Membership Ideas Meeting

[Kosk]

What: Open meeting to discuss ideas and solutions for recruiting and retaining more MORC members.
When: 6:00pm - Tuesday February 27th, 2007
Where: Dunn Bro's Coffee on University Ave and Hwy 280
Who: Anybody and everybody

Why: To save the trails. MTBing continues to grow in this state. The milage of singletrack increases every year, as well as the number of pairs of tires that roll across them. Unfortunately, the number of people maintaining these trails is not growing fast enough to keep up. In order for MORC to continue to gain new opporunities and maintain the existing opportunities for all mountain bikers, we need to increase the number of people involved.

This meeting will focus on creative ways we can recruit more mountain bikers to become regular volunteers and MORC members, and how we can retain a higher percentage of current members. Please join us. If you have any questions or cannot attend, but would still like to get involved, send a PM or email to either Brandon Parr (username=bpblondie) or Pete Koski (username=Kosk).

Hope to see you there,

Pete Koski
MORC Board Member / Marketing Dude

[nord0306]

Pete, I will try to make that meeting.
Adam

[jitterjepp]

What: Open meeting to discuss ideas and solutions for recruiting and retaining more MORC members.

I can't make it there but I've suggested this before and hope to see it at some point. Have the membership forms at Morc events (I.E. The bike Expo, races...) Maybe I've never noticed it but with all the events that I see Morc at I've yet to see this happening. Maybe it is happening and I've just never noticed it.
If not....
Have pens and membership forms and take money and checks. Tell them the membership numbers show real desire and support for mountain bike trails and that the money gets them built.
It's easier to sell something to someone when they are standing in front of you than it is to get them to go to your website later and pull out a credit card. Look at all the garbage people buy at garage sales. How many of those people would actually go on the internet and buy some of that garbage? (Not that Morc is a garage sale. Just making a point that people buy what they can see and when its right in from of them.)
Memberships are something you have to sell too and they are harder to sell than things people and take home and ride around in the neighborhood on too.

If nothing else get email addresses at functions and ask people if you can email them later about Morc memberships or Morc membership information. Then later send all the people a nice email explaining "The trails... and memberships....." with a link to the "become a member" registration page with the paypal box or what ever system you are using.

I think the Bike Expo is a great place to do this because you are going to see a lot of people who you see ride the trails that don't come to races or know much about who is building the trails or where the money is coming from.
For all they know the state is paying all the volunteers a wage to go out with rakes and shovels.

"Oh we love bicycling! I ride those trails with my kids all the time but I never knew who built them. Sure I'll donate and support this...."
Anyway... my 2 cents.

[jitterjepp]

I just wanted to throw another couple things in there on selling memberships or non-profits getting $$. How many people here write out a check every year and send it to the salvation army? Ok. Now, how many throw a five in here and there when they are walking out of the grocery store around christmas? It's being somewhere that does it. Its the physical presence and being obvious about asking for money and support by ringing that bell in a santa suit. I've done a couple thousand bids for construction projects. The only time you can really sell anything over the phone or internet is when it's 8:30 at night and buckets of rain are coming in through a giant hole in the roof.

Second thing... How many people click on a link to look at something like trails or jobs or whatever and as soon as they see the "give me money" page or membership page end up hitting the back button to go back to the google search page?

Anyway...my other two cents to make it four penny opinion.

[bike>>rider]

How about offering escalating schwag for increasing membership levels?

Base membership - MORC sticker

$50 membership - MORC socks

$100 membership - MORC t-shirt

$300 membership - MORC jersey

Or something similar, you get the idea.

Not special "I donated this much" stuff -- just the normal stuff that MORC is already selling. Might convince existing members to re-up at a higher level and bring more $$ to the trail-building coffers.

[TML]

Thanks for getting this rolling Pete!

I'll see if I can swing over there after work.

[ryno lite]

I'm pretty sure I can make this meeting, especially since you scheduled it only a few blocks from my work. Thanks for that!

[Danimal]

Here is my 2 cents since I will not be able to make the meeting.

We need to be more "on top of" existing memberships. I renew every year in February because I know that is my time to renew. I never receive anything in the mail advising me that my membership is going to expire. Also when I do renew, I don't receive anything in the mail for months, no decals, no "thanks for renewing", nothing.

My first year I thought no one even cares, no one seems to be steering the ship. Then I got more involve in MORC and I realized it was a logistical/computer nightmare to track this stuff. Especially on a limited budget. So not much of a big deal since I know the reasons why. But still many new members might not know the reasons why and may fall under this presumption that we don't care about them.

Also I join because I believe in what MORC is doing. Some nice schwag would be nice also (free advertising for MORC) in the form of a t-shirt or something. Decals are always good.

[bpblondie]

Just a reminder that this meeting is tomorrow night.

-Brandon


What: Open meeting to discuss ideas and solutions for recruiting and retaining more MORC members.
When: 6:00pm - Tuesday February 27th, 2007
Where: Dunn Bro's Coffee on University Ave and Hwy 280
Who: Anybody and everybody

Why: To save the trails. MTBing continues to grow in this state. The milage of singletrack increases every year, as well as the number of pairs of tires that roll across them. Unfortunately, the number of people maintaining these trails is not growing fast enough to keep up. In order for MORC to continue to gain new opporunities and maintain the existing opportunities for all mountain bikers, we need to increase the number of people involved.

