I went to a club meeting last night and gave an "ARRL Update" presentation to the group. Below is an interesting comment from a member that I thought I'd pass along to ODV. I guess this is for A&F members to think about, but is also food for thought for Barry and maybe others at HQ. We are looking at a huge deficit in revenue verses expenses this year and this is something to consider. It also may be an insignificant cost verses the benefit received, I don't know. Thanks for the bandwidth. 73; Mike W7VO
---------- Original Message ---------- From: Doug Foran <dforan@spiretech.com> To: w7vo@arrl.net Date: February 28, 2020 at 10:50 AM Subject: Huge Cost-Cutting Suggestion for ARRL
Hi, Mike,
Thanks for your excellent presentation at the DX meeting last night. I was the guy (visitor) who talked about measurable objectives, strategic planning, growth-share matrix, and cost-cutting.
You said I should contact the director, but I think it would have more impact if you reached out to him, plus I only have a dialup modem Internet connection with an obsolete browser. SEE MY SUGGESTION BELOW.
You mentioned that ARRL is running a $1.1 million deficit, so I "chimed in" with a significant cost-cutting suggestion for ARRL...Tell them to stop sending FOUR membership renewal reminders over a 6-month period prior to a member's expiration dates. It's a total waste of paper, four-color printing, scoring, perforating, folding, envelope stuffing, and postage. I always wait until the last day to phone them and renew over the phone. The ARRL could eliminate this expense by just e-mailing members ONCE, a month before expiration. Also, I don't think the ARRL needs to provide a free gift upon renewal of a membership. Huge expense for printing and shipping those books. Agreed?
Keep up the great work.
73 Doug WA7LET