I am dead against funding international teams out of GFA revenue.
BUT funding from profits of competitions would work for me. _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kym Sent: Thursday, 16 October 2008 1:35 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] AEF Charges - $20 to GFA Dear all, I have been watching this topic with interest as I wrote to the GFA on behalf of Renmark Gliding Club committee for clarification when the (one sentence) letter was sent out "explaining" the increases. Regardless of whether AEF charges should increase or not, the annual membership cost is still too high when compared with RAAus and I agree with Guy that the GFA should look at cost reductions! I agree that a computerised system would be an excellent start to this. The area of cost saving which the RGC committee wanted to pick on was the money paid towards the support of the Australian competitors in International events. Quote from RGC letter to GFA: "It is the strong opinion of our committee that, given the current declining membership numbers and increasing costs, it is unfortunately no longer appropriate to continue supporting those who desire to fly internationally. We understand that the amount paid is insignificant compared to the costs incurred, however we believe that the costs in the GFA need to be reduced for the purpose of lowering membership fees in order to retain members." We received a nice reply including: "Funding of the International Teams has been the subject of considerable debate over the years, the current GFA policy is to continue supporting our teams." I'd still like to see this policy changed as I see no benefit to individual GFA members being forced (via subs) to assist funding people to compete overseas. Regards, Kym Z. Barry Kruyssen wrote: AEF's are a main source of revenue for some clubs in both dollars and attracting new members. This is a blatant grab for club dollars by GFA, taking revenue straight out of the clubs. In small clubs the cost of operating will most likely be in the red and are being propped up by donations from members (buying fuel for winch, food for fund raising BQ, etc out of their own pocket). Now their revenue is cut more even more. I thought that GFA was here to support it's members and encourage gliding, not to make a profit out of our sport. In today's economy every organisation has to reduce cost, yes even GFA, if we are to survive. So what is going to happen in the future? Fees are going up, therefore membership will decline, cost per member will go up, thus fees go up, more members leave and the vicious circle has begun. The answer is to keep reducing costs per member to attract growth this is simple business logic. Don't get me wrong, I think that GFA staff and board members are helpful and doing a job which many of us could not do (or would not do). And a lot of it at their cost. But we still need turn around spending by GFA. The answer is definitely not to keep slugging the members and clubs. Barry Kruyssen _____ _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring -- ------------------------- www.riverland.net.au/~kym -------------------------
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