Miata Mailing List: February 1999, Message #291

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At 11:00 AM -0500 2/2/99, Scott Kirkham wrote:
> The subject came up at last night's meeting about lifetime dues.
> Currently we have a lifetime club dues of $75. The point was made that
> in the long run, this may not support the club very well if everybody
> decides to go lifetime. We are currently at 56 member numbers and
> growing by leaps and bounds. There are many options that we have.
> I would like comments from folks as to which their clubs have decided,
> what would be a good idea, what has been considered, etc... in the
> way of lifetime dues. Our yearly dues remain $25 and will be staying that
> way. There are 4 choices. Student = $15, Long-distance = $15,
> Yearly = $25 and Lifetime = $75  These are the options:
>
> 1. Leave lifetime dues @ $75 for all incoming members/old members,
>     etc...
>
> 2. Grandfather all current members at $75, due upon their renewal
>     date, to become lifetime, though they can still stay with yearly.
>They
>     would lose their lifetime option after their renewal date.
>      All new members after RAGS 056 would pay $150
>     for a lifetime membership. (the price is subject to increasing after
>     debate by members. $150 is hypothetical)
>
> 3. Grandfather like above, but eliminate the lifetime option for all new
>     members.
>
> 4. Drop lifetime all together for anybody that hasn't already signed up.

Scott,

The problem seems to be with the level for a lifetime membership - it is
only three annual memberships.  If you're going to have lifetime
memberships they should cost more than the typicial member would spend in
annual membership fees before dropping membership.  I know we all think
"I'll have my (or a) Miata for the rest of my life," but that is not
realistic.  If you were to set the lifetime to cost as much as 10 or
perhaps 15 times an annual membership, you likely would be safe.  Probably
a significant percentage of your club membership would not maintain
membership beyond 10 or 15 years, plus plotting down $250 or $375 is
significantly more than your current lifetime fee (only 1.5 MSU's!  Given
all that we spend on our cars, 1.5 MSU's for a lifetime club membership is
virtually nothing.)

Lifetime membership should also be viewed not as a money saving device for
the member, but as an opportunity for the member to "underwrite" or support
the club in a more significant way.

If you're going to have lifetime memberships, they should be at a
substantial initial cost to the member.

Earl

-----------------------------------------------------------

Earl D. Fife              | Grand Rapids, MI
Natty, a '94B Red         | (616) 452-3952
License Plate:  URL F
http://mcfife.calvin.edu/miata.html