yamadan700 Posted August 19, 2023 Share Posted August 19, 2023 I run the FB page for our club. I post everything we do with lots of pictures and a good write up about what was involved and acknowledge all the volunteers by their first name. It gets good reviews and we have 850+ followers and it does help getting new volunteers out. We have 5-6 core volunteers(executive) that are out on all/most work days and then we have about 20-30 other regular volunteers that come out a couple or a few times a year. However, the biggest issue for many clubs is it's hard to get volunteers to step up to the executive positions and without those positions being filled, there is no club. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted August 20, 2023 Author Share Posted August 20, 2023 On 8/17/2023 at 9:05 PM, yamadan700 said: Doug We get good snow here pretty much every year so that is not a real issue for us. P51mstg We are always recruiting but nobody wants to get too involved, ie executive board. We get decent turnouts, average 7-10 people but different faces each time, on volunteer call outs but it's hard to get anybody to commit to the amount of hours needed to operate the day to day activities of the club. Hard to be "aggressive" for volunteer positions that involve a strong time commitment and the responsibility that comes with it Open to suggestions tho! We had a nice uptick in club membership when Wisconsin implemented a trail pass and gave club members a $20.00 break on the trail pass. It was great to see new members but that only slightly increased active members. We Also have a Facebook page and there's a couple guys myself included that post picture, activities, meeting reminders, etc. My wife was a past secretary and would send out meeting notes, meeting reminders, upcoming club activities. The latest secretary would maybe send out a meeting reminder the day and many people didn't get any notices. We have a great core of people that show up for almost every fund raiser, trail putin and take our and groomer maintenance. But that group is getting burned out. I got crabbed up last year when our secretary and her husband suggested we should have more club paid activities. They have never helped with any fundraisers or trail maintenance. They show up for the club meetings which the club buys a drink and pizza's, the Christmas party which the club buys the meal and goes on the club ride which the club buys a breakfast and has a pizza night. I brought up that we then need more help at fundraisers to pay for additional club sponsored activities. They did not receive that well. They have since moved up Nth and my wife is again the secretary. I guess I was that old club member that didn't like a new suggestion. The club I'm in up Nth I'll keep about 10-12 miles of trail clear of down trees and help marking it by our place up Nth. This year I knew of a old forest road that needs brushing and we're going to use that this year to move the trail off of a plowed road. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p51mstg Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 My opinion: People won't join a snowmobile club to work. They'll join for other reasons - camaraderie, fellowship, club rides, connections for restoration projects, etc. (the fun stuff). They don't want to serve as club officers and they don't want to have work days with no fun days. It seems like the clubs who publicize well-attended get togethers and other fun activities are the ones who seem to have the best recruitment. Coincidence? Not in my opinion. The two build on each other - more fun stuff equals more members, more members equals more fun stuff. People will donate to help others clear trails, but paper members aren't going to do any real work. The way to pull in new members that will contribute their time, as well as their money, is to offer them the benefits first. Not work first, benefits first. The clubs/members who complain about not getting any help for the miserable/hard work are the ones who'll never get it - nobody wants to be miserable or work hard without being rewarded. I'm an anomaly, because I joined a snowmobile club because I wanted to help maintain the trails that I ride the most. If clubs have found their own way to be successful, and that way is contrary to my opinion, that's great. However, it has been my 40 years of volunteerism experience that people want to see the benefits up front and then will give back later (some people feel no guilt and will just keep taking without giving back, but you'll never get them as members, no matter what you do). 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted August 23, 2023 Author Share Posted August 23, 2023 2 hours ago, p51mstg said: My opinion: People won't join a snowmobile club to work. They'll join for other reasons - camaraderie, fellowship, club rides, connections for restoration projects, etc. (the fun stuff). They don't want to serve as club officers and they don't want to have work days with no fun days. It seems like the clubs who publicize well-attended get togethers and other fun activities are the ones who seem to have the best recruitment. Coincidence? Not in my opinion. The two build on each other - more fun stuff equals more members, more members equals more fun stuff. People will donate to help others clear trails, but paper members aren't going to do any real work. The way to pull in new members that will contribute their time, as well as their money, is to offer them the benefits first. Not work first, benefits first. The clubs/members who complain about not getting any help for the miserable/hard work are the ones who'll never get it - nobody wants to be miserable or work hard without being rewarded. I'm an anomaly, because I joined a snowmobile club because I wanted to help maintain the trails that I ride the most. If clubs have found their own way to be successful, and that way is contrary to my opinion, that's great. However, it has been my 40 years of volunteerism experience that people want to see the benefits up front and then will give back later (some people feel no guilt and will just keep taking without giving back, but you'll never get them as members, no matter what you do). Our offical trail marking/brushing or sign making always includes food and beverages for the volunteers. Grooming I actually enjoy to a point 6-7 hrs after that it gets to be a job. Like you I like to help out in the area I primary ride in. