I would see a membership being for example Mississauga Chess Club (Bob Gillanders) or just Mississauga Chess Club. The first example is an individual the second example is the club itself.
I guess we'd have to determine what portion the rebate would be on ? Pre-tax, pre GST/HST amounts, etc.
Maybe we can just say $5 on every adult membership and $3 on every junior or family membership. An optional $1 on tournament memberships.
Will this program increase our revenues and membership numbers?
Hi Ken:
At Scarborough CC, it helps to keep the policy that all SCC members must become members of the CFC - we'll get a commission on each of those lovely members - we're now somewhat over 100 members, likely in the range of 120 ( adult and junior ).
It also may encourage clubs with both CFC and non-CFC members, to promote CFC membership to the non-CFC'ers.
Bob A
This is one of those marketing exercises that I could put any number I want down for. It is bound to increase the membership somewhat, as organizers will have some tangible benefit for talking "on the fence" people into buying.
As for whether it will increase or decrease revenue, I'd say it's no worse than break even. I think that there won't be a huge demand immediately and we can get input from the affiilite club members to see if they thing the CFC is getting a good deal or not after a few months.
Bob: The proposal I'm making is that as an Affiliate Club Member, you only get the commission when they pay their memberships at the club. I think this is the proper starting point.
After a year or so, we can investigate actual clubs getting some kind of commission on actual CFC members they have (including the auto renewals, etc)... I know this is what Michael and Chris want.
Ken has crafted the key question - will this increase membership revenues or just redistribute existing money and create squabbles and extra tracking headaches for someone, followed by endless debate and adjudication of arguments for and against all claimants?
What is the best way to harness the energy of our promotional types to sell memberships far and wide and often?
A discussion surrounding the possible reintroduction of the Affiliate Program was initiated by Michael von Keitz. Poor advertising was identified as a drawback that may have led to the demise of the previous program. A specific scenario was presented: "$50 buy-in for 10% commission on membership sales. No restrictions. Memberships brought in by affiliates are tracked, but it's up to them to ensure repeat business." From there, it was clarified that the percentage referred to the CFC portion of membership dues (e.g. 10% of $36 on adult memberships). Auto-renewals were raised as an issue of the previous program, where it was agreed that affiliates should receive their commission from members they recruit, even if these members are set up to auto-renew. The proposed reincarnation of the program seemed to receive general support; however, there were some concerns raised as to whether the program could truly be expected to raise memberships and revenue - the answer being that it would be break even at worst, with the option of tracking its success always being available. Fred McKim indicated his willingness to work on a motion to present at the Winter Quarterly Meeting, which will be filed with Lyle upon its completion. Those interested in either seconding the motion or further discussing it are encouraged to contact Fred (fred_mckim@hotmail.com).