[sac-board] Some Comments about SAC

This message started today.  I'm adding SAC-Board to the discussion
because it concerns some of the policy decisions made by the board.
I also have permission from Jeff to include it too...


On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 14:14:37 -0700, Jeff Hopkins wrote:
        
> Paul Dickson wrote:
> > Jeff Hopkins wrote:
> >>  2. It might help to mention on the form what a member gets for his
> >>  money. It is not obvious. The Newsletter is nice, but since I do not
> >>  get it in hard copy I feel I should pay less or those who get a hard
> >>  copy in the mail should pay more.
> >
> >The dues that the club collects will not support its expenses.  One means
> >to get by was to allow newsletters to be sent via E-mail to save on the
> >expense of printing and mailing.  As such, there is no discount available
> >for this.
> >
> >The projections I did nearly a year ago required dues to be increased to
> >more than $40 for an individual membership.  Fortunately, t-shirt and
> >other sales have largely help offset the dues increase.
> >
> >Also, the club sends complementary newsletters to a number of people who
> >should be kept informed of the club's activities.  For some of these, it
> >would be unrealistic to expect them to download the newsletter from the
> >web site.
> 
> The fact that dues do not support expenses is not the point. When 
> someone pays their dues it is reasonable to wonder/ask where the 
> money goes and what benefit the member receives from paying the 
> amount. I suggest to continue to print and send complimentary 
> newsletters, but make all others .pdf only. This will certainly save 
> money. If people really want printed copies, let them pay extra for 
> them. Unless this is done, I for one will request printed copies next 
> time as they cost me no more and save on my printing expenses.

It's very much the point that dues should support expenses.  Without
funds, the club would not exist (no meeting place, no web site, etc).  So
the main and only "real" benefit of joining the club is knowing you are
supporting the club's camaraderie.

As for making printed copies extra, the consensus was that we would NOT
treat members without Internet access or skills as second class members.
Currently about 30% of our membership gets the hard-copy newsletter.

You can request a hard-copy just by sending me an E-mail requesting such.

It's unfortunate that these mailing lists in some way DO make members not
on-line second class members.  But the cost of printing all the messages
would make the newsletter costs seem very trivial.


> > >  3. Memberships tags should be free!
> >
> >These cost money.  And since most name tags go to new members, they are
> >mailed directly to the members so they include postage too.  This is done
> >after I inherited near 10 name tags from new members who joined, bought a
> >name tag, and then never showed up at another meeting.  It's quite
> >cumbersome to carry them around.  Also name tags are not required.
> >
> >If our dues more than covered our expenses, our bank accounts were
> >increasing, and we had more than 150 members (which would cover the
> >first two), then we could consider offering free name tags.
> 
> How much are name tags? $7 seems a bit steep. I find it hard to 
> imagine it being cumbersome carrying 10 name tags to meetings. While 
> I think club tee shirts for free is a bit of a stretch, I think it 
> reasonable to offer a quarterly order of them and have people pay in 
> advance specifying size (and style if multiple styles are available). 
> If they wish them mailed, charge an additional P&S fee collected at 
> the start. Also, to make money, I suggest having a list at meeting of 
> what items are available and the cost. How about web purchases? You 
> can set that up very simply to show what is for sale and have them 
> print the order forms and mail with a check.

Name tags are $5.50 + $2.00 S&H.  All of the name tags I carry are more
than two years old.  They belong to someone, but they aren't concerned
enough to attend a meeting to pick them up (none of them are currently
members).

And no, the name badges aren't physically cumbersome, but being responsible
for them is.  Imagine having to keep gas in the tanks of several family
cars.  You only need to fill the tank of each vehicle once a week, which
isn't cumbersome, but you'll need to obtain the keys several times a week
in order to check the fuel level, this is where it starts becoming
cumbersome.  Trivial tasks performed over and over with no progress become
tedious and cumbersome.

So instead of keeping track of the new name tags, and having to announce
each person's name at several subsequent meetings, I have them delivered
directly to the member.  Besides, I rarely order more than one or two each
month.

Also, with the current price of gas, the S&H is less than the cost of a
round-trip to pick up the name tags, and I don't have to donate my time
and wear-and-tear on my vehicle to do it.

A web order form is pretty pointless if the user can't pay on-line.  This
pretty much a given considering web-usability principles.  And the support
of on-line payment is not worth it for the club.  Any ways, if the form is
just going to be printed out, they might as well print out the Membership
Services Form that we already have (I haven't check the web site, but the
form could likely be presented more prominently).

A version of this form is usually in the newsletter, but it's not in the
September issue I've printed out.


> > >  4. A membership card should be issued to show you are a paid member.
> >
> >I think this has been mentioned before at a board meeting.  Since we don't
> >have a computer and printer to print cards at meetings, we run into
> >similar problems as name tags.  Also, there is no real need for this.
> >There is no real info that could be placed on the card that can't be found
> >on the web site.  What member could not remember saguaroastro.org after
> >using it a couple of times?
> 
> That makes little sense. What other organizations I have belonged to 
> do is have the cards printed in advance with a space for the name and 
> date to be entered. Then at meeting just fill in the information with 
> pen and note the membership number from the card along with the 
> membership application form.

And what good are these cards?

There's no reason you couldn't create your own card to help you remember
when you paid.  And we do give out receipts for your payment, but I doubt
you'd consider that a good replacement.


With the name tag and membership card suggestions, it appears you just
want me to do more work as treasurer. :-)  Currently, I think I'm
averaging 10 to 20 hours a month as SAC's treasurer.  I liked being
newsletter editor better, I at least completed something each month.

        -Paul

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