CCGB Membership Fee Discussion Now Here: http://www.corradoclub.org/

[Tempest 0]

It's an iPad One Eric... feels really old now!

STEVE!! I'm shocked! :lol: Your iPad won't run the Sprinter Interactive 3D Smellovision Edition, available in the iTunes Shop for a fee of only $10.00 :)

 

Tempest

[Supercharged 2]

STEVE!! I'm shocked! :lol: Your iPad won't run the Sprinter Interactive 3D Smellovision Edition, available in the iTunes Shop for a fee of only $10.00 :)

 

Tempest

 

I was just about to install that app but the vendors have put the price up 50% (!) - just before xmas too

[Jim 2]

STEVE!! I'm shocked! :lol: Your iPad won't run the Sprinter Interactive 3D Smellovision Edition, available in the iTunes Shop for a fee of only $10.00 :)

 

Tempest

 

This months issue smells like a burnt wiring loom! Next issue will have that alarming smell of coolant making you wonder if your heater matrix is about to go, or your radiator is leaking..

[dragon green 5]

The more people who turn up to the AGM and vote the better !

It was outlined last April

I for one don't mind paying the extra

[vornwend 0]

For reference:

 

TIPEC = The Independent Porsche Enthusiasts Club, have £30k in the bank, no-one complained about that at the last AGM I attended, subs are £50 for 2 years, and that's their discounted rate. The club only has as many members as we have (around the 400 mark or so), and biy, are they jealous of how well we in the Corrado Club are doing, given we only cater for a single make, single model. They do spend a little bit more on their club mag, in A4, but content is available more easily because they cater for all Porsche models. Their accounts were rushed through at their AGM, indeed leaving me asking where the money exactly was spent, but the books balanced, so I wasn't going to complain saying that the Corrado Club are a lot better in the accounts explanation department :lol:

 

Just for reference from a similarly sized club.

 

 

Get rid of your iPad, too, then :lol:

 

Tempest

 

Do we actually know how many members we have? - I can't see its much above 200 -225 and rapidly declining, either that or a lot of people don't pay! Our total income last year, including merchandising, was only £2400 The last 3 years reported membership income is £3700, £3200 and £2,800 at that rate there won't be a club in 5 years. There is no point in having a huge surplus sat in the bank earning no interest is all I'm saying. Lets spend it and drum up more interest (excuse the pun!) before its too late.

[Supercharged 2]

This months issue smells like a burnt wiring loom! Next issue will have that alarming smell of coolant making you wonder if your heater matrix is about to go, or your radiator is leaking..

 

Begrudgingly, I paid the $15 and installed it, went to run it and it came up with an error saying something like 'start blocked by imobiliser' so I decided to reboot - now the bloody on/off switch doesn't seem to work unless I vigorously shake the iPad

 

It's now just set fire to my house and the other 2 attached to it and burned half my face off.... I'd probably buy it again though.

[Wendy 0]

However I will be raising the issue of getting a larger gazebo complete with club logo at the agm, a proper one of those of a decent size that will last is around the 1500 pound Mark, the flags etc only last around 3 years before they start to fray and are quite expensive to replace.

 

 

 

As Yan says above, he also mentioned income should cover the costs of running the club, not at a loss.

 

As I said before, it poor business to wait until the Club has run out of money to address its issues.

Edited December 19, 2012 by davidwort

[nipper09 10]

hi all

 

iam a new member on here but would like to offer my humble opinion.

 

even though i would gladly pay the £15 membership for the sprinter alone, after reading the latest issue i think we are missing a trick here.

this magazine could be so much better if we all contributed to it and iam sure that is exactly what Jim is asking for within his notes. i for 1 will be writing my own little note to go into the next edition very soon.

 

also as most of the current members have no problem with paying £15 but have a problem with holding too much funds and scareing off new members.

why cant we have a staggered members fee eg. new members pay say the current £10 ( for the 1st year ) current members pay £15 ?

 

also i do agree that the club should be run on a non profit basis. but to hold no funds would in my opinion be foolish

there must always be a float to cover any mishaps that might occur like what has already been mentioned above and also things like web expenses ( ie website bug!!! )

 

and as for a paperless sprinter that would be the demise of the club to me. this website is already doing the paperless version surely?

 

cheers all

 

ps. as iam also an unpaid committee man at my local rugby club so i know full well how hard any voluntary club committee person works

so hats off to you all from me. i will be more active myself from now on

[vornwend 0]

However I will be raising the issue of getting a larger gazebo complete with club logo at the agm, a proper one of those of a decent size that will last is around the 1500 pound Mark, the flags etc only last around 3 years before they start to fray and are quite expensive to replace.QUOTE]

 

 

 

As Yan says above, he also mentioned income should cover the costs of running the club, not at a loss.

