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.