Montour Trail-Letter

Volume 12, Issue 5

September/October, 2001

The Montour Trail Council's board members don't have easy jobs--the monthly meetings are longer than those of any nonprofit board I've ever known, and the additional time expectations between meetings are substantial. But in one sense we are spoiled: we don't have to work hard to maintain our membership.

Many organizations offer special gifts to get people to join. They hire telemarketing firms to persuade members to keep contributing. Or they do aggressive recruiting to make up for annual attrition as half their previous members choose not to renew.

The Montour Trail Council board has discussed those approaches and decided against them. We do have plenty of attractive paraphernalia available for those who are interested--such as hats, key chains, shirts, and cups bearing our logo--but we haven't wanted to take on the logistical demands and added cost of mailing them out as premiums. We felt telemarketing would leave the wrong taste in too many people's mouths. Even handing out "please become a member" fliers to trail users seemed a little too pushy to some.

Despite the lack of aggressive methods, and even though this excellent newsletter is virtually the only special benefit we offer, we have 800 members and a yearly renewal rate of over 85 percent.

This solid grass-roots support covers our standard yearly operating expenses and enables our volunteer board members to focus on other concerns rather than membership recruitment. It also greatly strengthens our case every time we ask for funding from any government agency, private foundation, or corporate sponsor.

While the board is deeply appreciative of our faithful members, however, we also recognize that 800 families represent a relatively small fraction of our thousands of frequent trail users. In addition to continuing your own support, you can help us by reminding other users that we are not a branch of government, and that there is a direct connection between how many $25 and $35 contributions we receive each year and our ability to resurface worn-down trail sections or repair benches.

Continued growth in membership would also keep the board from feeling the need for other less subtle reminders, such as donation boxes with recommended "user fees."

We would welcome your suggestions of other ways in which we can make your membership more valuable, so you are never tempted to join the ranks of the Montour Trail freeloaders. In the meantime, we commit ourselves to continuing to send you this informative, timely newsletter six times a year, to efficient use of funds, and to never taking our wonderful members for granted.

Thank you!