<CORSA Chapters> Membership question -- 100% vs Not. Chapter level

[Bruce Schug]

On Dec 14, 2009, at 3:58 PM, tim mahler wrote:

> Simple pol.
>
> Does your chapter require CORSA membership?

No.

> Have you discussed 100% CORSA membership in you chapter meetings?

Yes.

> Would your chapter support 100% CORSA membership?
>
>

I don't know. If necessary, I think it would.


Elaboration

We haver struggled with this issue over the years. In the beginning,  
CORSA membership was optional. Some of the board felt we should strive  
for more CORSA membership. We instituted, what I thought was a good  
policy. New CORSA SC members had one year to join CORSA. This gave  
them the opportunity to see what Corvairing was about - our club and  
CORSA. After a year, they were required to join CORSA. I think this  
was started in 1992.

We grandfathered a few members through, but over the years, they all  
dropped out and we were all-CORSA, except for those who had belonged  
for less than a year. We lost few members because of this requirement.  
Most just went ahead and joined at the start. Most others, joined  
within the year. The ones that didn't join CORSA, and also didn't re- 
join CORSA SC, probably wouldn't have re-joined CORSA SC anyway, they  
just didn't have the interest.

A lot of the success or failure of a policy like this depends on how  
it is handled; how it is presented to the membership. Over time, we  
had a couple of Membership Chairmen who, in my opinion, didn't handle  
it correctly. When members joined, they weren't told of the CORSA  
requirement. Their reasoning was, they just didn't want to scare them  
off by telling them they'd "have" to join CORSA after a year, as if  
this was some terrible fate. YOU CAN'T SELL SOMETHING THAT YOU DON'T  
BELIEVE IN. They didn't like our policy because they didn't want to  
"kick anyone out of the club" because they chose not to join CORSA.

I believe this illustrates the problem in a nutshell. People should  
have been told that they "got to" join CORSA. Joining CORSA should be  
looked upon as a privilege, an opportunity, a good thing. Instead,  
some look at it as a burden. Getting to support the hobby is a good  
thing, not some horrible fate you must endure.

In reading other's answers about this, I'm amazed at those who think  
mandatory CORSA membership would destroy their chapter. I can't fathom  
that. What's wrong with this picture? Why wouldn't their members  
support CORSA? What this really means is, why wouldn't their members  
support the hobby; support us? How has CORSA membership been presented  
to these members to make them feel this way? How is it that one  
chapter has 100% CORSA membership and that's just the way it is. While  
another says it would destroy them. How is CORSA being presented to  
those two chapters? What's wrong here?

Back to our club. So, some learned during the year or when next year's  
dues were due that they now "had" to join CORSA. We did lose a few new  
members, although I don't think we lost any that were actually active  
and would ever really contribute to the club.

But a couple of years ago, the issue came to a head. An active member  
threatened to drop out as they didn't think we should "force" people  
to join CORSA. Another member stated he would join CORSA, but just  
didn't like being told what to do. (What an attitude!) There was much  
discussion. An active member told me he knew of people waiting to join  
our club if we removed the CORSA requirement.

Finally, in 2008, we revised the CORSA membership requirement. Now,  
members have to belong to CORSA or pay an extra $10, which we send to  
CORSA. I think this is a reasonable solution, although actually  
harsher on new members than our old policy. Before you could join  
CORSA SC for $15 and had a year to decide if Corvairing was for you.  
Now, it's $25 unless you are a CORSA member.

Since enacting this new requirement, we have gotten several new  
members. But I don't think any of them joined because we had changed  
our position on CORSA membership. Most new members just go ahead and  
join CORSA. Many join it first, then find out about us and join CORSA  
SC. Currently, we have 6 members, out of 50, who are not CORSA members  
and will have to pay $25 instead of $15. Some of these were CORSA  
members who have let their CORSA membership lapse. One has paid the  
$25. My guess is one more might pay the $25 and re-join. I suspect the  
other 4 will not renew, not because it costs $25, but because they  
have lost interest (my interpretation). None are active members. (I  
will clarify our membership numbers as I know some clubs count  
differently. We currently have 50 member units. By my count, this  
represents 80 adults)

There are two theories about CORSA membership. One, obviously is that  
everyone should join in the beginning. The second, which some of our  
members bought into, was that we should welcome new members into our  
club, looking at our club as an entry point to Corvairing, ultimately  
leading to CORSA membership. That theory holds that once a chapter  
member it is "up to" CORSA to show the new member what they had to  
offer and why they should join CORSA. One way to do that is to give  
new members a Communique and tell them about the benefits of CORSA and  
what they do for us.

