Gang --

Here is what I sent to my Division a while back, mostly built upon on the "Benefits" memo that A&F and staff sent out several months ago.

Feedback received from across my Division was supportive; nobody has complained to date.

Staff -- and most appropriately *us* -- getting word about a dues increase out to the membership would not be difficult.

===== Candid heads up: Likely ARRL Dues Increase =====

One of the most difficult decisions a membership organization faces and
is a dues increase.  Both members and the organization want maximum
value for a reasonable cost. ARRL is no different; for the last 101
years, we have used all of their skills, expertise and resources for
the benefit of you, our members. ARRL membership supports the
development, growth, and advocacy of the Amateur Radio service in the
US and worldwide.

ARRL's last dues increase was 14 years ago, back in 2001. A great deal
of membership organizations across the country, citing rising costs and
slow recovery from an economic recession, have raised their dues in
recent years; some have raised their dues multiple times. ARRL chose to
postpone dues increases during this period, opting instead to control
spending and cut costs. Since 2001, we have implemented many operating
efficiencies that have contributed to reducing our staff at ARRL
Headquarters by 15% while either maintaining or expanding our level of
service to you. We have developed additional giving opportunities, such
as the Diamond Club, for those members with the means and desire to
support ARRL beyond dues.

ARRL's operating expenses back in 2001 were just over $13 million. In
2014, expenses were $15.5 million, an increase of just 19% over the
past fourteen years, considerably less than the US rate of inflation
from 2001 to 2014 (which was 32%). A detailed explanation of ARRL's
budget and expenditures over these years is available in each year's
Annual Report. All reports since 2002 are available at
www.arrl.org/annual-reports.

Candidly, as of 2015, the economic realities have caught up with us.
While ARRL has done a good job of keeping our costs down internally and
giving you the best services we can for your money, other factors are
simply out of our control. Everyone's costs have gone up in the last
fourteen years and, for ARRL, those have included utilities, insurance,
postage, raw materials such as the paper your issues of QST are printed
on, and many others. We have done as much as we can to hold off a dues
increase for over a decade, but one has now become a necessity, not an
option.

ARRL's Administrative and Finance committee has conducted recent
discussions and budget exercises associated with a prospective dues
increase, which may be to the tune of $10.  The committee is expected
to forward its findings and a likely recommendation to the full ARRL
Board for careful consideration next month at the July board meeting.

I take no pleasure in announcing a possible dues increase; however you
deserve a heads up of the likelihood, and it is my fiduciary
responsibility to ensure that the League remains on sound footing --
both organizationally as well as financially -- so that it will
continue to provide the programs, services, promotion, advocacy, and
defense of amateur radio interests you've come to expect for many more
years to come.