Club Dues Discussion

[phoenix_rising]

Let me think about it. Unlike SLP. I plan on having a busy club. This year was slow seeing that we are still getting organized. As of the first of year I want everything to be taken care of. This is how I see it, Clubs need money to operate. There is no way around that period. I am sure the WMCC could enlighten us on some of the costs that are not transparent at first, just as Brian had to drop the cash for the park rental for the M&G as one example. Also to maintain a web site it will cost $$$ as well as others. I am looking at $50-100 just to register www.mifirebird.com and that is not even to have a web site, just to buy a domain name. Club dues won't be due for another 6 months anyway. $30 is not unheard of for any club. Thats $5 a month! All I am saying is that I have no problem with spending my own money on they club, BUT I work part time and go to school full time I am not made of money and I cannot be responsible for financing this club on my own. I intend to get our club members their moneys worth for their dues. $30 for a t-shirt, a decal, and newsletter as well as other things down the line is not bad and I have only heard 1 person actually mention they could not afford it.

[ajaciuk]

I guess you would have to establish what you want out of the club.

$30 a year isn't unreasonable at all depending on what type of functions you want to have. If you just want people to pay $30 a year for a sticker and a newsletter then you might have a hard time.

People must realize that they must participate also in funding the club thru raffles, car shows and the such. You will also need sponsers to kick in a couple bucks also which helps the club out.

[phoenix_rising]

I guess you would have to establish what you want out of the club.

$30 a year isn't unreasonable at all depending on what type of functions you want to have. If you just want people to pay $30 a year for a sticker and a newsletter then you might have a hard time.

People must realize that they must participate also in funding the club thru raffles, car shows and the such. You will also need sponsers to kick in a couple bucks also which helps the club out.

I agree. Lets hear discussion on what will be included in club membership as far as events and shows. Also what kind of sponsors would be acceptable. Individuals, Businesses, other clubs???

I plan on having club representation at as many of the shows cruises as possible. I also think it would be great to start a show of our own. Maybe the organizers of the Nesting of the Birds would sponsor?

[ITSSLOW]

This is how I would do everything.....

What will be included in membership?
A member card (just cause it's sweet), an optional Tshirt (say $12 then normal fee), and a sticker

Should there be different levels of membership?
No, it just gets confusing

Should the newsletter be published via the internet or in print?
The internet. It's cheaper and easier on B's part

How should they be collected?
I would do once a year in January. Prorate the club fee though. In January its $25, February $23, March $21, April $19, May $17, June $15, July $13, August #11, September $9, October $7, November $5, and December $3

Do we even want dues?
See above response. It would really help out Brian with the website and could even pay for a 2nd M&G or rentals for a track!

If we want dues, what is fair?
$25 a year but see question #4

How will the dues be collected?
In person, by mail, or via paypal

I like the idea of prorating the fees because I know during the school year I am broke as a joke but come christmas break, spring break, and summer I am working fulltime. Hopefully that will be different this year but its hard as hell to get a job in a small college down when you have 5000 students fighting for 500 jobs

[meissen]

$50-$100 just to register the domain? WTH? GoDaddy.com -- Domain Registrations = $9 per year. Cheaper if you do multiple years at once (10 years for $80). Then you have hosting... if you go with HostGator.com they have one package that's really nice for $14 a month, comes to $180 per year. Add in the $9 you're at $200 for the website a year. Not including any additional software or anything.

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

O.K...I'll try again...

1. What do you want this "club" to be?

Something informal like MiFBody?

Something more formal where we're affiliated with a national organization?

http://www.firebirdtaclub.com/

Join a POCI (Pontiac Oakland Club International) chapter?

http://www.poci.org/POCI_Chapters_Detail.cfm?S=ST

Or something independent of the above? Like EMCC/WMCC?



2. What would be the price of any dues, and what would you get for it?

I would suggest something minimal ($20 a year) which would get you a membership card ("Member since 20xx"), e-mailed newsletter (quarterly), and a small sticker. I don't like the pro-rated membership for two reasons...#1 it makes things too complicated to track and #2 it would allow people to squeeze in at towards the end of the year and get all the benefits of those who paid in full, but that's just me. T-shirts and other paraphanalia would be extra cost.


3. What can members expect?

Maybe I should rephrase...what do YOU expect (you being the member)? What do you want to take away from this? What do you expect to see?


But #1 and #3 are the important questions...until we answer that, everything else is moot.

And they all have their pros and cons. If people want to be a POCI chapter, you'll have a POCI membership that people will have to buy as well as anything MiFirebirdClub would tack on, but the support and opportunity would be first class.

Sponsors...we're getting ahead of ourselves. But once we're established we can hook up with a dealership (i.e. what the WMCC does with Berger) and try to establish a long term relationship. We should also plan on going to the local bigger shows (i.e. Nesting of the Birds, Pontiac Spring Dust Off) as a group to get more visibility.

Just based on what I've seen with MiFBody, sponsors won't start signing on until we've been established a couple years and have a couple hundred members.

But what we should answer first, is what do members want out of this club, and how formal would they like the structure.

[meissen]

One thing to add to Jeff's about sponsors, I sent sponsorship emails to over 30 companies which I found on LS1Tech, CamaroZ28, and some other FBody sites. I tried to specifically sponsor either nationwide companies or local companies, no companies that are tuning in Texas, etc. Of those 30, you can look at the left and see that it got us 1. EuroLights, and that's it.

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

One thing to add to Jeff's about sponsors, I sent sponsorship emails to over 30 companies which I found on LS1Tech, CamaroZ28, and some other FBody sites. I tried to specifically sponsor either nationwide companies or local companies, no companies that are tuning in Texas, etc. Of those 30, you can look at the left and see that it got us 1. EuroLights, and that's it.

And the Firebird guys may have a tougher go of it as we don't have a new product coming out soon .

But we shall carry on.

[phoenix_rising]

VERY VERY good questions Jeff. Thank You. Lets put it to a thread.

O.K...I'll try again...

1. What do you want this "club" to be?

Something informal like MiFBody?

Something more formal where we're affiliated with a national organization?

http://www.firebirdtaclub.com/

Join a POCI (Pontiac Oakland Club International) chapter?

http://www.poci.org/POCI_Chapters_Detail.cfm?S=ST

Or something independent of the above? Like EMCC/WMCC?



2. What would be the price of any dues, and what would you get for it?

I would suggest something minimal ($20 a year) which would get you a membership card ("Member since 20xx"), e-mailed newsletter (quarterly), and a small sticker. I don't like the pro-rated membership for two reasons...#1 it makes things too complicated to track and #2 it would allow people to squeeze in at towards the end of the year and get all the benefits of those who paid in full, but that's just me. T-shirts and other paraphanalia would be extra cost.


3. What can members expect?

Maybe I should rephrase...what do YOU expect (you being the member)? What do you want to take away from this? What do you expect to see?


But #1 and #3 are the important questions...until we answer that, everything else is moot.

And they all have their pros and cons. If people want to be a POCI chapter, you'll have a POCI membership that people will have to buy as well as anything MiFirebirdClub would tack on, but the support and opportunity would be first class.

Sponsors...we're getting ahead of ourselves. But once we're established we can hook up with a dealership (i.e. what the WMCC does with Berger) and try to establish a long term relationship. We should also plan on going to the local bigger shows (i.e. Nesting of the Birds, Pontiac Spring Dust Off) as a group to get more visibility.

Just based on what I've seen with MiFBody, sponsors won't start signing on until we've been established a couple years and have a couple hundred members.

But what we should answer first, is what do members want out of this club, and how formal would they like the structure.