My personal opinion is that part of the reason you have mostly members (you
said 80%)
is because the discounted rate offset the cost of membership.
There are of folks (at least here) where a local autocross is all they are
intrested in
(at this moment in time)
and without the discounted rate they really have no incentive to join
The way I tell newbees (we have close to 20 autocrosses each year<between
summer and winter series>
if someone runs only 1/2 of our events they still offset their
cost of membership AND get a nifty magazine), which in turn introduces them
to the other aspects of SCCA life, and hopefully moves them on to more
activities
or makes them feel like part of the "team" not just a customer
and then they are more willing to help out with event duties
(that is how they hooked me :-)(now I want to club rally)
we have been charging 15/20 for as long as I can remember and we are cheap
some regions need to charge 30/35 that pull from our same customer base
although our region (in recent years) has not been loosing money on solo2
lot rentals are constantly rising and lots are at a premimum, we need to be
prepaired
for what *may* happen.
the fact that we have the best group of people and top notch equipment
and we add much value to the autocrossing experence (hot food for sale,
good locations, series sponsorships (with prizes), music, allways helpful
staff.
it's more like a day event for the family instead of a bunch of guys
sweating on a hot sticky lot
waiting for their 3 minuits of driving.
this still does not protect us from the ever lurking (liability fears)
and loss of lots
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-autox@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-autox@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Loren Williams
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 9:15 PM
To: autox list
Subject: Solo Entry Fees
<solo chairman hat>
Out here in Wichita Region, we're looking at the possibility (almost
necessity)
of raising our entry fees. Currently we charge $10 for members and $15 for
non-members for regular events. ($5 more for events at our one site that
charges
a lot rental) Our rates have been the same for many years, with the
question of
raising them being mentioned almost every year since I got involved 5 years
ago.
This year, our Solo program barely broke even. (in fact, I blew my budget by
$160) Next year, I want to be able to afford equipment purchases and
repairs
that we all want while staying well within a budget.
We have many options. My favorites are the simplest ($5 increments, easy on
the
Registrar), and give the best results:
Option 1: Raise to $15/20 for all events. (absorbing the cost of the lot
rental
into the overall budget) $20 seems awfully steep for an entry fee,
remember,
this is Kansas... cost of living is pretty cheap. This option gives us a
$2100
budget surplus.
Option 2: Raise to $15 for all comers at all events. (absorbing the cost of
the
lot rental into the overall budget, and not gouging non-members) Given that
our
total entry generally consists of about 20% non-members, we don't lose much
by
doing this. This option gives us a $1700 budget surplus.
Our board of directors seems to be inclined towards sticking with their
traditional policy of "non-member fees must be higher than member fees".
Getting Option 1 past them probably wouldn't be too difficult with the given
budget. I'd like to find some justification/argument to support a $15/all
entry
fee.
What are other regions/clubs doing? Is there any good philosophy behind why
you're doing it?
</solo chairman hat>
--
Loren Williams | Loren@kscable.com
'96 Mazda Miata | Wichita Region SCCA - http://www2.southwind.net/~scca
|