If any of you have read my blog over the years, you know that I’m often critical of the ARRL’s efforts to help affiliated clubs. Even so, hope springs eternal. Last year, they hired Mike Walters, W8YZ, and he’s actually started to do things to help clubs. For example, the ARRL has finally started publishing the clubs newsletter again.
Another step in the right direction is that the ARRL Foundation will soon start a clubs grant program, as a result of being awarded a $600,000 grant from ARDC. This program will award up to $25,000 to clubs for projects like repeater upgrades, licensing classes, and emergency communications equipment.
More direct help for clubs
The latest issue of ARRL Club News promises even more direct help for clubs. An item in the newsletter calls for volunteers to serve as Clubs Grant Coach or Club Mentor. Here’s how the newsletter describes these positions:
[The Club Grants Coach] is a person that can collaborate with a club to help them create or refine a grant application. As grant applications come in there will be some that need assistance with the process. This person should be able to work with a club to help visualize and present their ideas for a grant. They will not be responsible for writing the applications, but they will be helping the clubs get organized and through the application process. Grants Coaches will start work after the first round of applications.
[The Club Mentor] will work with a club that may be struggling to survive, helping them reorganize or structure programs to help the club grow. Some clubs are on virtual life support and can benefit from a Mentor to help them develop new outlooks and ideas and execute a rebuilding program for their club.
It goes on to say, “Both positions will receive training in the processes that they will need to do the jobs and will be supported by the Field Services Team at ARRL” To volunteer, email [email protected].
Give clubs a bigger kickback
Another thing that the ARRL could do for clubs is to give them a bigger kickback on new member signups and membership renewals. As it currently stands, clubs get only a $2 commission when a member renews through their club. At that rate, it’s really not worth it for clubs to bother collecting ARRL dues. Clubs do get a $15 commission for signing up new members, but there would be even more incentive for clubs to get involved if the renewal commission was higher. And, to make this program really work, the ARRL needs to automate this process somehow to make it easy for a club treasurer to enter the names, call signs, and addresses of the members joining or renewing and to make the payment.
Even so, both the restart of ARRL Club News and the start of the club grants program are both positive signs. I’m looking forward to the cool projects that the grants program will make possible.
Regarding the automation of the process: Agree that the current approach is very cumbersome and, in some cases, serves as a deterrent for clubs to participate. I would say, though, that the idea of a club member manually entering information into an ARRL database needs to go farther. Such an approach still requires someone to manually key in the data.. That barely qualifies as automating the system.
At the urging of one of our club member, I sent a recommended approach to our ARRL Division Director on 2/2022 offering the following method to automate the club commission process:
If it doesn’t already exist, ARRL issues each ARRL affiliated club a unique identifying code.
The club presents its members with the code and urges members to enter the code when going through the online process of renewing or joining the ARRL.
The system keeps track of members renewing or joining with the club code.
For tracking purposes, when a member renews or a new member joins using the club code, ARRL sends an email to the club for tracking purposes. The system might also note in the renewing member’s transaction email or receipt that the renewing/new member completed the transaction with a club code.
At least an annual basis, ARRL settles-up with clubs by doing an EFT to the clubs’ respective bank accounts.
Benefits:
It’s a painless approach for the members of the club and the club itself to participate in such an initiative.
It builds off of the existing ARRL online process that many existing ARRL members may have already experienced. Given the level of consumer e-commerce in today’s world, most new members will be familiar with such online processes.
Club members, by getting the code, explicitly know that their club will benefit monetarily by simply entering that code during the renewal/joining process. There’s little or no extra work for a renewing member to get his club a commission.
The club gets to focus on convincing members to join/renew with the ARRL rather than juggling paper, collecting payment info, and, in some cases, handling money, checks, and mail.
Even if the potential returns are not that large for an ARC, the relative ease makes it more attractive for the club, the member, and ultimately the ARRL.
ARRL would need to make an investment in software development to accommodate such an initiative. Once in place, though, the process would be largely automated. Some ongoing reconciliation work may be needed on the ARRL-end to resolve questions; that a normal byproduct with financial transactions.
But, reducing the amount of drag or friction needed for a club to get a person to join or renew and potentially getting more amateur operators into the ARRL should be considered an positive offset – a benefit. It would bring the ARRL club commission program into the 21st century.
Unfortunately, as of this date, I have yet to receive even an acknowledgment from our Division Director that he received the email.
Thanks