 

As I said before, it poor business to wait until the Club has run out of money to address its issues.

 

Wendy - I think its good to start to spend the built up money and I support that. The club is in rapid decline (or so it seems when you look at membership numbers) I am therefore questioning the logic of increasing the fees when we are shedding members at that rate and have large brought forward balances. The issue here is not the membership fee its what we spend the money on. I will happily vote for the increase if I see a plan to bring the balance down to below £2,000. The £1500 Gazebo is a start. Just doing one without the other is short sighted - fees up, members down, fees up again, members down. Eventually you'll be left wiith a hardcore (we know who we are!) paying £50 a year and meeting in a cafe once a year. I exaggerate a tad for effect :-) but you can hopefully see what I'm saying?

 

---------- Post added at 4:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 3:37 PM ----------

 

hi all

 

iam a new member on here but would like to offer my humble opinion.

 

even though i would gladly pay the £15 membership for the sprinter alone, after reading the latest issue i think we are missing a trick here.

this magazine could be so much better if we all contributed to it and iam sure that is exactly what Jim is asking for within his notes. i for 1 will be writing my own little note to go into the next edition very soon.

 

also as most of the current members have no problem with paying £15 but have a problem with holding too much funds and scareing off new members.

why cant we have a staggered members fee eg. new members pay say the current £10 ( for the 1st year ) current members pay £15 ?

 

also i do agree that the club should be run on a non profit basis. but to hold no funds would in my opinion be foolish

there must always be a float to cover any mishaps that might occur like what has already been mentioned above and also things like web expenses ( ie website bug!!! )

 

 

Good idea on the staggered fees!

 

Agree the club needs a float - but not £6,000!

 

A lot of people are emphasising the importance of the Sprinter. I agree its an important part of the club but as Jim has said its hard to keep it going unless people contribute. The content is also important. Looking back at old copies (I have some from 1997!) we used to issue it 4 times a year. However a lot of the content from then is now better served by more modern means - website, forum discussions, build threads etc etc. There used to be for sale ads in the old Sprinter but these days we can just post up an ad on here in seconds. Maybe its worth reviewing some old copies to get ideas for content? Bit of a cop out but we could even re-print some old articles - blast from the past kind of thing? Is it possible to grab some content from the Bentley manuals or do we risk infringement of copyright? I think a lot of people would be interested in that.

 

Could the club buy 25 Bentley manuals for lending out - get people to put down a deposit if required? charge them postage

[Jim 2]

Bit of a cop out but we could even re-print some old articles - blast from the past kind of thing? Is it possible to grab some content from the Bentley manuals or do we risk infringement of copyright? I think a lot of people would be interested in that.

 

Have you read much of the new issue Vorn? :) Have done exactly that for the first time this issue!

[vornwend 0]

Have you read much of the new issue Vorn? :) Have done exactly that for the first time this issue!

 

Not read it yet Jim a I've been away this week. Great minds think alike then!

[Wendy 0]

If the balance were to be £2000 I can almost guarantee you the Comittee would not be commiting to any expenditure - to nervous the Club were about to close.

 

Club Fees then would have to be increased and to a much greater value than the suggested £15.00

 

I do not understand/see what you are saying no matter how many times you try to tell or dictate it to me.

 

I think you may find the reduction in membership is nothing to do with the actual fees charged, but reduced numbers of Corrado and therefore owners, on top of considerable numbers who do not support the Club and its activities.

[vornwend 0]

When I say balance I mean end each year with £2,000. The new year fees would come in after that so you never normally drop below that amount. ts really just for emergencies or exceptional expenditure.

 

I agree that the reduction in members probably has nothing to do with the fee (although it may be an issue for members who join on the day of a CCGB event?).

 

Most likely the reduction is a factor of reducing numbers of cars on the road and not being able to persuade enough owners that there is value in joining hence wanting to spend some of the money we have languishing in the bank to improve that.

 

Quite a debate we seem to have sparked!

 

I'm only using this thread to keep my post count ahead of Wendy's :-)

Edited December 19, 2012 by vornwend

[Tempest 0]

Schteve: Your Corrado is not compatible with the latest version of the Sprinter, which does not support oil burner engines :lol:

 

Financial issue: The club has consistently overspent for the last few years, and that has been on a tight budget, always aware that income is only £10.00 per member. There would have been so many things we have wanted to have done in the past but haven't been able to do, yes, sometimes due to knowing we wouldn't be able to justify certain decision to the membership (an example: fully fund a trackday; for reference: a fully funded trackday costs anywhere between £5k and £8k depending on which track we use, costs are for amulance, marshalls, use of track, other staff needed on-site; counterargument: Not all members would be happy to see their fees "wasted" on such an event - that's why it never happened), but not least due to budget constraints.

