Membership Fees ?

[Simon]

I'd pay 6p a day to be a member! INSERT INTO post VALUES (you all know rush for your calculators!) Paying is fair. It provides a service for us with the VR4's ......and like u say above...where else are u going to go for your information. Other Clubs charge a fee to join eg. Sporting Fiats Club is over £24 just for membership, INSERT INTO post VALUES (most negative responses on here are solely looking at it only providing a web site...a lot more is involved behing the scenes....would you want to do it!...i wouldn't...haven't the time!)....for a flipping fiat 88bhp max!!!.....your just lucky its not being suggested we pay on £ per BHP!!!! Just out of curiousity that would be nearer £80.....then start tuning!$%*$!........ evil2:

[Simon]

P.S Yes i had a Punto......dont tell anyone.....but then i saw the light!

[BraindG]

now simon... if you hadnt said that.. we would never have know! you could have picked that from the first car club you looked at..

but nope.. now we all know your dark little secret! wuuhhahahaahh

/puts on whiney playground voice.. "Simons, got a punto.. Simons got a punto!"

[Simon]

I did have a Punto....but no longer! So dont upset me!:Cry1:
It was great!!!! Full Abarth body kit, Strut braces where ever i could fit them, a cool car:rolleyes: must stop, just realised that im not on the Fiat web site anymore!

[Simon]

Not to change this forum from membership to Fiat....but......How does a VR4 engined Punto sound... .watch this space.:nono:

[mook]

I'm also a member of the Celica-Club.co.uk and they have a membership scheme which works pretty well - here's how it works;

£10 a year gets you full membership, which is access to the whole site together with a club sticker and benefits from organised club discounts.

£20 a year gets you gold membership, which also provides a club cap and allows you authority to perform group buys. As a 'trade' member it also allows you the right to promote your goodies on the forums. This works well and no-one take sthe mick either.

If something like this sounds a decent option, I would happily provide some club graphics for a good rate, and pay for 'gold' membership giving a 10% discount on the stuff I do - http://skewer.co.uk - ooops, got one in there ahead of schedule . The discount then goes to those who have paid up membership, so in the course of the year should save more than their fee plus giving the site admin/owners the necessary cash to keep the site running smoothly

Any good????

[PAUL]

I am happy to pay a membership fee.

Paul.

[Ailsa]

As a commitee member for SS-R I know how much work is involved and also how much extra work you give yourself by charging fees....

I'd be happy to pay up, but from experiance suggest you review the alternatives first for your own sake!

If you charge fees you have to be a lot more careful with regards to the legallity of any events you organise as you may be held responsible for anything that happens.

People will also expect some return for their money such as a membership pack. This means selecting the items to include such as keyrings, pens whatever. Paying them in bulk based on working out roughly how many members you will get actually paying and hope you get enough to break even INSERT INTO post VALUES (or do what we did and ask people to wait 4 months till we had enough cash to cover the costs...)

You also need to appoint a treasurer INSERT INTO post VALUES (which is an almost daily job) and open a club bank account so that you can receive payment in cheques or credit cards.

I think to open a bank account you have to have a recognised committee and chairmanINSERT INTO post VALUES (this might not be right); who will take responsibility for club actions and desicions, which means calling an AGM of all your members etc..etc..etc..etc...

I'm not saying don't do it, just pointing out the extra work it creates! Go in with your eyes open!

Why not ask some relevant business's to provide prizes in return for some advertising. Set up paypal in someones own name and organise a raffle or something in order to generate enough funds to cover you hosting costs?

[BraindG]

Everything you have mentioned is INSERT INTO post VALUES (has) being discussed, and is either already set-up.. or waiting on returns/info... membership packs will more than likely include membership cards INSERT INTO post VALUES (credit card size, with imprinted # and name); tax disc holder, stickers, newsletters, your own forum, added to members car section, exclusive access to new features still to be implemented on the site , first choice at track days/shows and of course all the discount entitlements within the online shop INSERT INTO post VALUES (on one purchase alone you have made you money back - on selected items of course) further discount schemes will be introduced shortly as there are still a few ideas which I am keeping to myself INSERT INTO post VALUES (for now).

everything from committee members to PO BOX is being addressed as I type.. I have collateral so I am able process most aspects of the initial set-up fees.. some may say this is nonsense as I could be set to loose allot of money, however I believe in this, and want to see our cars represented in the UK..

money gathered from membership fees, is returned into the club, allowing us to purchase gazebos for club stands, and any future ideas that may appear including more club track day basically expanding the club from what it is now into something big. I have looked into the bank accounts, commitee members, roles/responsibilities - they all weight up fairly well. Ive spoken to a few people who run car clubs, and received some valuable information on all respects..

