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[Gumbo]

My suggestion wasn't to give up. It was to consider a different hosting service, that would supply everything you have now, at a much lower price. And requiring folks to pay a nominal fee, ($10/year, per member, would more than pay your hosting fees), would eliminate the need to go begging. Just a thought.

Not sure a member fee, would help bring in new people, the draw for me was, heck it's free why not check it out.
I think the new approach of open budget will bring in what is needed naturally if folks are getting benefit from the board, but let me say your suggestion is a good one and this is what we need. Input, Input, Input from members.

Thanks 

[Drewboy22]

My suggestion wasn't to give up. It was to consider a different hosting service, that would supply everything you have now, at a much lower price. And requiring folks to pay a nominal fee, ($10/year, per member, would more than pay your hosting fees), would eliminate the need to go begging. Just a thought.

Not sure a member fee, would help bring in new people, the draw for me was, heck it's free why not check it out.
I think the new approach of open budget will bring in what is needed naturally if folks are getting benefit from the board, but let me say your suggestion is a good one and this is what we need. Input, Input, Input from members.

Thanks 

Maybe a mix of both!   What if there were incentives for being a "Sponsor".  Membership would be free but if someone wanted to donate money they could.  If someone wanted to donate then their position could be changed to "Sponsor". 

Sponsors could then be entered into a quarterly drawing where they could win a $20 gift card, or "History of motorcycles" book or something. 

Just spitballin here,

Drew

[xcaliber]

Maybe a mix of both!   What if there were incentives for being a "Sponsor".  Membership would be free but if someone wanted to donate money they could.  If someone wanted to donate then their position could be changed to "Sponsor". 

Sponsors could then be entered into a quarterly drawing where they could win a $20 gift card, or "History of motorcycles" book or something. 

Just spitballin here,

Drew
[/quote]New Ideas, putin on the ol' thinking cap! Keep 'em coming!

[hipshot]

From what I've seen here the problem hasn't been that folks don't want to send in their money. They just want to know how much is needed and where it's going. The folks who step up and assume positions of responsibility (like treasurer) are doing it for free, and their generosity should not be abused, but......

That said, I've heard more than a few times that people weren't really sure how much money is needed, when it's due, and where it goes (or where it went). Perhaps if the treasurer was to publish a quarterly report summarizing the projected expenses for the coming year, the balance in the coffers, and account for any expenditures made since the last report, a lot of folks might be a little less hesitant to send in their shekels.  I don't think that's too much of an imposition on the treasurer, even if he/she is working for free. I believe that presenting the "State of the XRiders" in such a manner would result in ample donations when the plate gets passed around. Folks just want to know that their hard-earned dollars are actually going to good use.

[Chad]

From what I've seen here the problem hasn't been that folks don't want to send in their money. They just want to know how much is needed and where it's going. The folks who step up and assume positions of responsibility (like treasurer) are doing it for free, and their generosity should not be abused, but......

That said, I've heard more than a few times that people weren't really sure how much money is needed, when it's due, and where it goes (or where it went). Perhaps if the treasurer was to publish a quarterly report summarizing the projected expenses for the coming year, the balance in the coffers, and account for any expenditures made since the last report, a lot of folks might be a little less hesitant to send in their shekels.  I don't think that's too much of an imposition on the treasurer, even if he/she is working for free. I believe that presenting the "State of the XRiders" in such a manner would result in ample donations when the plate gets passed around. Folks just want to know that their hard-earned dollars are actually going to good use.

   

[xcaliber]

From what I've seen here the problem hasn't been that folks don't want to send in their money. They just want to know how much is needed and where it's going. The folks who step up and assume positions of responsibility (like treasurer) are doing it for free, and their generosity should not be abused, but......