I think part of the problem is simply that we (all of us, not just  
CORSA SC) have members who really can't afford to be involved with a  
collector car. The truth hurts, but that's the way I see it. I'm not  
talking about the temporarily unemployed, I'm talking about those who  
are simply at a low economic level. Believe me, I know a lot about  
poverty and I know that anyone close to it, shouldn't really be  
fooling around with Corvairs. I hate to be harsh, but they should  
simply be concerned with providing the basic necessities for  
themselves and/or their families. Of course, these folks also can't  
afford to smoke, drink, watch cable TV, etc.

Insurance - a few comments about the CORSA insurance. I'm amazed to  
read that some of you don't see the value in it because you don't have  
"moving events" in your club. What the heck do you do, just eat dinner  
together and read the minutes from last months meeting? It's no wonder  
your membership is dwindling. Maybe we don't agree on what a "moving  
event" is. It's any club event that involves driving. This includes  
parades. tours, etc. Without moving events we wouldn't exist, I don't  
think. Our 2009 calendar included: an economy run, a road trip, an  
autocross, the Tail of the Dragon driving event, a rallye, and a  
parade. Some events you just can't have without an insurance  
certificate, such as an autocross, a mall show or any event where  
you're using another's facilities. I assure you, we aren't going to  
put ourselves in a position to be sued by not having insurance. I'd  
like to see a club price a million dollar policy for an autocross on  
their own.

So, what would happen to CORSA SC if CORSA membership was mandatory?  
We'd have to revise our club documents, probably the By-Laws and  
Policy, maybe the Constitution too. In so doing, we'd essentially be  
voting on being a CORSA chapter or not. I can't imagine us dropping  
our CORSA chapter status.

A problem with 100% CORSA membership - When we last revised our  
policies, I had an interesting conversation with the president of a  
100% chapter. I asked how much flack they got from their 100% stance.  
He said there wasn't much, that was just the way it was. But then, he  
admitted that they had some "associate" members who just got the  
newsletter and didn't belong to CORSA.

We have something similar. We have two members who are widows of  
former, active members. They still wish to receive the newsletter to  
see what's going on even through they never come to anything. I don't  
feel like making them pay the $25 non-CORSA member dues, so I asked  
the board to make them "Honorary" members and not charge them  
anything. Both prefer to pay their own way, so they send a check for  
$15 which I accept as a donation to the club. If there was a 100%  
rule, I think clubs would still have "members" like this, that might  
be "off the books" or something.

I applaud the board for discussing different membership categories.  
I'm not sure there is much demand for a CORSA membership that doesn't  
include the Communique, but it's worth exploring.

If CORSA does institute 100% membership, I think they should look at  
doing it on a "tops down" basis. That is, chapters would no longer  
collect dues. Members would pay dues to CORSA, who would send some of  
the money to a local chapter of the members choice. I think this is  
how most other organizations handle it.

But, what about those who belong to several clubs? I guess they could  
pay the other clubs themselves or perhaps, they'd check a box on a  
CORSA member app for each chapter they wished to belong to and pay  
more for each chapter; easy enough, huh?

Other things I think the board should be considering:

1. Advertising. You can't convince me CORSA can't get ad dollars.

2. Stop giving things away free. VirtualVairs, FastVairs, etc. Perhaps  
a low-cost non-Communique membership which included basic services  
including these would be good.



Bruce

Bruce W. Schug
Treasurer, Membership Chairman
CORSA South Carolina
CORSA member since 1980
Performance Corvair Group
Stock Corvair Group
VirtualVairs
FastVairs
'67 Monza, "67AC140"
bwschug at att.net