Ailsa, thanks for your input/concerns/ideas, they are all valuable to me, and the club. anyone with knowledge of club running is a valuable resource... so dont run away

thanks again..
"A stressed out" Barry

[calum]

If there is a membership fee, and that is contributing towards the hosting, should it be set up so that only peeps who are members can post piccies? Those who don't pay are still subsidised by those who do, but not to the same extent?

Just a suggestion.

Calum

[Ailsa]

No Probs Barry - Glad to see your way ahead of the game!:cool1:

[bonsai boy]

£20 pounds to join i think is fair.
this site is good allready.
so with the extra dosh it would be even bigger.

[Joe]

£10 has to be minimum unless the work load that is involved with running the site is spread out to other people within the site that are commited and are willing to do so?
but this sounds fair to me.

joe

[zentac]

I am one of the guys that runs the FTO Owners Club, and have done for about 4 years, so I know how much time and effort people put into running both a small INSERT INTO post VALUES (200 members 4 years ago) and large club INSERT INTO post VALUES (1700+ members now)

Firstly I would like to disagree with the point made earlier about peoples time. I believe that the people running this club should do it for their love of the Car and shouldn’t get paid for it.

Also most of what Ailsa says is correct however we looked into AGM`s and there is no legal obligation to hold one.

You will need liability insurance, just in case your gazebo blows over etc… which is as follows for 2 million liability cover.
Up to 15 events per year £200
Over 15 events per year £325
Le me know if you’re interested and I will find out whom we use.

These boards currently have 250+ members, about 50 of which are active and the rest sleepers. Initially you will be doing well to get 30+ paid up members, but it will grow with time.

With so few members I think your going to have to charge that little bit more so you can get the club up and running INSERT INTO post VALUES (I would go for £25). Its also going to be more difficult to get discounts organised. I know I still have problems with 1700+ members.

And people are going to want to see some return for their money. News letters initially I would suggest half yearly, more as new members come on board.

Ok Im getting bored of typing now…

Having said all that I can put you in touch with most of the companies we use and I am willing to spare some of my time to help you get the club up and running. BraindG if you want to give me a ring to chat 07966 473951

[Owen]

I think paying for membership is a great idea...I dont belive people would try and run this club for the love of there car..I love my car so much i would prefer to be driving it rather spending hours on a computer thinking about it and everytime you look up at your monitor VR4 everywhere.... the thought of it ....Torture!!!!!!!!
I have helped to run clubs and its a lot of work...and you stop enjoying it after a while.
i think 20£ is fair membership fee. If you manage to get 50 members in first year, i would be suprised and it would be less than £20/week for all that expence and work
I wish you good luck and look forward to itevil4:

[peterernest]

THE VR4 IS A VERY UNKNOWN CAR. EVEN MOST MITSUBISHI INSERT INTO post VALUES (INCLUDING SOME RALLIART) DEALERS ARE UNABLE TO ASSIST WITH ALL VR4 QUERIES. PERSONALLY, THIS SITE HAS BEEN A VALUABLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND HELP TO ME.

£20-£25 A YEAR FOR MEMBERSHIP IS VERY REASONABLE. IF YOU ARE A VR4 OWNER PUNCH 'GALANT VR4' INTO YAHOO AND SEE HOW MANY OF THE 6300 WORLDWIDE RESULTS INSERT INTO post VALUES (217 UK) ARE OF ANY GENUINE RELEVANCE OR USE!

IF I CAN BE OF ANY SUPPORT TO THIS SITE JUST ASK.

[bastrd]

http://www.clubvr4.co.uk/forum/misc....getsmilies&s=i agre with your comment about overseas members not getting discounts etc ....i still enjoy the site heaps thanx all :hurrah:

[Spirit]

I believe we have our answer ongoing - at present 68% of current members INSERT INTO post VALUES (who have voted) agree a fee of £10 to £20 a year is acceptable. Thanks all for the input so far - keep it coming and watch for developments soon.

[amesh]

20 quid sounds good to me.

[Japmetal]

I would be willing to pay for membership, except that probably most fo the discounts wouldnt be much use to me [since I dont have a phase 2 VR4]

If you want to start up a 'proper' club and need a wider membership base, might it be worth expanding to cater for other performace Galants - I know alot of people would take one look, think "Oh, but I dont have a VR4 so what's the point ?" and trek off to find another site for their beloved V6 Sport [I dont know if one even exists, but still]

If you wanted to go further than that, you could open up to be a Galant Owner's Club and then you'd really score some new membership [Just think of all those lonely Galant owners who could only afford the 2.0 !]