That said, I've heard more than a few times that people weren't really sure how much money is needed, when it's due, and where it goes (or where it went). Perhaps if the treasurer was to publish a quarterly report summarizing the projected expenses for the coming year, the balance in the coffers, and account for any expenditures made since the last report, a lot of folks might be a little less hesitant to send in their shekels.  I don't think that's too much of an imposition on the treasurer, even if he/she is working for free. I believe that presenting the "State of the XRiders" in such a manner would result in ample donations when the plate gets passed around. Folks just want to know that their hard-earned dollars are actually going to good use.

Well said Hipshot, and I agree with you.

[Gumbo]

I agree with you also Jim, I hope we will be taking a path in that direction, I think it would go along way in making anyone who wanted to donate feel a whole lot better about doing so. 

On the membership fee thingy, no other X-Rider group has a membership fee, I think it goes against the X-Rider code. All other states are a no dues for membership, I would hate to think we would be the first.
I do think it might be a good idea to have a status of "Sponsor" for members that do make donations. 

[hipshot]

Larry, I wholeheartedly agree that we can get where we want to go without dues or mandatory fees; one of the tenets of the founding of this organization was "pay as you go" rather than mandatory dues and rigid structure. There are some ugly rumors floating around about XRiders money; I don't want to go there and I won't discuss it. We have the opportunity to put the past behind us and move forward on a new tack. Let's seize the opportunity and breathe some life into the group. It sure ain't what it used to be back when you joined up. Let's fix it.

[Gumbo]

It's a new ball game, new start. It's going to be open, fun for everyone.
We are open to any and all suggestions. I would like to have all board decisions posted. You can't make everyone happy, but everyone would know of any decisions, can't say I didn't know about that 

[matap]

I agree with the reports. The new BOD will do its best to put those figures out.

[Lucky]

Hipshot you are right on.  Any organization that has a BOD/President should be putting out quarterly or at the minimum, annual reports.  Any monies that are flowing on behalf of the group should be documented and reported to the group along with decisions the BOD/President have made.

And I totally support the idea of no fees/dues....my 2 cents worth.

[Gumbo]

Hipshot you are right on.  Any organization that has a BOD/President should be putting out quarterly or at the minimum, annual reports.  Any monies that are flowing on behalf of the group should be documented and reported to the group along with decisions the BOD/President have made.

And I totally support the idea of no fees/dues....my 2 cents worth.

Lucky you need to up that .02 worth, .02 cost about .05 to make today 

By the way I think quarterly reports should be doable 

[snake]

I agree with Jim too. My feeling is that there isn't really any monies needed except upkeep of the website primarily. If our site is up, we can talk fees per event like we used to, not dues. I don't know when the notion got started that we had to have money for next years Bluebonnet Thunder Rally in the "coffers", but nobody should have to pay dues towards building the bank for a rally/ride event they may or may not go to. Although some of us donated the startup money for the first BBT, that was necessitated by the fact that the Armadillo campground wanted their money well up front to book the campground for just our group, to exclude other non TxVTX'ers. Even those that donated still paid their "fee" for BBT1. It has been a while since then. My feeling has always been that if money is allocated for a purpose, it should NOT be used to defray costs for a different purpose other than what it was intended. OOOPS. Fell off the soapbox!

SSSSSSssssnake

[Crewsn]

there will always need to be funds available for the events that require a fee to keep someone from personally having to spend their money.  Example: Mr. Pres. decides to reserve spot A for $500. tells everyone it will be $20 per person to attend. 15 people total show up. do the math=$300. does this mean that Mr. Pres. shells out the other $200. I have been heavily involved with these events for the last 4 years. i can tell you with certainty that this situation has and will come up again. you will always need funds available or somebody is going to get stuck with a big bill. this is one reason why the funds are almost gone, when the cost stays the same for the events but participation drops off you have nothing in the end. putting these things on is not cheap and it takes a lot from those involved, both time and money. I do wish the new Pres. and BOD good luck.

I'm just putting this out there for those involved to think about. 

[xcaliber]

Thanks Snake and Crewsn for some history and somethings to watch out for. Appreciate the imput. I like all this communication. This tells me that a lot of folks are interested. If we got that, we'll keep this thing going.