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bontz Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 11 minutes ago, Doug said: Our offical trail marking/brushing or sign making always includes food and beverages for the volunteers. Grooming I actually enjoy to a point 6-7 hrs after that it gets to be a job. Like you I like to help out in the area I primary ride in. Both of you are spot on ... it has to be something that's more than just work & also a sense of pride in helping out with the areas a person rides. I'm growing tired of my officer duties, but I'm OK continuing to do them if it means someone else isn't forced to do it and ultimately turning them off to the club. We just held our last meeting at one of our other officer's homes and that was a great change of pace. Grilled up some meat, did some potluck stuff, and shared our coolers with everyone. It was a nice change of pace vs. the typical reading of the meeting minutes, old business, new business, etc. We are actually considering branching out, and including UTV's as part of the club. There aren't any trails dedicated to UTV's in our area, but it's a good way to get people together some of them who don't sled are even willing to help with the trail maintenance in the fall/spring. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sled_Hed Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Bontz said: Both of you are spot on ... it has to be something that's more than just work & also a sense of pride in helping out with the areas a person rides. I'm growing tired of my officer duties, but I'm OK continuing to do them if it means someone else isn't forced to do it and ultimately turning them off to the club. We just held our last meeting at one of our other officer's homes and that was a great change of pace. Grilled up some meat, did some potluck stuff, and shared our coolers with everyone. It was a nice change of pace vs. the typical reading of the meeting minutes, old business, new business, etc. We are actually considering branching out, and including UTV's as part of the club. There aren't any trails dedicated to UTV's in our area, but it's a good way to get people together some of them who don't sled are even willing to help with the trail maintenance in the fall/spring. I think part of what turned me off on our club (other than one certain asshole) is they didn't have any of the camaraderie you are talking about. It was all work. Paying people with a meal wasn't even a thought until I asked about it. A couple times we were out packing swamps all day and I took the help out for dinner. They did reimburse me after I asked if it was something we could do and if they hadn't oh well. I was happy for the help. @Bontz sounds like you guys are doing things right. Only word of caution on the snow/atv club is it can create an us vs them attitude from some. Edited August 23, 2023 by Sled_Hed 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bontz Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 8 minutes ago, Sled_Hed said: I think part of what turned me off on our club (other than one certain asshole) is they didn't have any of the camaraderie you are talking about. It was all work. Paying people with a meal wasn't even a thought until I asked about it. A couple times we were out packing swamps all day and I took the help out for dinner. They did reimburse me after I asked if it was something we could do and if they hadn't oh well. I was happy for the help. @Bontz sounds like you guys are doing things right. Only word of caution on the snow/atv club is it can create an us vs them attitude from some. Good feedback and definitely something I'll mention in our next meeting. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted August 23, 2023 Author Share Posted August 23, 2023 On the good side there's a number of individuals, businesses and townships that help out. Our President which I've known since high school is a large farmer for our area. He stores the groomers, drags and signs. Let's us use his shop for maintenance and repairs and also buy off highway fuel from him for the groomers. He takes no money for any of that. Up Nth in Three Lakes the town helps the club by halling snow by road crossings to help them get the ditches filled and I'm sure they help in other areas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mag6240 Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 We have a pretty good turnout for monthly meetings (25-50 members depending on time of year) and when it comes to helping out, we do have our core of guys but a lot of rando's show up when we put out requests for help. We've even gotten to the point where we are offering our help to some of the up north clubs where we take club trips, to help out where needed. We'll see if any take our offer, as none have as of yet, but I think there are a few of us who wouldn't mind taking a few fall weekends up north with the wife/girlfriend in tow - a number of the ladies have begun showing up at club meetings, if not to listen along, just have a few cocktails together while the meeting is going on. We have our meetings at one of our club trail sponsor locations. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamadan700 Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 Good insights. Thank you! Fortunately we have a great group of guys and there is good camaraderie with the volunteers, new and seasoned. We do have good relationships with some of our local businesses. They will help us out with tree removal that is out of our comfort zone, provide gravel and equipment, etc pro bono. Plus some of our followers on our FB/club page will just take on trail work on their own close to their home/cottage. We also have a very good relationship with the local ATV and OF4WD clubs as some of our trails are shared. The cost of bridge rebuilding, gravel, grading, etc of the shared trails is usually shared among all the user groups. However, I don't know why, but it always seems that the sled clubs in our area do all the shared trail bridge rebuilds...lol.. We need it more than them I assume, because we need them to be safe for our groomers. The other user groups usually send one or two people to assist which is appreciated. IMO. It's tough when a club's finances are limited to use it for food and drink after doing trail work, bridges, etc. However, it is something to be considered on occasion. We used to do on trail BBQs (pain in the ass to do, hauling all the equipment 5km down the trail to the main trail intersection) and pancake breakfasts at the clubhouse(not on the main trail). Covid squashed it and we haven't restarted it. It was no charge but we would take donations. May be something to look at again. Like all you guys, we are all just volunteers. It's unfortunate, in this day and age, that we have to use "carrots" and all the extra time, effort and $$$, to entice people to help out. However, it may need to be done to keep the trails alive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted August 24, 2023 Author Share Posted August 24, 2023 Where we're located in Central Wisconsin is more of a Agricultural area. We don't always get rideable snow so for grooming we have Cat Challengers (tracked tractors) for grooming. We rent them out to select people during the off season which works out well for the club. One has been rented out for most of the summer and we now have an offer from the individual to buy it. We'll be having a board meeting to review our options if we sell, what we could buy that gets us year around income, and a budget to work with. Then a special club meeting to present it to membership. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sled_Hed Posted August 24, 2023 Share Posted August 24, 2023 4 hours ago, Doug said: Where we're located in Central Wisconsin is more of a Agricultural area. We don't always get rideable snow so for grooming we have Cat Challengers (tracked tractors) for grooming. We rent them out to select people during the off season which works out well for the club. One has been rented out for most of the summer and we now have an offer from the individual to buy it. We'll be having a board meeting to review our options if we sell, what we could buy that gets us year around income, and a budget to work with. Then a special club meeting to present it to membership. That's definitely a good financial move. I've always said that the downfall of specialized groomers (Tucker, P.B, Prinoth) is its a large investment that can't be used during other seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnstang Posted August 24, 2023 Share Posted August 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Sled_Hed said: That's definitely a good financial move. I've always said that the downfall of specialized groomers (Tucker, P.B, Prinoth) is its a large investment that can't be used during other seasons. I think the cboys recently used a groomer for some summer time shenanigan stuff.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X2700 Posted August 25, 2023 Share Posted August 25, 2023 10 hours ago, Doug said: Where we're located in Central Wisconsin is more of a Agricultural area. We don't always get rideable snow so for grooming we have Cat Challengers (tracked tractors) for grooming. We rent them out to select people during the off season which works out well for the club. One has been rented out for most of the summer and we now have an offer from the individual to buy it. We'll be having a board meeting to review our options if we sell, what we could buy that gets us year around income, and a budget to work with. Then a special club meeting to present it to membership. Would you be able to rent it back from him for grooming? Sometimes wonder for amount of grooming southern counties use groomers maybe better off looking for farmer that would rent one out for grooming? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted August 25, 2023 Author Share Posted August 25, 2023 1 hour ago, X2700 said: Would you be able to rent it back from him for grooming? Sometimes wonder for amount of grooming southern counties use groomers maybe better off looking for farmer that would rent one out for grooming? We have two Challengers and also access to a wide tire articulating tractor as a backup. Last two years our groomers have been used more in the off season than for grooming. This gives the club some income in a bad year for grooming. If we would really get in a bind I'm sure we could get it back to use. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted September 3, 2023 Author Share Posted September 3, 2023 On 8/8/2023 at 5:03 PM, Doug said: https://www.snowmobile.org/snowmobiling-statistics-and-facts.html So it's in the 90's today. How's the sled search going 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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