Author Topic: Membership Update  (Read 32753 times)

Mike Fox

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Membership Update
« on: December 27, 2015, 09:27:06 PM »
Membership is climbing again. We gained 6 new members from Victorian Christmas alone, and one member was upgraded to life member as a Christmas present. We gained a membership from our hospitality on 12/5. In case anyone has forgotten, that was the first trip to AC with #9, and this couple was lucky enough to be there to enjoy. I will have some year ending numbers after the 1st in where we are membership wise compared to last year.
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Mike Fox

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2015, 09:08:58 PM »
So sitting here in the membership office, waiting for my personal computer to finish rebooting so I can check my email, I thought I would share some year ending stats.
Annual Members, 428 vs 407 last year. Life Members, 592 vs. 571 last year. Charter Members 34 vs 35 last year (one passed away). So that translates to 1054 members in 2015, versus 1013 at the end of 2014. This is a significant gain, 41 members.
We also gained a pile of new friends. They are new donors from the Boxcar 67 Appeal. Of the 36 donors on the list I have, over half are first time contributors. Plus I see there are more on the go fund me site that have donated I have no info for yet.

Overall, a great year for our museum membership. Thank you all and have a safe New Year.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2015, 09:10:38 PM by Mike Fox »
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Mike Fox

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2016, 09:09:58 PM »
For the first week of January, we gained 6 new members. The second week an old member reactivated. The more support the better. #9 seems like it was a boost to membership, and with B&SR Boxcar 67 we have gained more interest from people who have never donated before. This is because someone took initiative and thought outside the box. Great work.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2016, 09:11:33 PM by Mike Fox »
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Rick Rowlands

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2016, 12:40:24 PM »
You have gained another member.  I just sent $30.00 via paypal to the WW&F for my membership.
Rick Rowlands
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J&L Narrow Gauge Railroad
Youngstown, OH

Mike Fox

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2016, 07:54:40 PM »
Thank you Rick
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Bill Baskerville

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2016, 09:04:50 PM »
Rick,

I think I saw a link on one of our web pages to your restoration project as I remember watching a couple of them as you were tearing down the locomotive.  Welcome to the WW&F Ry.

Bill
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Rick Rowlands

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2016, 10:14:40 PM »
Thanks! 

Glad to be a part of the effort and look forward to doing what I can to help the WW&F.  Going to try to get up to Maine this July for a visit.
Rick Rowlands
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J&L Narrow Gauge Railroad
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Philip Marshall

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2016, 10:32:09 PM »
Welcome aboard, Rick.

-Philip

Ed Lecuyer

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2016, 10:19:10 AM »
Hi Rick,

I have added you to the museum roster on the forum so that you can see the museum-members only discussion and newsletters.

Maybe you can bring your engine to the WW&F someday! (I can can hear Jason screaming "NO!" from here - thinking about the rail weight in Sheepscot yard.)

-Ed
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Mike Fox

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2016, 12:12:06 PM »
It has been a while since an update. So I will provide some numbers later for comparrison. We have been on a steady gain for about a year now. Every month the new member colomn has more than the no longer active column.

The 15th of the month I send out renewal notices for the following month. This month is 36 notices. Not bad when you look at the high months of around 80 notices. Only a couple of them in the September/October range.

I did receive word recently of how surprised someone was that they had gotten a thank you for their annual membership renewal. We work very hard to make sure every donor gets a thank you, no matter how large or how small. Keep our donors happy and let them know how much it is appreciated, and they will continue to provide the support we need.

So a big thank you to all of our members, donors and friends. Without you, no gains can be made.
Mike
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Bill Baskerville

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2016, 01:24:52 PM »
Mike,

A thank you for renewing membership is a great idea.  Personal feedback showing we appreciate every level of participation will help keep our membership numbers up. 

So, Thank You Mike, for all that you do both in the visible world, and the hidden, behind the scenes world of our museum.

Bill
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James Patten

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #11 on: July 14, 2016, 01:41:02 PM »
We've approaching the level of the year of our highest membership, which I think was 2007 (the year of the last convention) when we reached over 1110 members.  After that (2008) our membership started tanking and we ended up eventually just around 1000 members for many years.

Interestingly enough before the recession we had larger numbers of annual members than life.  The trend reversed during/after the recession.

Bill Baskerville

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #12 on: July 14, 2016, 09:15:46 PM »
James,

I think our life membership rate is very attractive.  Of course the thing I like about life membership in organizations is that when my dotage increases to the point that I can't remember to pay my dues, I am still a member.... 

Now if I could only remember....

Bill

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Mike Fox

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2016, 06:25:17 AM »
Without actual numbers to look at at the moment, if I recall correctly the annual members are in the mid 400's while life has climbed to the high 500's.
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Mike Fox

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Re: Membership Update
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2016, 08:15:31 PM »
It is the beginning of a new month so I thought I would give some fresh numbers.

Charter Members...34
Life Members.......596
Annual Members..456

That Totals 1086 Members.

Now, lets see what the convention brings us. Will we make 1100 for next month?
Mike
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