 

Looking at the rate we have been spending more money than gaining income over the last few years we have done a marvellous job at eating away at the surplus, but I for one now also am feeling very uneasy at letting the funds substanteously slip further. Call me risk-averse, (yes, I have lost enough money on stocks and shares to know ...), but where it's other people's money, I am even more risk-averse (this in stark contrast to most commercial fund managers ;) ).

 

Tempest

[goozie 0]

i for one would be happy to pay a higher mambership of £15, what club could you be a member of that only cost £1.25 a month!?

I agree that a £5 increase can be seen alot, so as an idea how about increasing it over 2 years so it's not so painful for some! i also like the idea of the first year for £10 to try and create new members.

[Portent 0]

How about blowing all the surplus funds on a car. Oh wait...

 

 

;)

[Harrier 1]

How about a smaller increase to say £13

[vornwend 0]

Schteve: Your Corrado is not compatible with the latest version of the Sprinter, which does not support oil burner engines :lol:

 

Financial issue: The club has consistently overspent for the last few years, and that has been on a tight budget, always aware that income is only £10.00 per member. There would have been so many things we have wanted to have done in the past but haven't been able to do, yes, sometimes due to knowing we wouldn't be able to justify certain decision to the membership (an example: fully fund a trackday; for reference: a fully funded trackday costs anywhere between £5k and £8k depending on which track we use, costs are for amulance, marshalls, use of track, other staff needed on-site; counterargument: Not all members would be happy to see their fees "wasted" on such an event - that's why it never happened), but not least due to budget constraints.

 

Looking at the rate we have been spending more money than gaining income over the last few years we have done a marvellous job at eating away at the surplus, but I for one now also am feeling very uneasy at letting the funds substanteously slip further. Call me risk-averse, (yes, I have lost enough money on stocks and shares to know ...), but where it's other people's money, I am even more risk-averse (this in stark contrast to most commercial fund managers ;) ).

 

Tempest

 

Eric - I'm very happy to trust the committee to make decisions about how to spend the money in year - there's always the chance to hold them to account at the AGM! Maybe the AGM could have a list of suggested expenditure (over and above the day to day running of the club) and then take a vote?

 

Gazebo £1,500

20 x Bentley Manuals £1000

Xmas cards £600

Flags and Banners £500?

25th Anniversary £2,000?

 

---------- Post added at 4:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 4:49 PM ----------

 

How about blowing all the surplus funds on a car. Oh wait...

 

 

;)

 

Hehe

 

---------- Post added at 5:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 4:50 PM ----------

 

This weeks Euro millions then we could buy a track :dance:

[nipper09 10]

quite a steady debate we seem to be having!! lets keep it friendly.

 

2 people like the staggered membership idea! cripes no one ever agrees with me as a norm!!

 

as with the bentley idea cracking 1 i think. and if anyone needs to borrow mine in the mean time just ask.

 

the Sprinter mag i think will be a great selling point for new members if it was a better mag and only the current members can improve it. the main reason i

joined club gti was for the rabbit mag. exclusivity and all that, it was a cracking mag.

 

the fact that we are a 1 trick pony can bring its positives as well as its negatives. our forum for 1 is i think brilliant. but i must repeat that in my

humble opinion the Sprinter could be our golden goose, if we all as ive said contribute to it more.

 

also the fact that we have a healthy bank balance in these troubled times is a massive plus point! which the committee should be applauded for, so lets not spend funds for the sake of it but for the benefit of it

 

cheers paul

[seanl82 23]

I'm not a member of CCGB, as I didn't see the point with this site available when I began my Corrado ownership. I didn't understand the purpose of it fully, and there was very little info on the 'about us' page.

I'd recommend a little more info for new members on what being part of the club offers and entails. The focus seems to just be on receiving discounted prices on parts and insurance etc, but I can get that by using discount codes from other VW forums. More emphasis on what the club offer, and does for potential new members, with details of the previous year(s) events etc would be my recommendation to further "sell" the concept.

This is absolutely constructive criticism, and I love this forum and everything that being a Corrado enthusiast brings with it. I'd happily become a member of CCGB if it was "sold" to me. I think I'm just a bit like most others in this current climate. It may only be £10 currently, (even £15 is actually a very small amount!), but if I can get almost everything from this forum that CCGB has to offer (minus sprinter), I'd be happier with the £10/15 in my pocket tbh.

