We had a membership chair for several years, the last of which was Pete.  The role is to promote membership in the club and also member benefits.  It needs a fresh dose of enthusiasm from someone who is willing to do it.

You'll see below that our membership has dropped in the last year and is down from 2021 as well. Notice the spike in 2015 when we made several worthwhile efforts to increase membership including tables at our races, a members only area at the Dirty Dog, club events for members and friends, and I think even small discounts for members to our races.

A report from RSU is attached so you can see the trends over the years. 

2020 was a hard year for the WVMTR and it could be that the membership chair and committee could help to build back our loyal base. 

I think this is a great idea!! 

I don't think it's necessarily due to us not promoting club member benefits in which our numbers are down. It plays a small part, yes. I do think the pandemic and race cancellations along with deferrals have caused many of our members to lose interest in membership.  In addition to the Middle Ridge Monster we may be able to host another fun run and have it free for members and ask $10 for non members. This may spike membership a smidge due to the "entry fee" costing the same as membership. 

I'm supportive if there is someone who is willing to serve.  It doesn't have to be a board member but this person would have access to our RSU club page.

I too am supportive if someone is willing to take the role.

I think this is an important idea, so if nobody on the board would like this position, we should brainstorm some names of members who may be a good fit. 

Not to necessarily put you on the spot, but I think @bob-luther this initiative may pair very well with the positive momentum that you and your team are heading-up with the KT events.  I think we simply need a fresh look at membership and some enthusiasm infused into the club.  

The role is practically an open book that you make as simple or complex as you would like.  I would appreciate your consideration, but please don't feel obligated or pressured.   I think you would be the ideal person though.

What does the RSU intel? I guess what I am wondering is what the person in this place would be doing for the club with RSU? Is it just refunds or more than that? Being a Board Member and RD wife, as a family we are willing to help get more members with fun runs and I suggested stickers/magnets. If this sounds like something you think non members would be enticed by to join then by all means we'll get looking into the calendar and I'll call around for local sticker/magnet makers. This is just what I feel I can do to help membership grow. It is hard for one person to attend all events and come up with a member benefit for each race. Yes, race discounts for members is always a plus. I realize this is not possible for all races as some barely break even.  

I wasn't a BOD member when Pete was in charge but my take was the chair wouldn't be at every event but be in charge of finding someone to set up a table that will already be there. For example, the R2R 100 I could go and try to recruit new members at the expo before hand since I live close by. And probably not have a membership benefit at every race but add at least some enticement to a few races. I think stickers are a great idea, @asdolin. I for one love putting branded stickers on everything I own and is great advertisement for us. So if you wanted to work with the chair (or be the chair) I think that is a great outreach idea. 

Those are my thoughts. If anyone has better insight feel free to correct me!

I would love to assist in this, but don't want to take it on with taking on treasurer as well. So if someone volunteers to be the chair, I am happy to lend a hand.

Adam, I appreciate the nod, but want to get a year of KT runs (Moonlight Madness, KT 50K/25K/10K, and Darkness Falls) under my belt before I take on more.  My concern would be giving short shrift to something that I agree is important to the club.  

I do think, our touch points with members are heavily weighted towards social media (Facebook and Instagram) and in person at our races.  Some easy wins to push member drives could center on those platforms.  This could be as simple as posting that it's time for annual dues or sending out an email.  Highlighting runner profiles, communication on benefits of club membership (discounts/community impact/group runs), and posts showing the impact of donations on the trails would all be good messaging to bring awareness to the club's mission and members.  We can't take it for granted that people are going to WVMTR.org.

At every WVMTR event, it may also be worthwhile to have the capability to sign someone up and, at a minimum, send them home with something in the race packet that directs them to www.wvmtr.org and RSU.

Those are some easy targets, however, I do think we need to pin this on someone in the club.  That person could be proactive and deliberate in posting and developing a communications plan with members.  

The club does great stuff.  Runners like great stuff.  We may just need to communicate that great stuff a little more.  

@bob-luther, Totally understandable.  Solid response as well.

@asdolin, you seem to be interested as well.  Want to take a crack at this role that has open-ended opportunities?  I think if we add you to this role and keep DT in the secretary position, this would be a good sharing of the load.  Again, no pressure, but I think you too would be a good fit for the role.

@bob-luther love the idea of runner highlights and more social media engagement. I think these will go far.

I think our focus needs to get back to holding races and member events like Ashley said.  If we spend a year at that with club member events and offer a nominal club discount on races via RSU the membership will follow.

Both the Halluin and DD races offered those discounts.  If you look at the membership history you'll see membership bumps around the registration dates of these races.

I suggest tabling this item for now and revisiting it at the Annual Meeting.  Maybe we can get a volunteer from the general membership.

Maybe an item for the next meeting would be how we can get our club merch back out there at events.  I would be happy to take a turn to volunteer to sell our merch at an event and promote the club.  If we had a sign-up for that and a list of responsibilities we could have a positive impact on membership and be visible at the event.