We held a Division Town Hall meeting last night via Zoom. I was asked about rising costs and dues, etc. I candidly explained the possibilities. All the feed back was positive on charging extra for print editions. 73, Art -- Arthur I. Zygielbaum, K0AIZ ARRL Midwest Division Director Member, Executive Committee Member, Programs and Services Committee Member, ARRL Foundation Board ARRL - The National Association for Amateur Radio® On 3/23/2023 6:12 PM, Michael Ritz wrote:
At least you know that we are reading your messages, David! That's not a bad thing. ;-)
I haven't received any member feedback yet on the subject of dues increases, but many here on the left coast may have not gotten their printed April QSTs yet either.
73; Mike W7VO
On 03/23/2023 3:54 PM Minster, David NA2AA (CEO) <dminster@arrl.org> wrote:
I’m sorry, this was my mistake. I was trying to inform the board and didn’t expect that my email would generate any responses, let alone start a debate.
This is a work in process. There is nothing to forecast or get excited about because the work is ongoing.
What I will say is that based on all of the feedback I’ve received, */my current thinking/* is to take dues from $49 to $54 (or maybe $59) and offer all printed formats of our publications, not just QEX and NCJ, as ala carte offerings at the $25 (QST / OTA) and $20 (QEX / NCJ) levels annually. Bill mentioned CQ Magazine prices. That’s just for a printed magazine! They don’t even do their own contests any more let alone all the other things we do. And they can’t prevent going broke every 5 years or so.
Before the A&F meeting I need to play out some scenarios along with the CFO and the revenue subcommittee, where we’ve been discussing this since last year. What we know is that when we’ve lost members due to an increase in dues, the loss is temporary and most return within 24 months. Once I have the results from the May survey, we’ll have a much better understanding of how members are thinking about it and may be able to forecast with some degree of confidence the impact then.
I’m not exactly clear what a Return on Investment of a dues increase is when looking to reduce deficit spending. If the question is: “What does a, say, 5 year financial forecast look like with the new revenue structure and some factoring in of inflation, no new spending initiatives, and maintaining the current products and services for members?” that is something we will look at.
In terms of value? My conversations with members have shown that the thing they value the most from ARRL is QST. Period. Only one email out of going on 50 at this point even mentioned advocacy and FCC. Some mentioned our awards and contests. The lab reviews, in QST, was also mentioned.
There are many benefits that members just take for granted and expect will always be there. They don’t place a value on them, but take them away? Then there will be, as Dick likes to say, “Hell to pay with the members!” At the end of the day, everyone has to get their heads wrapped firmly around this simple fact: we sell a $49 product. That’s it. That’s a McDonalds meal for 4 or a tank of gas.
I pay $89 for my AOPA membership, and I’m not even a pilot. I am on auto-renew and have been for probably 20 years because I never expect to not be a member. What value do I get? Their magazines, their amazing accident investigation videos, support for an industry I love, and now even Sierra who we stole away from them!
YouTubers are asking for, and getting, contributions from fans through Patreon and are doing quite well with them. We know EXACTLY what Dave Casler is getting from his YouTube videos because he showed us the reports. We are a deal. We are an outstanding value for all the things that members enjoy – what they want and get, and what they’ve come to expect.
Again, this was a long email, and I apologize for starting up something that was intended to be nothing more than just an update. I appreciate the feedback, and am integrating all of it into the process.
Ultimately, the board must be deeply involved in every aspect of this decision. I am trying my best to get you all the information you need, including through this membership wide survey, so that you’re not making decisions based on anecdotal information, guessing, opinion, or complaints from the latest hothead that jumps you on an email or at an event.
Thanks
David
*From:* arrl-odv <arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org> *On Behalf Of *Michael Ritz *Sent:* Thursday, March 23, 2023 5:58 PM *To:* arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org *Subject:* [arrl-odv:34680] Re: Member feedback
I will echo what Ria has stated. The important word here is "value". In tough economic times that word often becomes the difference in spending what many hams consider to be a completely discretionary expense; ARRL membership. The less perceived value in what we provide the market, the less likelihood of renewal, and the associated loss in revenue.
My further input on all of this, FWIW:
Please keep in mind that MANY of our members are now of retirement age, (or close to it), probably living on fixed incomes, and likely making much less than when they were working. The aging situation is most likely worse than it was during our last dues increase under Gallagher.
