Club Growth

Our little club is doing well.

Membership up 50% over 6 months. Not saying much - we went from 8 active
members to 13 active members.

We still fly ancient Bergfalkes, but we have a couple of newer glass ships.
Growth has been "lumpy" but we are attracting the 25-30 year olds.
1* low time PPL who took an intro and said - this is the way to learn
stick and rudder skills.
2* 25 year old who recently graduated university. His father flies, and
now he has time to learn.
1* Early 20s lady - DAD is a COM pilot, she has taken a few flights over
the last few years, now has a job that allows her to finance getting her
license.
1* ~30 year old Local who saw the gliders overhead for afew years, and
eventually wandered into the hangar...

Dumped the static website and moved to Facebook. Started posting videos
and pictures of what we do. Lot higher qualified interest generated -
the people we reach have some connection.

Biggest change for us was to get the club operations slick, new launch
trailer with all the kit/documentation in it. Now when they get to the
airfield, we are set up to make it a more engaging and slick experience.
There is a cluster of chairs under the shade awning...

So you might say we took a customer centric approach. Made it organised,
accessible and pleasant for family, friends and visitors. We are getting
new members from all three groups.

Bruce

On 2017-01-25 20:07, Christopher Schrader wrote:
Is anyone experiencing a resurgence in club growth and if so, could you share the following with me (as well as any any other suggestions you might have for other clubs):

How would you quantify any recent growth?

How long have you been experiencing such growth?

Do you believe such growth was a one-off scenario or do you believe it is sustainable (and why)?

What factor(s) do you think lead to such growth?

Do you attribute any of it to club member participation in social media? If so, please describe.

What is the demographic makeup of these new members (i.e., age, profession, are they a transition pilot, do you know of any other hobbies/interests they have)?

What are you doing to facilitate training and retain these new members?

Are you doing anything in particular to recruit GenX and Millenials into your club?

Thank you for your responses!

Best regards,

Chris Schrader, SSA Director Region 6
Clubs & Chapters Committee


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771

On Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 6:27:28 AM UTC-5, BruceGreeff wrote:
Our little club is doing well.

Membership up 50% over 6 months. Not saying much - we went from 8 active
members to 13 active members.

We still fly ancient Bergfalkes, but we have a couple of newer glass ships.
Growth has been "lumpy" but we are attracting the 25-30 year olds.
1* low time PPL who took an intro and said - this is the way to learn
stick and rudder skills.
2* 25 year old who recently graduated university. His father flies, and
now he has time to learn.
1* Early 20s lady - DAD is a COM pilot, she has taken a few flights over
the last few years, now has a job that allows her to finance getting her
license.
1* ~30 year old Local who saw the gliders overhead for afew years, and
eventually wandered into the hangar...

Dumped the static website and moved to Facebook. Started posting videos
and pictures of what we do. Lot higher qualified interest generated -
the people we reach have some connection.

Biggest change for us was to get the club operations slick, new launch
trailer with all the kit/documentation in it. Now when they get to the
airfield, we are set up to make it a more engaging and slick experience.
There is a cluster of chairs under the shade awning...

So you might say we took a customer centric approach. Made it organised,
accessible and pleasant for family, friends and visitors. We are getting
new members from all three groups.
--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771

Hi Bruce - what country are you operating in?
Uli