Queensland of course, this would be less of an
> issue because of a more even spread in the season.
Absoulutely spot on Tim, come May each year I have a bill of $450-for GFA and
club membership (This is slightly less than 1 weeks pay for me).
If both club and GFA had a pay by the month in advance, ie pay your first year
fees then a weekly/fortnightly payment of say $18 fro on going membership which
is always in advance. This would also help even out cashflow for the
organizations. Clubs would need for members to have 2 accounts, a flying
account and membership account. I believe this concept might go some way
towards helping retain new members, as they wouldnt be suddenly presented with
a large bill in a non flying time of year. Telco's do very nicely as with this
method as after a while the person doesnt really notice the outgoing expense,
so is less likely to cancel. As they are still members if they decide they want
to fly after a break then only flying fees apply, not full blown membership
fees. That 1 flight can be enough to kick the addiction back in, and reactivate
a demotivated member.
I would like to add that I do very much appreciate the eforts put in by our
current administrators, but the fact has to be faced that despite 20 years of
trying the current system has failed to solve the retention problem. The State
associations are a complete waste of time and money, as for the current system
being democratic, well I laughed out loud at that. It goes like this-club
elects clubs rep, club reps elect state rep, state reps elects board. If any
of these reps decides on their own view or favourite candidate is the one that
should suceed, the individual member has absolutely no way of changing this
until the next AGM, by which time the system is locked in for another year.
It's time the State associations were abolished, and a direct election model
brought forth, however its like asking politicians to vote themselves out of
office-never going to happen. <sigh>.
Regards
Dave L
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