Technically, my club doesn't really exist, as it has not been registered. Its more of a loose affiliation, so there's really nothing to sue. If I did register the club, I would ask members to pay dues, but only as much as would be needed for insurance. For now I just have them sign a release form.

Insurance is all a club with dues should really be charging for. Extras like t-shirts and stuff can be bought individually. If people want my club registered, I'll require 100 signatures, then I'll go do it. But for now... having it exist but not exist works fine for me.

 

No secret what club I belong to.
Yeah, I got my 1st year money's worth. Already renewed my membership a month ago.
But that's my choice.

We are all entitled to choices, be they frivolous or well thought out.
Aside from [MINI] club dues, I pay my union dues, triple A dues, and, of course, citizenship dues.
The former is the only group I feel I've gotten my money's worth.

I respect the opinion of those who choose non-dues organizations. We are all, when you think about it, MINI enthusiasts. Perhaps by chance, I joined an organization that does require dues. If circumstances had been different, I might have joined a different cool MINI club.

This has to be one of the best dialogues I've seen of late.

 

>>$10,000 for a club = better have confidence in the Treasurer and that they are responsible making regular reports to the membership.


Case in point, last year at one of the AZ Mini club's meetings the treasurer stated he would NOT give a treasurers report to the membership because he said the by laws said he didn't have to. The membership responded, he wasn't re-elected in December!

Dues are important for insurance.

 

>>Sarcux, what should happen if there is an accident at one of your events?? And the other person tries to sue your club, you would be responsible for holding the event. Just something to think about, is your mini and your house worth losing because you don't want to charge dues??

Here's a response I hear a lot from the non-incorporated, "they can try to sue the club, but it has no money for them to get. LOL" But what happens next is suprising...since the club isn't incorporated, each of the participants can now be named in the lawsuit. Laywers cost a ton of money and the potential is there for participants to loose a lot of money due to someone else's follies. Being incorporated gives you that layer of protect, so if an event is coordinated thru the club, then only the entity of the club (depending upon how it was incorporated of course) can be held liable. Hence the reason I like to pay dues to an incorporated club (legal protection for members and officers).

 

>>>>Sarcux, what should happen if there is an accident at one of your events?? And the other person tries to sue your club, you would be responsible for holding the event. Just something to think about, is your mini and your house worth losing because you don't want to charge dues??
>>
>>Here's a response I hear a lot from the non-incorporated, "they can try to sue the club, but it has no money for them to get. LOL" But what happens next is suprising...since the club isn't incorporated, each of the participants can now be named in the lawsuit. Laywers cost a ton of money and the potential is there for participants to loose a lot of money due to someone else's follies. Being incorporated gives you that layer of protect, so if an event is coordinated thru the club, then only the entity of the club (depending upon how it was incorporated of course) can be held liable. Hence the reason I like to pay dues to an incorporated club (legal protection for members and officers).


And that is the single biggest reason the Chicago MINI Club is an officially incorporated, non-profit club.

 

TEAM MIGHTY MINIZ.... hahahaha
Man... if you could only see how much fun it is. Have I got my money's worth? Let me think. I don't pay any fees, I run the website on the side for free, the humor on the boards is worth it for me, hahaha. I probably saved hundreds of dollars from sponsors and group buys and I haven't paid a pennie.

I love being in my MINI "club".

 

I'm leaving this thread. I've been told ihat my opinion on dues is insulting someone and if I don't like the way things are I can leave the local club........I like the local club.....it is free......bye......see you guys in another thread........

 

>>I'm leaving this thread. I've been told ihat my opinion on dues is insulting someone and if I don't like the way things are I can leave the local club........I like the local club.....it is free......bye......see you guys in another thread........


??Who? Wha?? just re read all the posts. who's pissed off?

 

I do have a form that I'm making everyone sign before drives acknowledging that they themselves are liable for anything they do, and failure to sign the form will result in their not being able to participate in events. I've already kicked my brother out of the club because of his horrible driving, and I won't hesitate to do it to others who drive recklessly. Pocketrocket was talking about me, by the way. Its not his opinion on dues that angered me, its the way he presented it by saying that free clubs are benign dictatorships. I just took it as a personal insult to myself, as I run a free club, and if anything I try to keep it communist, I don't tell people to leave the club unless I mean it, either - and I didn't ask him to leave. I never even mentioned his name. But oh well.

 

I think the concern is that nobody has any real confimation that those forms actually provide any protection. There's also the fear that even if you have those forms that the group could still get pulled into court in an attempt to challenge those forms. Even if the legitimacy and legality of those forms are upheld, lawyers would still need to be hired and paid for and a defense would need to get mounted.

I know, incorporating and managing a club takes a whole lot more effort than most people want to make, and for a club incorporate and then be successful it's usually through the incredibly hard work of a very small group of people, but there are some pretty compelling reasons to do it...

When those forms are questioned here, I think it's more out of fear of what may happen when some jerkoff files a frivolous lawsuit to challenge those forms and the reprecussions such a suit might have.

 

Here's a related question. Do you agree with how the money the club has collected has been spent? What do you do if the club is not spending the money in a fashion that suits you?

 

This is such a hard topic to really decide what is best for, you know? Perhaps I could get my sponsor to cover insurance costs.

 

You've got a sponsor? That's fantastic. I honestly wish that the local MINI dealers would sponsor the clubs, apparently the Harley Davidson dealers sponsor those clubs...

 

>>Here's a related question. Do you agree with how the money the club has collected has been spent? What do you do if the club is not spending the money in a fashion that suits you?

Good question...hopefully a few members of the 'biggest mini club in america' will chime in here :smile:

 

I'm not a member of the 'largest MINI club' but it should be the decision of the membership as to how the money collected is spent. As far as the day to day expenses (small dollar amount) associated with running the club those should be handled by the politcal officers of the club. But when it comes to spending money on a larger scale I would think that it should be voted on by the membership. Each club when setting up their bylaws should define this amount.