Running Club Newsletter questions

choovie · Dec 31, 2007

I'm on the board of our running club and also the newsletter editor. We send our newsletter to 335 households but will soon be losing our access to the free printing that has been provided by another club member. 
Our board is getting nervous about the upcoming newsletter costs and are looking at some alternative ideas. I'm curious what other clubs do and thought I'd ask my Kick friends some questions. 
1. What are your annual club dues? Ours are $20/individual or $25/family. 
2. Is your newsletter electronic or paper? Can you choose the format? 
3. If you receive electronically, do you get around to reading it or does it end up in the trash bin unread? 
4. If you receive electronically, do they send the newsletter as an attachment or do they just send a link to file? 
5. Does your newsletter sell ad space? If so, how do you feel about this? 
6. Other comments? 
Thanks so much!

millbot · Dec 31, 2007

I think I pay $15 a year. Rather than a newsletter, there is a website that is updated periodically with news and race information. If you want, you can get an email notification when updates are made. There are no ads on the site. 
The club is associated with a running store, and the big draw for membership is a 10% discount off everything in the store. They also sponsor some races and give club members a discount there. They do some group runs but I've never been, since their "home base" is 25 miles away. 
Hey choovie, publish some running skirt photos and your readership and advertising revenue will skyrocket.

hally · Dec 31, 2007

Choovie, if we can substitute bike club since I don't belong to a running club <img alt="sad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/sad.gif">

hup · Jan 1, 2008

You're channeling me, choov. I am also a running club board member and was newsletter editor. My situation is rather unique though in that the club is based in a town about 30 miles away, thus I am not really able to have regular contact (i.e. group runs/workouts) with the main body of the membership. IMO this made it difficult to produce a quality NL since I just didn't have any real personal involvement. Plus, I didn't get any input from other members even though I solicited contributions constantly. The NLs I did put out were mostly just race results, a President's column, upcoming race calendar, and my own race reports or articles. Stimulating journalism, to be sure <img alt="roll_eyes.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/roll_eyes.gif">. So, I've found another member to take over the publishing and I'm going to work freelance. 
OK, that to preface my responses to your questions. 1. What are your annual club dues? Ours are $20/individual or $25/family. $15 individual, $20 family 
2. Is your newsletter electronic or paper? Can you choose the format? NL is print, sent out 4 x year (in theory). We have a club website, but the NL was not available there. This was an easy fix since I sent .pdf to our webmaster, but he didn't see the need or have the desire. 3. If you receive electronically, do you get around to reading it or does it end up in the trash bin unread? n/a 
4. If you receive electronically, do they send the newsletter as an attachment or do they just send a link to file? n/a (however, I would think that a link to file might be the better choice) 
5. Does your newsletter sell ad space? If so, how do you feel about this? No ads, but I would not be averse to it. 
6. Other comments 
We decided to keep the print NL only to serve folks who are not online. I think that giving folks a choice of format would have been a better way to go (we send to everyone in the club). It would have saved us money and better served the membership (our mailing list was as much as 5 years out of date ... tough to get the membership folks on the same page as far updating it was concerned)

rosecoloredglasses · Jan 1, 2008

1. What are your annual club dues? Ours are $20/individual or $25/family. Our dues are similar to yours. 
2. Is your newsletter electronic or paper? Can you choose the format? We get a hardcopy. But the newsletter is quarterly (I think, it might be every two months, definitely not every month.) 
3. If you receive electronically, do you get around to reading it or does it end up in the trash bin unread? Our homeowners association newsletter is electronic and I haven't been reading it as much as I did when it was hardcopy. 
4. If you receive electronically, do they send the newsletter as an attachment or do they just send a link to file? Again, referring the homeowners', I get an e-mail with a file attachment that could be easily printed. 
5. Does your newsletter sell ad space? If so, how do you feel about this? I think selling ad space is a wonderful way to finance a newsletter, both the running club and the homeowners association sell space. I think it is a good idea.

Pie Jones · Jan 2, 2008

hoovie.....my club dues are similar to yours. Our newsletter is sent out every 2 months. We have recently opted to give members the choice of how to receive, either hard copy or online. We have pushed the idea of being nice to our trees to get as many people as possible to opt for the online version, and offer them a 5 dollar discount on the annual dues if they do. We simply get a link emailed to us rather than an attachment. The biggest benefit of viewing online is that it's in living color. We have between 1,700 and 2,000 members on average, and about 300-400 are opting for the online version so far. That amount grows each month as people renew memberships and take advantage of the discount. 
Ad space is sold, but it's actually a bonus since most include some info that runners always need...for example, you know that the physicians, physical therapists, massage therapists, nutritionists etc., that advertise, are folks that routinely treat runners and most offer discounted services to members. The retail ads are usually sports oriented also, and many offer special deals to members. 
I look forward to reading each issue, not so much for the usual race reports and club business, but the wide variety of articles from contributing writers.

Timr1 · Jan 2, 2008

Hey Choovie, 
I'm a member of the Birmingham Track Club. Here's the answers to your questions: 1. What are your annual club dues? 
-$25 single; $35 family 2. Is your newsletter electronic or paper? Can you choose the format? 
-both; printed 4x per year, eletronic in color pdf monthly; yes you can choose...we would like to get away from the printed copy, but there's old school people who need to have the physical hard copy 3. If you receive electronically, do you get around to reading it or does it end up in the trash bin unread? 
-I always read it on the day or there after when I get the email that the new one has been posted. 4. If you receive electronically, do they send the newsletter as an attachment or do they just send a link to file? 
-link to a file that is password protected; the current newsletter is protected for members only. When it becomes not current, it's posted in the archive for all people to view. 5. Does your newsletter sell ad space? If so, how do you feel about this? 
-yes; I think it's good. The community supports the club and club members try to frequent the places that advertise. Many of them are run or managed by track club members. 6. Other comments? 
- you can view the archived newsletters here: <a href="http://birminghamtrackclub.com/vulcan-runner-newsletter" target="_blank">http://birminghamtrackclub.com/vulcan-runner-newsletter</a>

choovie · Jan 3, 2008

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to comment. Timr1, thanks to you for including the link. I enjoyed looking at your newsletter! Interesting that they password protect the new issue.

Running Club Newsletter questions

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