Our local Garden Railroad Club is facing some budgetary difficulties, and several of us wondered about what might be the norm for club dues, and what the club gives the membership for that expenditure. Our questions might be.
Name of your club?
Location?
Annual amount of dues?
What does club provide/pay for on monthly or regular basis?
What does club provide/pay for an an occaisional or annual basis?
Do you include household members as automatic non voting members?
How do you handle those who join but seldom/never show up?
these questions are framed within a premise that for a club that meets monthly, $4.00 a month would amount to a Dues figure of $48.00 annually! We are attempting to find some sort of happy medium!
Bob here in SE Queensland we refuse to form a club just a loose group of like minded individuals and its works to an extent.
However i do belong to the main LGB and Garden Railway club in Sydney and their fees are A$50.00 PA (about US$38.00) and we get a fair bit for this, it includes all family members and i don’t know about voting rights because i do not want to vote, i would rather complain about things(joking).
We get the best magazine you could imagine, in just about full colour every 2 months, a club running day every month, badges and a lot of other stuff i cant comment on because i do not get involved, being 1000 km away.
However best of all, we own our own die and produce our own track which in its own way, in my opinion is better than any commercial track. ie plenty of brass in the alloy and 3.69 m (12’) lengths. Sleepers (ties) are imported and we buy at about half the retail price.
A lot of personal and technical stuff goes into the magazine as well.
Annual amount of dues? $36/family (two votes) Which reminds me, I still need to pay.
What does club provide/pay for on monthly or regular basis? Monthly meeting with light snack, web-based forum with club events, garden railroad and live steam track at Colorado Railroad Museum (with complimentary membership to same)
What does club provide/pay for an an occaisional or annual basis? Annual summer pic-nic, holiday party, ongoing maintenance at railroad museum, track/supplies for public displays.
Do you include household members as automatic non voting members? I believe so, but I always pay the family rate so both of us vote.
How do you handle those who join but seldom/never show up? Smile all the way to the bank. (And I’m one of those who join but seldom/never show up. That’s what I get for working evenings.)
The garden railroad clubs I’ve belonged to over the years have all had dues between $20 and $30 per year, with family memberships a bit above that.
Which has books tapes and DVD’s which you like me may borrow.
I would agree on the quality of the magazine this would be the most valuable thing as it keeps you in touch with the doings around the place very useful when you are 3000km away like me.
For those that have not guessed I also am a member of the LGB & G club of Aus like Ian
Much of that depends on what the goals of your club are. What do you want to be able to accomplish with the said dues money? That will factor more into the cost than anything else.
I belong to a motorcycle club that is international. Our dues are $20 a month, but that includes family membership, legal assistance, medical assistance, newsletter and emergency funding along with a number of pre-paid for events. $20 a month is cheap for all that.
You have to decide on your own what would be best.
There seems to be only one club listed for the state of Montana, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why I’d want to write to someone in Florida about the club that’s supposed to be for Montana. So I’ll probably just continue on as I have with the few forums I belong to being my club.
As “keeper” of GR’s club directory, club dues/inclusions are as varied as the clubs are. I think part of it depends on your area (how expensive is the cost of living), number of members (more members = more in the kitty), etc. Have you thought about checking other model-railroad clubs in your area, just to get a sense of the going rate? If you go to www.greatesthobby.com you can search clubs of all scales by ZIP code or state.
Bob I can’t agree with you about paring things down, from what i see compared to others your club doesn’t offer a helluva lot, considering the comparislon of dues to ours.
I can’t tell you enough how useful the club magazine and club rail is, I would say inestimable.
As a comparison i was into coastal yachting beofre garden railways and i had to give it up because i retired (finances) and because i was no longer safe in a seaway, as a skipper; because of my knees. It cost $800 per annum to be members of the yacht club and you would need to own a vessel capable of ocean transits, worth in excess of A$100,000.
Our newly formed club which is about 1 year old or so has talked about dues. Which as we are promoting the hobby we find we need $$. We started with $10. which is nothing in this large hobby. All $$ from shows goes into the new club layout.
Theres always that age old Q of , what if the club is no more.? Well some of us will always hang together even if its not a formal club. I’ve been in model trains all my life. I really don’t see me stopping.
Couple of us make the hobby what we want and don’t let things hinder us. I’m not being clickish, just saying we aren’t fly-by-nights.
Many of us who start clubs or help in them give far more than our share, its just the complainers who keep track of nickels and dimes.
PS, I know this maybe off topic. but the MOST IMPORTANT RULE IN largescale is,ITS your railroad and you can do what you want.!!! the active word is DO WHAT YOU WANT.
I know folks who got mad at someone or a club and sold their trains or packed it all up and left.
I can’t even comperhend letting someone control my life like that.
I am in one club that has about 100 memebers. which means about 15 workers, 4 on fire types. I hang with the on fire folks. Theres is some who I have never talked to because they just show up, sit in a corner and leave. Thats fine with me.
I’m a nobody who simply loves his hobby and shares it.
On the face of it i do little for my club, nor do i go to any meetings, as they are mostly 1100 km away; so Marty where does that leave me?
I do not complain, but i do offer a very few suggestions every couple of years and i do write several articles for every publication of the clubs magazine, so again Marty where do i fit in?
We do have a local group although it is not a club and i attend every meeting and i run something at each meeting but i do not contribute anything else, except take my turn at running days!
Vic, I’m surprised that you gave away your secret! Now everybody knows what you look like! You’re that guy that does those cave man commercials on TV!
Thanks to all who answered, I’d suspect we’re gonna hafta raise dues and cut back on expenses so as to stay in the range of the rest of the pack! We’ll set up a spreadsheet and take a look at it!
Not train clubs, but I belong to several antique machinery organiations…Their dues are about $8-15/year single, $12-20/family. One club has started defining what an “active” member means, ie ya gotta show up for at least 3 meetings and 1 work day to vote (or get special dispensation from the directors)…They also wanted to add a classification for “contributing” member at $25/year, but it didn’t fly.
Generally these clubs’ memberships entitles you to a card, a newsletter, and the right to vote. When there is a show you either exhibit, work, or pay to get in like everybody else.
IMO A newsletter is nice, but insurance is another issue, some clubs require you to have your own, some only cover you if you are a member, some specifically exclude coverage on members (known risk). I pay about $24 a year (family) for membership in one national organization because they offer low cost liability insurance
Name of your club? The Four County Society of Model Engineers
Location? Central Maryland. Modular group meeting “round robin” style in members homes
Annual amount of dues? 5 bucks a month, cheap!
What does club provide/pay for on monthly or regular basis? Personal web page
What does club provide/pay for an an occaisional or annual basis? Free admission to the Great Scale Train shows at Timonium MD (Where we exhibit out layout!)
Do you include household members as automatic non voting members? No
How do you handle those who join but seldom/never show up? Handle it? If they pay thier dues, we encourage it! [(-D]
