Bike Clubs

[shootingstar]

My questions are:

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?

I am only a member and volunteer for the cycling advocacy organization which does advocacy, cycling skills training and some rides. This organization has been around at least 15 yrs. THere is a bike club which focuses primarily on just rides for all levels,but non-competitive. Also another group for randonneurs.

2. Do you have insurance? Our group does. For every ride, people do sign waivers. My dearie recently negotiated the latest contract with the organization's insurer. He negotiated for a good deal (by spending over 50 min. It wasn't just blindly signing a deal. ) because the membership is getting big.

3. How do you acquire new members?

Website, newsletter, special events that involve all city and suburbs, ie. 2 Bike to Work Wks. annually, rides, local media exposure by sending out/contacting main media (newspaper, radio and tv). Joint public events with other related organizations. Exposure, exposure to the media and to other community groups is important. Having a email push listserve group is still easiest to reach everyone...especially when not everyone is on Facebook, Twitter. Is there a web link to your group from the municipality's website? Membership also provides some discount with partner bike shops, etc.

4. Do you have fund raisers?
If so, what are they?

They have raffles by partnering with local businesses who donate items. T-shirts. A small amount from rides. Very tiny. They also have paid staff who assist. Note paid staff only occurred in last 5 years or so. They have applied for on specific projects for some funding from municipal and provincial govn't. This funding is more tied to their cycling advocacy work, not for rides.

5. What advice can you give me?
If you don't know already, there is always a small handful of dedicated board members and volunteers. Make sure you have events that draw across your communities..to get new blood in. Necessary for long-term club sustainability/growth. Survival of a cycling group isn't the budget..it's the people who are willing to carry onward consistently to organize events, speak on cycling, etc. I was in a bike group for women...it wasn't the budget that was our downfall, it was the lack of new volunteer blood 5 yrs. later. In fact our budget was less than $5,000 but we had the support /attendance of 300 women over a wide provincial region. But the core volunteer work was done by 8-10 people in 1 city. There was no other way to handle the coordination efficiently.

Develop friendly relationships, even if distant (if you are not into cycling advocacy), with municipal transportation/engineering depts., municipal council. It will help the club in the future when their support is needed.

Be not afraid. You will GROW. In cycling knowledge, connections, etc. Be a fun group first that helps others learn without blowing the budget. Then everything else will follow.

[SheFly]

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?

I am the current president of our club. It is the longest running (oldest) bicycle club in the Northeast, and we celebrated our 50th anniversary two years ago. The club typically has over 300 members, with one third being women. While the focus is on racing development, only approx. 1/3 of our membership are active racers.

2. Do you have insurance?
Any club/team registered with USA Cycling is covered by USAC insurance. The only additional insurance that we carry as a club is for our BOD in the case of a lawsuit. All members sign waivers as part of their membership, and for any of our rides/events, non-members must sign waivers for those specific events.

3. How do you acquire new members?

Club rides, outreach at races, website, etc. I, personally, will try to recruit new members by letting them know the benefits of joining such a large and established club.

4. Do you have fund raisers? If so, what are they?

Membership and sponsorship are our primary incomes for the year. We also host other events where we may make a small, or even significant profit. Some of these are clinics and race series that we are required by USAC to host.

5. What advice can you give me?

[B]If you don't know already, there is always a small handful of dedicated board members and volunteers. Make sure you have events that draw across your communities..to get new blood in. Necessary for long-term club sustainability/growth. Survival of a cycling group isn't the budget..it's the people who are willing to carry onward consistently to organize events, speak on cycling, etc. I was in a bike group for women...it wasn't the budget that was our downfall, it was the lack of new volunteer blood 5 yrs. later. In fact our budget was less than $5,000 but we had the support /attendance of 300 women over a wide provincial region. But the core volunteer work was done by 8-10 people in 1 city. There was no other way to handle the coordination efficiently.

Shootingstar hit this one on the head. I have been a BOD member in other [non-cycling] clubs, and all of them suffer from STP syndrome (same ten people). It is important to understand what your membership wants, and to try to provide it to them. Do they want team rides? Put together team rides. Training plans? Find a way to get them.

A successful club/BOD member will search out a successor. I am always looking at the club to see who may be a good replacement for the time when I step out of my role.

Hope this helps.

SheFly (http://nebc.us)

[Bike Chick]

Everything has helped tremendously. We currently have about 15 members; four of which are the Board members. Monthly club rides are planned with distances for both beginning and advanced riders. We just ordered jerseys with the club logo and plan to ride in a group at local charity rides. We are also planning to prepare brochures for distribution at 5k runs, charity rides, local gyms and bike shops. I feel its a good start.

One more question I have for you ladies is this:

Did you join your club because you wanted to receive something tangible (ie. a t-shirt, discounts at bike shops) or because you just want to ride bikes with other folks that have the same interest as you? There has been a difference of opinion among some of our board and some feel that we need to offer our members something in return for their membership fee. We don't have the money for postage on newsletters much less passing out t-shirts. What are your thoughts please?

[shootingstar]

One more question I have for you ladies is this:

Did you join your club because you wanted to receive something tangible (ie. a t-shirt, discounts at bike shops) or because you just want to ride bikes with other folks that have the same interest as you? There has been a difference of opinion among some of our board and some feel that we need to offer our members something in return for their membership fee. We don't have the money for postage on newsletters much less passing out t-shirts. What are your thoughts please?

I joined in Toronto the group where I became a board/committee member because I wanted to ride and share cycling with others with same interest also.

We did not charge a membership fee. Instead we charged per monthly ride and for workshops. Also had a conference every 2 yrs. where it was 2 days of workshops. It was great. All were fee-based inlcuded T-shirt, water bottle.

The other option is to provide a blog in lieu of a newsletter. A person can sign up with wordpress for basic service and preset templates for free. Server memory should be enough. It's well over 1 gig per registered primary account user/administrator. You can make this blog exclusive just for members or later open it up to rest of world so people will find you.

Maybe you can include an annual picnic or luncheon...make it simple on yourselves after a ride. You're tiny group right now. Any coffee shops willing to give a discount with membership card? Think of some partnerships with local businesses.

[SheFly]

Did you join your club because you wanted to receive something tangible (ie. a t-shirt, discounts at bike shops) or because you just want to ride bikes with other folks that have the same interest as you?

I joined because these were my people . I wanted to ride with and learn from other avid cyclists/racers. When I recruit, that is the carrot I use - we don't provide anything "tangible" to our members. In fact, if members want a jersey, t-shirt, etc., it is something for which they will pay.

Stay within your means. If you have a charter, stick to it. Eventually, people will see what you are doing, that you are doing it well, and having fun, and they will want to join you.

Good luck!

SheFly

[IFjane]

Hey BikeChick! I don't feel my responses can equate to those already posted because I live in a very rural area and there are only a few of us who ride regularly (road bikes, that is). However, there are several very active larger clubs in the area who have much larger memberships.

Our club is loosely organized & we communicate through a yahoo group site. According to the site we have 42 members +/-, though we usually have an average of 5 show up for a ride - sometimes 10+, mostly not. Like I said, we're out in the boonies of VA

I didn't join the group - the group sort of evolved around us. We found out through happenstance that there were a number of us living in the area who all loved road riding & we started riding together. The rest kind of "happened". We help sponsor the only large fund-raiser ride in our county each year. This coming year is the 22nd or 23rd year and it continues to be one of the more popular in the region, simply because of the location - roads, scenery, etc. The proceeds benefit the local recreation department.

Tulip had some great comments & RABA is an awesome club. Much bigger than anything we locally will ever have. Best of luck to you!