This meeting will focus on creative ways we can recruit more mountain bikers to become regular volunteers and MORC members, and how we can retain a higher percentage of current members. Please join us. If you have any questions or cannot attend, but would still like to get involved, send a PM or email to either Brandon Parr (username=bpblondie) or Pete Koski (username=Kosk).

Hope to see you there,

Pete Koski
MORC Board Member / Marketing Dude

[ryno lite]

Here's the street address in case anyone wants to mapquest it.

2650 University Ave
St. Paul, MN 55114

It's practically right next to my workplace. How convenient!

[soupboy]

Control what you can in order of ease. Minimizing attrition is the easiest way to maintain membership base. For example, my membership expired but I rec'd no notice of this nor any renewal form. I did get an email from Kosk but nothing was automatically generated. As a result, I lost my precious signature.

You could consider offering the equivalent of platinum/gold/silver memberships that can be earned by the size of $ contribution or labor contribution or some combination of both. At least have the option to give away special jerseys, shorts, helmets or whathaveyou to distinguish above average contributions. If someone doesn't want to be recognized or would prefer to remain a nameless groundling, well, they can take their recognition in the form of socks and stickers.

[Nickel]

Is there a bike rack outside this place of business?

[Paul Swenson]

I would love show up to since it's a subject I'm very interested in and area I think I could be of help. 6:00 is a little rough since it's dinner time which is big in our house. I hope to make it but I doubt that I can.

[crux]

Won't be able to make it tonight, but would like to throw in my 0.02 cents.

Financial:
- Local bike shops have been great in helping MORC members with 10% off if you’re a member. However very few people are aware of the saving or forget to ask when buying that new bike or little part. Why not create a method where MORC can deal with Quality directly giving bikers a direct discount with the remainder going to help fund trail development and support volunteers. Think that this would generate some additional revenue while maintaining a tax exempt status since all the funds would be directed back into the trails.
<o></o>
Volunteers:
- Just became a regular helping out a Leb last year yet have built trails elsewhere in the states for several years. One thing that would be nice is to feed workers after work is done. Cookiemonster was providing snacks for all most nights and was really appreciated.
- Also T-shirts for workers was a great idea, got my non-biker friend out there several times helping move some dirt.
<o></o>
Materials:
- Approach local landscaping companies, lumber yards asking for a donation of large rocks, or timbers to aid in the creation of armoring and building trail features.
- Invest in some mechanical means of rigging and moving larger rocks and have a trained individual operate them. This will save backs and move more material in less time. The rock cart last year was an improvement, but could do better with a winch and dolly.

[FarmerBEN]

I realize that you are concerned about morc's numbers but increasing the sport in general should benefit the organization. Youth is the future, have someone that is tech savy put together an educational video/power point presentation that could be made available to school phy ed departments for their classes. Easy exposure to a captive audience.

[Kosk]

Is there a bike rack outside this place of business?

Not sure, but there should be a place to lock up. If not, we can easily stuff it in the back of my car for the duration.

[ryno lite]

Even though it's right by my work, I can't make it tonight. Good luck with the ideas! I'll just have to forward my ideas to someone at a later time.

[BKocka]

you know if you guys want... you could post your ideas here... im sitting at dunn brother waiting for the meeting to start with my computer... so I could technically relay the ideas to everyone here... ;)

[Paul Swenson]

I wish I could have made it but family commitments got in the way.

I think some type of booklet with a map and description of local trails would be a great promotional tool for MORC. Local shops could give them to customers that ask where to ride.

I think there's a lot of potential riders and potential MORC members that don't know how close they live to the trails. I also think that they get overwhelmed about issues such as where to park and where the trail starts. It seems intuitive to us, people that spend alot of time on the trails, but for a bunch of people these issusing of unknowing stop them from exploring the trails outside their doors.

[JDEcho]

[quote=FarmerBEN;202459]I realize that you are concerned about morc's numbers but increasing the sport in general should benefit the organization. Youth is the future, have someone that is tech savy put together an educational video/power point presentation that could be made available to school phy ed departments for their classes. Easy exposure to a captive audience.[/quo

Get the LBS's to do have a demo weekend at a local trail with MORC representation there. Have plenty of kid bikes as well as bikes for the parents too. Lots of parents are looking for things to do with their kids. Have a MORC member take a "family" for a trail ride. When they get done with the ride have the LBS person close the deal with a sale and a MORC rep. seal the deal with a membership. Maybe reach an agreement with the LBS to throw in a MORC membership with the purchase of a new bike. Then you just have to "retain" that memberhip 12 months down the line. Get the kids started early, I wish that I had started early. Lucky for my kids I have them all riding at a young age.
Speaking of kids riding , we're trying to get a kids ride going on May 12th. which is a Saturday. Check previous posts on "kids ride" or contact me, Joe

[bike>>rider]

I received the new MORC newsletter a couple days ago and in one of the articles it mentioned that the present membership level of MORC is only about 500. I remember within the last year or so at one time we were up to 800.

