October 24, 2005 – Hi everyone, aA quick note about the 2005/2006 membership fees for the Burnaby Velodrome. There’s been some poor communication on our part as the Board (namely me in providing timely information on the website) about the 2005/2006 fees. Hopefully this email will correct that.

Full membership fees are as-is, when last decided at the AGM:
-Adults $375.00 + GST
-Juniors $275.00 + GST
-Out of Town Membership $225.00 + GST

-Tandem Blindsports – Pilot $275.00 + GST
-Tandem Blindsports – Stoker $137.50 + GST

-Associate Membership $50.00 + GST

-Drop-ins $15 (incl GST)
-Rentals $15 (incl GST)

-Family Memberships discount: 10% for 2, 15% for 3, 20% for 4

The website should reflect this now.

http://www.burnabyvelodrome.ca/membership.html

If someone spots an error somewhere online, please let me know.

And you can pay online now:

http://www.karelo.com/enter_res.php?&BID=79

Finally, a word about our membership fees and some commonly asked
questions.

Q: Why is the full membership so expensive?

A: The past few years we have moved the membership fees up and down slightly, from a $400+ down to $350 and back up to $375 this year. Our membership fees make up a significant portion of our revenue. Until other sources of revenue are found (fundraising, sponsorship, events, programs) this will continue to be the case. Having said that, our $110,000/year rent is a large expense, one that memberships don’t even cover 1/3 of our costs. If we were to try to keep the velodrome open every year from membership dues alone, a full membership should cost in the range of $1500/person.
So in relation to the real costs of the facility, $375 compared to $1500 isn’t expensive. In relation to a month’s rent cheque, groceries, new bike equipment and the purchases that you’re facing on a regular basis, you bet it’s expensive. You can do a lot of things with $400, other than ride around in circles a few nights/week in the winter.

Want to make it cheaper for everyone, yourself included? Volunteer on a committee dedicated to writing grant proposals. Spend 10 or 100 hours volunteering every year to secure the financial well-being of the facility. Sit in on a race event committee that generates a ton of money for the club. Find a corporate sponsor. There’s all sorts of ways you can help reduce membership fees. Just ask any Board of Director member and we’ll get you started on that. We’d be glad for your assistance, no matter how big or small.

Q: Isn’t it cheaper to buy an associate membership and do drop-ins?

A: Depends on how often you come. It is a deliberate mechanism to handle riders who, after having completed 3 Learn to Rides, aren’t 100% sure they want to fork over the $375 right away. It was not intended to be a mechanism for full members (ie: those that ride a lot) to “game the system” by determining which is cheaper. We would prefer the $375 obviously, instead of $50 plus 10 $15 drop-ins throughout the winter. But again we recognize that people are interested in what’s the cheapest option for them to pay. Why pay more when I could pay less? I’d be stupid to pay a full membership.

To address this, we’re attempting to tie a few more benefits to the full membership at the track, other than “you’re able to ride one of two indoor velodromes in Canada, one of 3 in North America for a *heavily subsidized cost* and you should be happy that we’re not charging $1500”

This includes 10% discounts on our weekend events. This will also include some preferred parking of bikes in the future (numbered stalls, nicer spots going to full members, etc). And some other perks that we’re working on at the Board right now.

Q: Why don’t you guys do monthly payments? I’d probably take out a full membership if I could pay in installments…

A: As mentioned at the AGM, the management of monthly payments for members is a level of organization we simply have yet to achieve. It’s a great target, and ultimately it would be great to have barcoded ski-pass type things that hooked into a big integrated database to know if you’ve paid, etc. But we’re not there… yet…

In the meantime, we do offer a credit mechanism. It’s called Karelo and your credit card. Visa charges 18 or 26% per month to extend you credit. How long it takes you to pay off your Visa bill is up to you. A full membership is available at the click of a mouse online.

Summary:

I hope this clarifies a few commonly asked points about membership and fees. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. OUR COLLECTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS GOALS with regards to memberships and fees is to

a) ensure we are collecting a significant amount of revenue to pay our significant rent costs

b) make it as “affordable as possible” without impacting goal A above so that new people can get on the track and they’re not scared away by outrageous costs

c) long-term provide a few different methods of payments to meet the ridership’s needs around how they use the track, it’s value to them, their cashflow abilities, etc.

d) be competitively priced as a recreational activity (full Cypress Alpine pass for the season is $600+, Vancouver community centre gym pass is $315/year, etc).

e) provide benefits for full members, so it’s not seen as simply a cost that encourages people to pay for the drop-ins

On that note, I’ll remind you again to register online:

http://www.karelo.com/enter_res.php?&BID=79

We’re in need of those funds now to finish our construction project and appreciate every dollar we get from you.

Thanks and see you on the boards.

Cheers,

Gordon Ross