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Fund Raising discussion.
Dues? Like other clubs in BC should we charge a nominal annual membership renewal of some $ amount. As of this writing our membership is 237 with most of those being couples in the same household.
My suggestion is that we charge $30/household for club membership or $15/individual. This annual renewal could be in lieu of doing annual fund raising for specific items.
I am guessing that some current members will drop when Dues are introduced and that 50% of the current members are part of a single household. My guess of how much we could gain annually from $30 household dues is $3000/year. (100 household members x $30 = $3000. We would still require names and emails for individuals.)
We need to explain why we want to charge dues and the benefit of being in the pickleball club. One of those items is a ball machine.
1. BAll Machine for members to use FREE with scheduling and training on how to use the machine. I suggest Pickleball Tutor from Pickleball central. https://www.pickleballcentral.com/Pickleball_Tutor_BMSPBAC_p/oo-350b.htm With all the bells, whistles, batteries and balls, it should be less than $2000. 2. Tom suggested a bluetooth padlock for the machine and in the interim, it could be locked in the storage closet in the pavilion. We can work the details of reserving and training on the machine to another discussion. A bluetooth padlock costs about $120 on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-Personal-Bluetooth-4401DLH/dp/B01A65T7OI
Fund Raising - Ball machine
After reviewing Carlie's proposal and everyone's comments, I think having dues are a good idea along with listing our goals for the year. I like Tom's idea to have the dues optional.
I think dues are a good idea, especially with our June event coming up! Great to gather funds and let members know what the dues are going towards. If we do collect funds to pay for a ball machine, then members should know funds will be used for a ball machine. I think that would also be a way to gauge whether or not a ball machine is wanted by members. If we struggle to get enough funds for a ball machine, then we use the money towards a different event (June event, dinking tournament, looking into pro lessons, etc.).
I do like Tom's idea (if I'm understanding it properly), that families could have the choice to donate or not. Again, we would emphasize the purpose of these funds that go towards our events/future equipment to entice people to donate. Ask for $20/family but any amount is accepted (and appreciated!!)
Here's a thought exercise: Your job is to promote pickleball in BC and you have a budget of $3000/year you must spend, what would you do with the money that would make pickleball awesome in Briar Chapel?
My first thought is that almost everyone could benefit from drills and training. We could PAY professionals to do clinics. We could have real prizes for competitions (Paddles, warm-up jackets etc). We can supply a food truck or hire a pig roast for a social event with A beer Truck. We could have a pickleball machine that members can train on. We can supply balls for all events. We can have good nets. Your Ideas? I also feel that having a professional pickleball machine for member use would be a good reason to join the club. I can see people using the machine on offpeak hours.
If you feel that having funds will enhance our ability promote pickleball, than all we have to determine HOW we get the funds.
In 2001 American Express trademarked MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES. We want people to feel the same way about being in the Briar Chapel Pickleball Club. If someone doesn't want to be a member that's fine, they can't take part in any BCPC activities mentioned above. I also feel that if someone lives in BC, has a $50-$200 paddle and time to play pickleball, $10/year isn't an issue. If there is a RARE case of someone who can't pay, it can be determined on a case by case basis. In that rare case, I or someone would give them the $10 and they can join.
I have talked to many people who would be interested in donating to get a pickleball machine. In fact, several people that I talked to are thinking about buying their own to the tune of $500+.
I don’t like the idea of a fund raiser for a specific item like the ball machine because it gets WAY too complicated on who can use the machine and when. How do you handle people who want to use the machine but didn't contribute, or joined later.
Gary, I understand that you are opposed to dues but I think an nominal dues of $10-$12 per year/member wouldn't be a negative, especially if we demonstrate we do good things with the money.
Pros of Dues. 1. The executive committee gets to decide what we will spend the money on. If we want to buy pizza for teen night, or wine for a social, Balls, tournament prizes or a pickleball machine, it’s at the discretion of the club leadership. 2. Our bank account gets renewed every year and that give us a budget in which we can operate and expand programs 3. It would allow us to actually do things that benefit the membership of the club rather than having to lean into the Kuester/BCCA message that we have to do things that are for all of BC regardless of being a member of the club. If we collect $10 (???Children <21 years old living at home Free???) we should be able to collect $2300 per year depending on the membership numbers. If we couple that with our current amount of $1200 in the bank we can easily buy a machine and have $1500 in the bank for other club sponsored items. 4. Dues shows a commitment to being part of a club.
Cons of Dues 1. We may lose members because the feel they have to pay to belong. Not everyone that joins the club will use all the services the club provides. Some people will never use a machine or take a lesson, some people will never attend a social or play in a tournament or use club balls.
I think we have to assume that as the club executive committee we can come up with things to spend the dues money in a way that benefits the majority of the members.
Thanks Carlie and Tom for working to get the wiki. As you would probably expect I am against charging dues and would rather we go to pay to participate model for those events like clinics and club wide events where there is an expense. I view the Pickleball Clubs mission to create an environment where players of all skills enjoy playing and there is a sense of community. These are community courts and paid for with our dues. It is too early anyway to charge since the club doesn't offer that much incentive to join. Maybe that will change if we offer things like instruction and club wide events. I would be against doing anything that would cause membership to decline. It helps us have more influence with Parks and Rec, the board and Kuester to grow our membership. Pickleball is different from things like the garden club where there is limited membership, everyone is committed and there are recurring expenses. Lastly if we were to charge dues for expensive items like a ball machine, I think the casual and introductory players would feel they are contributing money to pay for something that benefits a minority of players. I would rather we do a fund raiser for expensive purchases. Maybe in a year or so if we create more value in the club we would be better suited to consider dues.
I'd like to suggest a hybrid (optional) model:
It goes like this:
The PB Executive Committee feels BC has a vibrant PB community. We would like to enhance and expand our community our services and activities for the community. We are looking at an a-la-cart approach where people/families choose what works for them. Current ideas are:
Also, I'd love to run another dinking tournament.
So I go with an optional family contribution of $15. We can let the community know how much we've raised and what are goals are. Depending on response we'll know what to recommend for '23.
Thanks all.
Thanks for writing this up Carlie. I'd build a BT padlock with a raspberry PI for about $20.
I'll investigate how to make the discussion per thread. For now just ignore the Court Requirements comment.