Should You Start Your Own Collectors Car Club?

If you are someone who loves cars yet discovers that you are in an area where there is not currently any car clubs you may be lacking greatly in terms of options available to you. This often occurs in very small cities and is not always solvable. One of the simplest solutions is often the most complex and that is creating your own car club. However, should you really drive down this path? On the other hand, is it much better to continue seeking out a club that already exists? If you are considering creating your own car club, you need to ensure that you have very good organizational skills. You are going to need to be the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and general all around go to person until you build up membership enough to justify the other positions. It is very important to realize that creating a car club is not simply about putting together a website and walking away. Someone is going to be responsible for planning all of the membership requirements, maintaining the list of members and organizing all of the benefits and activities that the club offers. If your lifestyle finds you with barely the time you need to plan out a weekly meal menu for your family, you are probably going to find yourself too busy to organize a new car club as well. In the beginning, it is going to take quite a bit of time to organize and create. If you happen to have some friends that you know who can be of help in getting the initial organization done then you have a huge advantage that many people do not have. If you look around and discover that there are numerous other car clubs already in your area, you are going to have a few options available to you. Either join one of those clubs, or try to decide exactly what can be different about your club that will encourage people to join, rather than going to the other clubs. You need something that will help set you apart and establish the individual personality of your club and give people a reason to pay attention to you, rather than ignore everything you do and say. You also need to take the time to prepare a good website. So many people are determined to investigate everything on the web. If you are wanting to create a club do you have the skills to create your website? Do you know someone who can do it for you? If you have to hire someone to build your website you may be surprised at how expensive it is, yet it is a wonderful way to communicate with members, and allow perspective members to see exactly what you are about. One of the benefits that many clubs offer is a newsletter each month for members. If you decided to offer this, would you have the time to do it? How could you reasonably cheaply organize the newsletter? You do not need to embark on any activities that are very expensive to maintain or you will be forced to charge very high membership fees that will have people really questioning your membership. All of these things are just the tip of the iceberg when it is time to decide whether you should create your own car club. There are always options for those who simply do not have the time or the skills. You could either look into hiring someone to handle the administrative tasks for you, or you could look around until you find a club that suits your needs. Regardless of which option you choose, you are certain to find the best solution in due time. There is no reason to stress out or rush into the process so take the time to carefully consider all of your options and ensure that you are satisfied with your decision before you embark on your journey.

Should You Raise Membership Fees?

Many collectors’ car clubs are struggling with the problems of prices and rates for everything in the world rising steadily. The problem becomes determining if it is time to raise membership fees, or start looking for ways to supplement the money that is needed. Between fund raisers and membership fees most clubs should be ok, but once the money is not enough to handle the basic needs budget crisis can occur and it is time to start pinching pennies until a solution is worked out. Your first step before raising any membership fees should be looking to see if anything could be cut from the budget. Many times, there are drains on the budget that are not immediately apparent. These drains can be large, or they can be very small. For example, if your club pays each month for a place to hold meetings that could be severely draining the budget. Maybe you are only paying a small fee, but each small amount saved can really add up. Look and see if you can renegotiate the deal with your current location, and look around at comparable locations to see what options you have. You may be able to find a lot of relief in the budget this way. Look at the newsletter as well; many times this is an unnecessary expense that clubs have. Most people have computers and e-mail lately. Perhaps sending the newsletter in an e-mail will reduce your mailing and paper expenses to almost nothing each month. This is often a huge area of opportunities for clubs and can add up to substantial savings very quickly. If you simply cannot cut anything from the budget wait before you start raising fees. With costs for everything rising members may not be able to afford the increased fees so wait before raising the rates. Look around first for alternatives such as fundraisers. Perhaps a car wash or even a simple car show with cheap admission can help your collector’s car club raise the money necessary to combat a membership fee increase. This is not always enough, but if you are careful how you organize an event and are very successful, it can sometimes save the need to raise rates. If you determine that you cannot avoid raising the membership rates, try to limit the amount as much as possible. If possible, try to stick to no more than $10 for each membership to increase. This can help to reduce the impact on each member, but it does add up to a substantial amount once the members have all paid the increased membership fees. Realize that much as you may not like the situation, most clubs do have to consider a membership fee increase at some point or another. There is no reason at all that you should just raise rates blindly, and of course there are times when your only option will be to just raise the rates. Just ensure that before you make rate changes you do your best to avoid the increase on members. The members will appreciate the effort and the club can continue to thrive even after an increase if it is handled properly. Proper leadership and good fiscal decisions can be a huge asset and are much needed skills when you start working on the budget, so take the time to really look around at all of the information that is presented to you before making decisions.