In my view Subs should cover the shed’s operating costs. If not financial peril is lurking.
The recent AGM meeting discussed an increase of £1. Completely inadequate. Reason given for this was potential loss of members. For a current total membership of 52 and subs of £15 p.a. the total annual revenue is 52 x £15 = £780. If Subs are increased to £16 this rises to £832 p.a. – a gain of £52 if no member resigns.. If it is assumed that this miniscule increase led to 3 members resigning the loss in revenue is £48 (3 x £16) giving a net gain of £4 i.e annual subs revenue of £784. Not worth the effort in my view.
Current subs of £15 p.a for our typical membership of 52 equates to just under 29 pence per week.
If the subs were increased to £25 p.a. equivalent to approximately 48 pence per week the the annual income would be, for a membership of 52, £1300. If this led to 10 members leaving then the loss in revenue would be £250 (10 x £25) giving a subs income of £1050. That is an increase from the current annual subs income of £270 p.a. Of course if the loss of members was less than 10 the increase would be greater e.g. if no member resigns then the increase in subs revenue would be £520
I can’t imagine that many of the members present at the AGM would leave the ‘shed’ for an increase in subscriptions to £25 p.a. (i.e. a weekly increase of about 19 pence). Most, if not all,of those present, are happy to purchase a refreshment drink (includes me), at the bar, at the regular Friday meetings. Given that a small cup of tea cost well over £1 it seems to me that a subscription increase equivalent to less than 20 pence a week is of no consequence.
What do shed members think? Some lively discussion is encouraged.😜
Clive L
Martin. You're quite right - different members have different wants/needs from the shed and those wants/needs will, in part at least, influence the value they place on the shed. In the end - is the subscription for membership worth it for that member.
Undoubtedly there maybe some members who will struggle with subscriptions and I don't have a problem with the shed executive offering help to those. However dual grades of membership would not be the best approach in my view - the added complexity would be a burden best avoided.
Clive L
Here is my twopence worth
This is an interesting subject and I think it comes down to a couple of points which relate to any club and they are, What benefits do I receive from being a member? and What value do I put on the above benefits?
If I only want to meet friends for a lunchtime drink on a Friday at Fawcett's Field, then I wouldn’t see any real value of being a member as I can just go there anyway (or somewhere else) and would think that the occasional presentation is a bonus and a whip round is OK (if I thought it was interesting).
I expect that there a number of members like that. However, there are probably an equal number of member’s that are isolated, and the Friday meetings are some of the only contact that they have with other people during the week and so it is priceless to them.
There are also those that regularly go down the “Shed” and use the equipment that they don’t have at home again, its priceless as there is normally someone down the “Shed” that can help and provide advice.
Then there are those that are committed to building a successful Men Shed in New Milton and recognise that there is a cost to run a club, particularly when we are trying to build our own purpose made Men Shed and where we can provide more facilities and different activities.
There are probably some members that fit into at least 2 of these groups.
If the proposal is to raise that annual subscription by £1 and some members quit because of that, you need to question whether they didn’t see value in the extra £1 increase or really can’t afford even £1 a year. I know that we like to think that New Milton is a relatively affluent area, but there may be some who are struggling.
I also think that if we have 52 members and an average of 20-25 members that turn up to Fawcett's Field on a Friday, so there are probably a number that don’t ever go to the meetings and so again don’t see the value.
Going back to the original comment, Is an additional £1 a year worth the effort to raise an additional £52 (based on the current membership) in my view as we need to raise £70K it’s a drop in the ocean. However, I do have another suggestion and that is a 2 level membership. Keep the existing membership at £15 for those members that only go to the Friday get together at Fawcett’s Field and charge an enhanced membership for those that want to use the Shed of there own projects of say £25.
Finally also agree with Alan Bishop’s comments that we as a collective need to do far more in fund raising to build this Men Shed into a brilliant place to work and meet like minded people.
Here endeth the Sunday Sermon
Afternoon everyone especially clive who has obviously been mulling over the suggestions and comments ref the shed subs.
I personally have no problems myself about the subs increase to help fund the running of our shed.
However I do think that members should be encouraged to do a lot more fund raising to help the finances.
It's a chicken and egg situation with regard to getting a bigger shed and not having the space in our present one for more members to get involved.
This means that either the subs go up ,and clives post has detailed the ifs and buts about that or we need more members to become actively involved in fundraising,
not just the town fairs etc but come up with ideas to consider at Fridays social ?
We need more people to help Harry at the car boot sales,you can see what can be sold by going along to one,it won't hurt you and who knows you might enjoy it.
If you can't or don't want to maybe you could look out somethings to sell
,have a clear out of the loft or shed, you will be suprise what is bought and sold
each week.
There that's my rant for Sunday afternoon.
Comments are welcome no matter how awful they may be.
Alan Bishop