Thus, it seems like retention is a major problem.

I suspect that part of this is because 2005 Afton 24 riders were given a free membership for 1 year with their entry fee, and when that expired many probably never renewed. Still, that is a big number.

In addition to the suggestions mentioned already about letting people better know when their membership is about to expire, maybe MORC could try something that other organizations (Vikings, Wolves, etc.) do:

Record a nice phone message from the President or another board member gently asking the soon-to-be expired member (not dead, just dead from MORCs view -hehe) to renew and highlight some of MORC's accomplishments, etc., trumpetting our progress and spelling out the critical time that is for our organization with all the opportunities that are presenting themselves for new trails, etc.

Going a step further, a targetted message could be provided to the particular individual: If the individual is a known freerider or downhiller, have Buck record a message highlighting MORC's progression and improvement on that front, that more work needs to be done, and with their membership and involvement, etc., it can get done. Similarly, if the individual is a woman, the message could include mention all of the women-specific initiatives that have been started (group rides, forum location, etc.) and could be recorded by Mara, as an example. Similarly for outstate members: Not sure if we have any outstate board members, but there are definitely some active outstate forum members. Other categories: racers, singlespeeders, group-ride junkies, trail-specific users (e.g., people who ride Theo all the time (or Leb, or BC, or RB, . . .) -- the trail boss could record the message. The possibilities are really endless. MORC collects some of this information with the original registration (favorite trail, interests, etc.). Data mine and use it to the org's advantage.

Sometimes targetted solicitations can be pretty effective. Everything that I've mentioned would involve maybe 3 or 4 people recording a 45 second phone message, and then just having someone call the members and play the message --> a lot less effort than some other measures.

Maybe the best time to do this would be this Spring, as people begin to get fired up about riding.

These are just my ideas so feel free to file them in the trash if appropriate.

Whew, sorry for the long post.

[FarmerBEN]

Get the LBS's to do have a demo weekend at a local trail with MORC representation there. Have plenty of kid bikes as well as bikes for the parents too. Lots of parents are looking for things to do with their kids. Have a MORC member take a "family" for a trail ride. When they get done with the ride have the LBS person close the deal with a sale and a MORC rep. seal the deal with a membership. Maybe reach an agreement with the LBS to throw in a MORC membership with the purchase of a new bike. Then you just have to "retain" that memberhip 12 months down the line. Get the kids started early, I wish that I had started early. Lucky for my kids I have them all riding at a young age.
Speaking of kids riding , we're trying to get a kids ride going on May 12th. which is a Saturday. Check previous posts on "kids ride" or contact me, Joe

I like the membership with purchase idea, any I'm hoping that we (the RW group) can get a weekly saturday evening beginners group ride with a campfire afterwards, I am actually thinking of a group ride with two groups a group of beginners and a group of more experienced riders. Hopefully a little more regular use of that lower parking area can clean out some of the dopers that like to hangout down there.

[JDEcho]

How about offer a free membership with a certain amount of trail work hours done. Make this offer at some of the bike demos or beginner rides. Get new people invested right from the get go! Maybe offer a "family" membership to hook the kids too. I like weekly "formal" rides. This gives new as well as old members a chance to get out without having to plan for a specific date. They can just show up any saturday or whenever the ride is scheduled for and join in. No pressure to have to juggle busy schedules. That would make joining a club more appealing to me.

[seberly]

Some great ideas - one I thought of while reading this thread is that MORC may want to start with recently expired members - market to them harder - possibly by phone.

[soupboy]

Minimizing attrition should be MORC's numero uno goal. Customer acquisition, like any service biz, must be MORC's numero uno challenge.

[Heuy]

Minimizing attrition should be MORC's numero uno goal. Customer acquisition, like any service biz, must be MORC's numero uno challenge.

Just worked the booth at the bike expo and got a lot of oh, crud, suppose I should renew comments.

[BKocka]

just an fyi for all of you, i have the "minute" from this meeting in print, just have to get them to brandon so you can see what we talked about. I've been a little busy with the bike expo so I hadn't had time to get them up here for you all to read.

[Kosk]

Maybe offer a "family" membership to hook the kids too.

We do offer a family membership for $55. It's here: http://www.morcmtb.org/morcpages/join.htm
(http://www.morcmtb.org/morcpages/join.htm)

We are working on a new website design. Hopefully the new one puts a more clear focus on joining MORC and differentiates between being a forum member and an actual MORC member. Right now the forums kinda dominate the homepage.

Don't be afraid of paypal either. You do not need to have an account to use it. Paying with a CC using paypal is just like buying something from any other place on the internet. It's very secure and you do not need to have your own paypal account to do it.

[Buck]

If the individual is a known freerider or downhiller, have Buck record a message highlighting MORC's progression and improvement on that front, that more work needs to be done, and with their membership and involvement, etc., it can get done.

I will never telemarket...EVER.

weRd.
Buck