A proposal to increase membership, cross-country pilots,competitors,and world champions (USA).
On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 9:51:40 AM UTC-6, Evan Ludeman wrote:
On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 9:26:08 AM UTC-4, Bill D wrote:
Both on the ground and in the air, our image is critical to success. The European model is a great place to start - then improve on it.
Okay, fine. What makes the European model go, financially? How would we do this, here in the USA?
-Evan
I don't think anyone has all the answers but I have uncovered two.
One, the European clubs get a lot of "sweat equity" from their members who feel an obligation to help the club in whatever way their skills allow. That may be helping with glider maintenance or just mowing the grass - whatever needs done. I've heard it put this way, "Every day, try to leave the glider operation in better shape than when you arrived." That effort just makes it a nice place to be. An example is Elke Fuglsang-Petersen whose writing is often seen at the Soaring Cafe. She obtained a parachute riggers license so she could repack her clubs parachutes.
The second is intensive use of winches which if done well can create a substantial cash flow that can help support the operation.
A third may be that in some countries, tax laws encourage companies to donate equipment. One sees late model Mercedes vehicles used to retrieve winch ropes which, I understand, were donated to the club. In another case, I heard of a club needing a new winch engine. In a few days they found a new Mercedes V10 industrial diesel sitting on their doorstep. In the US we could make something like that work with 501(c)(3) incorporation.
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