To discuss: replace fixed fees with donations
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Tom Brown
Dec 27, 2012, 12:41:05 AM12/27/12
to San Francisco Underwater Hockey google group
I'd like a propose a big change to the way we charge our members. If you happy with your paypal subscription: thank you, you may stop reading. If you want to discuss this as a group in person come to the member meeting. We're picking the time at http://www.doodle.com/32gy7mniqnaat7mt (I added some Monday evenings when the pool is expected to be closed).
Summary: Instead of having fixed fees we have suggested donations amounts. This solves many problems with the existing fee structure and should reduce the amount of work needed of the treasurer. There is a risk that revenue plummets but the club has enough saved to cover our pool rental for a year. The suggested donation amounts will be lower than the current fees.
The current fees (http://www.sfuwh.org/club/pay) are a compromise between a fair cost for members and simplicity for organizers while assuring we can pay the bills. They are way too complicated to describe in one sentence. The paypal subscriptions have worked very well for people who consistently attend at least ~7 practices every quarter but poorly for people who attend in bursts such as Amy (what country is she in this month?) and Elaine (welcome back!). This has caused surprise and confusion. Additionally there is a wide range in the amount players can and fairly should contribute. We have poor students and rich techies. Casey travels a long way, Jakub spends many hours a week coaching kids and Greg volunteered to ref league games when he couldn't play. There may be some people who don't contribute their fair share, but I don't think they will hurt us significantly.
Proposed changes: The treasurer publicly tracks each player's attendance and amount contributed but only records debt for things like tournament fees. I expect everyone to contribute as they play and the treasurer may remind slackers to contribute something. We can setup automatic payments to fit all budgets. People already signed up on a subscription can leave everything as is. Existing positive balances will become a one-time donation and people with negative balances will be reminded to pay up before we forgive it. Suggested donations will be $10/practice or $20-40/month based on last year's income and expenses.
Summary: Instead of having fixed fees we have suggested donations amounts. This solves many problems with the existing fee structure and should reduce the amount of work needed of the treasurer. There is a risk that revenue plummets but the club has enough saved to cover our pool rental for a year. The suggested donation amounts will be lower than the current fees.
The current fees (http://www.sfuwh.org/club/pay) are a compromise between a fair cost for members and simplicity for organizers while assuring we can pay the bills. They are way too complicated to describe in one sentence. The paypal subscriptions have worked very well for people who consistently attend at least ~7 practices every quarter but poorly for people who attend in bursts such as Amy (what country is she in this month?) and Elaine (welcome back!). This has caused surprise and confusion. Additionally there is a wide range in the amount players can and fairly should contribute. We have poor students and rich techies. Casey travels a long way, Jakub spends many hours a week coaching kids and Greg volunteered to ref league games when he couldn't play. There may be some people who don't contribute their fair share, but I don't think they will hurt us significantly.
Proposed changes: The treasurer publicly tracks each player's attendance and amount contributed but only records debt for things like tournament fees. I expect everyone to contribute as they play and the treasurer may remind slackers to contribute something. We can setup automatic payments to fit all budgets. People already signed up on a subscription can leave everything as is. Existing positive balances will become a one-time donation and people with negative balances will be reminded to pay up before we forgive it. Suggested donations will be $10/practice or $20-40/month based on last year's income and expenses.
Tom Brown
Jan 7, 2013, 1:40:41 PM1/7/13
to San Francisco Underwater Hockey google group
I've heard lots of support for this change and no real complaints so I'm making it effective starting the beginning of 2013. We'll still talk about it at the member meeting and can make changes. Please take care of debts you have under the old scheme, listed at http://sfuwh.org/club/balance
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