I now know, but only by being a member on here, so I'll deffo be becoming a member when when I get the next one in Spring. Its focus on those that were like me (new to Corrados totally), rather than hoping they stumble upon it or become a member after owning it for a period of time. :thumbleft:

[G60 CS 0]

I wont renew at £15, Ive not attended any events so even a tenner a year for a mag that's not that interesting can feel a bit much

[dragon green 5]

I wont renew at £15, Ive not attended any events so even a tenner a year for a mag that's not that interesting can feel a bit much

 

 

[nipper09 10]

I wont renew at £15, Ive not attended any events so even a tenner a year for a mag that's not that interesting can feel a bit much

 

my point exactly . a better Sprinter would keep you on board! yes?

cheers paul

[RW1 0]

Got to remember where this surplus arose. After the BR affair coupled with the high membership levels during that time period it happened, the Club recovered a large sum of money at the end in 2004 which had been inappropriately taken between 1998 and 2003.

 

So, I seem to remember the decision was to use it year on year supporting the Club activities wisely until it was reduced to a sensible operating reserves level from year to year. In order to help that happen, one decision was to reduce the Club's membership fee from £15 to £10 until a operating Club Fund level was acheived.

 

It looks like that policy has been happening well and the bottom level is now being reached. A credit to Judith and the Committee. So its now time to start contemplating putting the Club Fee back to its normal operating level and managing the Club fund value. IMO thats the debate at the next AGM as to a sensible fund reserves level v operating costs per year.

 

You need funds in hand to operate and cover some routine carry over's from year to year as membership fees may not be available at a year cross over point. If not you are left hanging without say a Sprinter issue or Club insurance cover for the membership at shows and so on. The cross over point can last as long as 3 to 5 months while enough fees come in. So the funds can NEVER be zero'd otherwise it stops Club activity or someone has to fork out of personal pocket. And some items are not small beer lump sums. The Committee cannot be expected to stump up money if the Club is short, thats unfair. And remember these people freely give their time to run the Club. There's no monetary rewards in doing it on your behalf.

 

The choice is whether to raise the fee to some oddball value like £13 above or to raise it to £15 for a while and then drop again to £10 to do an adjustment again. The real objective is to have a realistic operating fund "cushion". And not to let it run away to become a piggy bank again nor let it dip too far to stop the Club operating.

 

Used to do this the same with Club Scirocco to control the "saved" fund level to maintain a sensible operating cash level without squirralling away people's money. It can be quite tricky as you don't know where the next years membership level will end up. It could be a lean year with a low number and may be fat year with more than expected. Its not a steady state thing for sure, so you need a reserve to dip into.

 

At £15 (a 1996 fee price) with inflation, today it would be £30!. If you don't like it, thats your choice. You don't have to renew your membership :)

 

Bottom line is attend the AGM or write in with your ideas so that people can consider and ratify at the AGM if a major decision is required. Thats the way it gets steered. And of course actively participate/contribute or set up a meet etc., or write something for the Sprinter as part of Club involvement.

 

.

Edited December 19, 2012 by RW1

[James. 9]

A great debate everyone.

 

My personal input:

 

Would it not be worthwhile re-investing some of the funds and allowing it the opportunity to work for the club. By that (for example) an investment in a point of sale/ gazeebo structure for shows to help drive new memberships. Then review whether the investment was worthwhile. Personally I think a trick is being missed at shows. Even if a space for a car is sacrificed at a show where this could be alloted. That way the merchandise can be merchandised effectively and as everyone points out, after the cars on show, the Sprinter can take centre stage (old copies to hand out, laminated copies on a plinth etc). Those who are displaying their cars can rotate (only if they feel comfortable) liasing with Joe Public and selling the merits of the club. Which if you've been to a show, you do without noticing. A perfect example of this for me was Tatton Park 2012. Great stand. Cars spread out in a semi circle, lots of foot fall but no focal point (with the exception of a certain Mr Pearsons satin silver VR). It was crying out for someone to be up front to sell the Corrado club to one and all.

 

Which then brings me round to shows. Would it be worthwhile experimenting with other marques shows ? I see more mileage in attracting new custom from mixed marque shows. Inviting new potential owners who may have overlooked the model in the past, or haven't even seen one before. Bearing in mind that before most people buy a car, they usually do a bit of research. And paying a tenner to become a little more clued up is a no brainer.

 

Personally I don't believe blowing all the money in one financial year is the answer. But having a considered approach is.

 

This is in no way, my way of making issue within the club. Simply my suggestions to perhaps benefit all members and in the long term, the club.

 

And as you can probably tell, I was the little boy who sat at the bottom of his drive, selling potatoes from a small school desk. Something that never really left me.

 

Always loved showing people my spuds. But that's for another thread.

Edited December 19, 2012 by James.