OT - Initiation fees and membership categories and aging

[Jason Thurman]

At my club, we:


* Charge lower initiation fees for Junior members and other non-voting classes
* Juniors and other non-voting members pay additional "initiation" fees as they transfer up to higher/voting classes


I figure that's pretty normal. Am I wrong?

[Rob Marshall]

We charge a lower fee to juniors and they pay no additional initiation fees when they move up.

[mike_beene]

In my part of the world if a club has junior membership at age 36 the junior pays the remainder of initiation fee and goes to full dues.

[Carl Johnson]

At my club, we:


* Charge lower initiation fees for Junior members and other non-voting classes
* Juniors and other non-voting members pay additional "initiation" fees as they transfer up to higher/voting classes


I figure that's pretty normal. Am I wrong?

Essentially the same here (Junior to Young Resident to full Resident).  A detail is that when you move up the additional fee is based on the fee levels at the time you first joined, not the current fee levels at the time of the move up.  I have no idea how normal this might be.

[Wayne_Kozun]

That's normal, but at my club junior is under 21.  Then there is an intermediate class that goes up to something like 35.  Pre-covid we had special deals for intermediates.  Since covid we are full with a growing waitlist so the intermediate discounts are being phased out. 

[Philip Gordillo]

Same with my club on an escalating initiation payment as juniors or intermediates get older.  On a related note, I’m always amazed when a member doesn’t understand the following:


Initiation Payments -> Capital Projects


Dues -> Operating Expenses

[Eric Zimmerer]

My club in Northern NJ does something a little different. We have no "junior" memberships for outsiders, rather the kids of full members are "juniors" from 17 to 28. They pay basically little dues during this time. Come 29, they become "legacy" and pay their bond and initiation amortized with no interest for 15 years, with suppressed dues and no voting right at the time.


The biases in me enjoys this, as I have an interest free loan for 15 years. However, I would like to see the club to make strides to invite younger families to grow it over the long term. We do have a full waitlist however.

[Carl Johnson]

Same with my club on an escalating initiation payment as juniors or intermediates get older.  On a related note, I’m always amazed when a member doesn’t understand the following:


Initiation Payments -> Capital Projects


Dues -> Operating Expenses

That's the ideal, I guess.  But it doesn't always work that way.  I've seen situations where the initiation payments are used to keep the club going when necessary.

[mike_beene]

The fact that people are living so much longer (a good fact for this 63 year old)means the membership continues to age. We seem to have 3 or 4 deaths a year and a move to be with grandchildren 2 or 3 and thus have 5 or 7 new members a year. In this economy why would a young person want to get on a 10 to 15 year wait? What happens when we die in greater numbers or the economy collapses.

[Rob Marshall]

Same with my club on an escalating initiation payment as juniors or intermediates get older.  On a related note, I’m always amazed when a member doesn’t understand the following:


Initiation Payments -> Capital Projects


Dues -> Operating Expenses

That's the ideal, I guess.  But it doesn't always work that way.  I've seen situations where the initiation payments are used to keep the club going when necessary.

Where I am if you get in the that position you can't charge initiation fees. You let people in just to get the dues.

[Tim Martin]

Same with my club on an escalating initiation payment as juniors or intermediates get older.  On a related note, I’m always amazed when a member doesn’t understand the following:


Initiation Payments -> Capital Projects


Dues -> Operating Expenses

That's the ideal, I guess.  But it doesn't always work that way.  I've seen situations where the initiation payments are used to keep the club going when necessary.

Where I am if you get in the that position you can't charge initiation fees. You let people in just to get the dues.

Prior to Covid there were some privates that were known to negotiate the initiation fees rather than lose prospective members. As Rob mentioned above the cash flow provided by the dues without the initiation fee was better than no $$$ at all. The clubs in my area now have the luxury of increased initiation fees as a result of full membership rolls and waiting lists.

[ward peyronnin]

Jason
You are no longer at Clovernook am i correct?