We kick off the 2018 season with an episode about membership. Executive Director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, Tom Stuessy shares why membership is up in Vermont. We’ll also learn why membership is so valuable to an organization, beyond simply funding. In addition we’ll hear from Bruce Schroeder of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance about what they’re trying out when it comes to membership.
Show Notes & Links
https://vmba.org/
https://www.facebook.com/VermontMountainBikeAssociation/
https://twitter.com/vmbadirt
https://www.instagram.com/vmba802/
http://www.cotamtb.com/
https://www.facebook.com/cotamtb/
https://twitter.com/COTATrails
https://www.instagram.com/cotamtb/
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How does the Vermont program differ from the failed IMBA model, 50% seems to be a large amount of cash what does Evergreen take from associations. This would have taken nearly $40,000 from my assoc. we have a volunteers running our membership website so no cost there, I do not know the cost of insurance so can not comment on that.
Insurance is a huge piece, IMBA US does not provide this with their chapter program. Membership can be run by volunteers but the hosting and processing of fees will come with a cost.
I think a big part of it is that when dealing with a smaller region, like a State, and not the entire country, you can be more maneuverable and hands on. Large organizations don’t have that benefit and that’s always been one of IMBA’s struggles. It’s a big ship and big ships are harder to turn around. The other thing to note is that IMBA’s Chapter model has changed this year and it’s no longer 50/50, which is great as many of the benefits they once offered have had to be trimmed back and offered a la carte. Details to come in a future episode I promise! I’m hoping to get Ernie from MORE (And now IMBA) on the show soon.