The first question I have, (not knowing what the discussions have been in the "private" A&F meetings), is: What is the predicted ROI over time for a dues increase? If we increase dues $10 a year, how many members are we predicted to lose year-over-year? How much additional revenue will we gain over time to offset the predicted $2M plus budget deficit the next two years? Will it even make a dent?
If we increase dues $20, or even $30 a year, how many more members will choose not to renew than at $10 a year, and what is the offset to the predicted deficit in that case? Is it possible that we will lose enough members and the associated revenue that it would have been better to not have done anything at all?
The next question is: Has anybody done a full recap analysis of what happened the last time we did a major dues increase under Gallagher? How many members did we lose the first few years, and how much revenue was gained, year-over-year? How long was the gap before membership numbers fully recovered?
My plea: There are lot of very business savy minds in the A&F committee, and also on the EC. I would urge that those minds to get together, fully understand and mathematically analyze all the risks and benefits with predictive trend charts and graphs before deciding exactly on what the increase should be, and when it should be implemented. Maybe that full analysis has already been done by staff and shared with A&F, I don't know.
Thanks for listening. (assuming you made it this far.) ;-)
73;
Mike
W7VO
On 03/23/2023 12:06 PM Jairam, Ria, N2RJ (Dir, HD) <n2rj@arrl.org> wrote:
Personally I think it is how the question is worded - members should not be under the illusion that we are going to give a discount for print opt out. Some have been banging the drum for this. Expectations are important. We have to make sure we aren't inadvertently push polling for a desired result because it will come back to bite us.
Yes I agree it will cause a loss of membership, but I disagree that they will come back. There has to be value for what is being paid and many members I've spoken to have said that they don't see the value in $49 today, so I can't imagine they would be happy with a dues increase and may simply leave, and leave silently. Value is the key here.
What does an ARRL membership get you? For many it's a magazine subscription. Take that away and for many there is no benefit. Harsh, but it is reality. Personally I don't think we are there yet, where the non magazine benefits outweigh the magazine subscription.
There are also going to be members who ask if we have committed to any fiscal austerity measures.
The other part that was implied - changing life member benefits and maxim society benefits has to be done carefully. This, IMO will be worse than a dues increase on annual members.
A careful balancing act, for sure.
Ria
N2RJ
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*From:*arrl-odv <arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org> on behalf of Baker, Mickey, N4MB (Dir, SE) <mbaker@arrl.org> *Sent:* Thursday, March 23, 2023 2:57:45 PM *To:* Minster, David NA2AA (CEO) <dminster@arrl.org>; arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org<arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> *Subject:* [arrl-odv:34678] Re: Member feedback
Same feedback from the 30 or so at the Stuart Fl this weekend.
Best advice I can give is to make it simple.
Maybe a small increase with no print mag, $ for print mag.
We ARE GOING TO LOSE membership. They will come back.
My concern is print advertisers. We need to be selling the "live link" in the ad that they can direct as they need - all they need to do is get the click.
Mickey N4MB
Get Outlook for iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
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*From:*arrl-odv <arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org> on behalf of Minster, David NA2AA (CEO) <dminster@arrl.org> *Sent:* Thursday, March 23, 2023 2:52:35 PM *To:* arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org<arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> *Subject:* [arrl-odv:34677] Member feedback
There’s now a new winner for responses to my monthly column, far outpacing the emotional feedback to the first Diversity & Inclusion piece.
That winner is the April column on making a tough decision together on the possibility of a dues increase.
I have received dozens of emails. And the themes are pretty consistent and all supportive: a reasonable increase is OK and people are willing to pay for printed QST. Is this group statistically relevant? Perhaps not. Is this group potentially biased? Well, they all think enough of ARRL to write the CEO, so maybe. The real details will come from the survey in May.
One thing is that there have been questions that I have answered back – and even asked the authors questions to help me understand their points better. I am going to create a page on the website that will contain these Q&A’s for other members to read in advance of the survey.
When that page is active, I will share the URL with you so that you can use it when addressing members in your Division Town Hall meetings or at in person events.
If you have received feedback via email, please forward me the email, without removing email headers and signatures please.
I will be working with A&F on an overall strategy to present and gain full approval at the July Board meeting for a January 2024 implementation.
Thanks
David
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