AGB Membership

[Whitehart]

I popped on to Sport 80 to renew my direct membership - just one of those things I have been meaning to do but there seemed no rush.

I notice that if I am a member of a club From 1st April the AGB membership fee is halved to the renewal in September, but no such reduction for direct members.

Have I got this right?

 

[HelenW]

I think the reduction is for new members joining for the first time, not returning members - they still pay full year whatever stage they join at.

 

[CJ2014]

I'm afraid that is correct. As with most things on the AGB site, it was hidden well, but I found the details. Although the April rates are shown as TBC for Club members.

Why not join a club for a year?

https://www.archerygb.org/shoot-compete/shoot/become-a-member/membership-benefits/

 

[Whitehart]

Thanks, in my position I have no need to join a club I have joined my County but for the sake of £25.00 just peeved that there is no consistency across members probably the reason why current membership was down to around 23K in Nov, maybe now we can shoot and with this incentive archers will re-join their clubs. Although I am worried that many have got out of the habit of shooting regularly and when they find it is going to take time to get back to archery fitness or the hassle of covid restrictions on numbers will not return.

 

[AJBrady]

Our club lost about 20% of membership last September, and about a third didn’t shoot between then and the latest lockdown. As posters above have said, I think many won’t bother when ArcheryGB finally get round to telling us what the situation is from the 29th March.

BTW When i started shooting many, many years ago, I think new members joining in the summer paid a full fee, but it carried through to September the following year.

 

[Rabid Hamster]

we're not going to bother charging club membership at least this summer but even then we're worried about renewal in september. we kept 90% of the club last september. but only about 50% ever shot during the summer.

 

[CJ2014]

Whitehart.

I queried AGB's April Pro-rata rates and they have issued an update on pro-rata renewals, including Direct members. They have now annualized April renewal to the archer not AGB. I feel sorry for Club affiliation Officers.

https://www.archerygb.org/shoot-compete/shoot/become-a-member/membership-benefits/

 

[little-else]

They have created a problem by this inasmuch as it will cause confusion to members and make it harder for clubs to work out how many paid up members they have at a particular time as most clubs financial years dont start at the GB renewal date. The dispensation only applies to the AGB part of your club fees anyway so offering this "benefit" means that any payment will be in unequal tranches

 

[DorsetWiltsAA]

All clubs informed by AGB tonight wef 14/04/21, unless a Direct member, all club based AGB membership is now only via clubs again, personalised renewal dates for 2020-21 lapsed members ceases tonight and all personalised members renewals issued to date revert back to 30/09/21

* A renewing adult member, who was a member in 2019/2020 – will pay £47.00 – membership will expire 30 September 2021.
* A lapsed adult member, from 2018/2019 or earlier – will pay the pro-rata fee for new members – again, membership will expire 30 September 2021.
* A new adult member will pay the pro-rata fee for new members.

For junior members, the same will apply as above, but with the pricing at 12.00 for the renewing juniors, and the junior pro rata fees for lapsed and new junior members"

 

[snowman]

So instead of a renewing/rejoining if you were a member in 2019/20 and paying full amount what stops you joining as a new member now and paying a pro rata fee? You are starting anew so you get a new membership number. Am I missing something?

 

[little-else]

so AGB have either realised the error of the offer or have just reneged on it.
Either way, not a good advert for them.

 

[Rabid Hamster]

i suspect agb is still in full panic mode regarding cash with all reserves of resources committed to the olympics and the membership (sheep to be sheared) falling like a paralysed falcon.
there will be begging emails next .... please sell your home and all your possessions to help fund agb.

(with apologies to the not the nine oclock news who mocked points of views many decades ago for blatantly sucking up to the bbc .... reporting positive letters saying such things as "I think the (television licence) fee is far too low. I would willingly sell my house and all its contents to help the BBC." )

 

[Scotsrick]

Our small club is just about to resume shooting although our normal school playing field is still unavailable.

Some of our members were naturally a bit unhappy about paying the full AGB fees for 5 months shooting.

We’re in the fortunate position of having an bit of money in the bank through fund raising etc so the club has generously decided to pay 50% of member fees up till September. This includes regional fees as well.

Obviously not an option for a bigger club but at least we get to shoot for the first time since last March.

 

[Rabid Hamster]

welcome back to arching scotsrick!

 

[malbro]

All clubs informed by AGB tonight wef 14/04/21, unless a Direct member, all club based AGB membership is now only via clubs again, personalised renewal dates for 2020-21 lapsed members ceases tonight and all personalised members renewals issued to date revert back to 30/09/21

* A renewing adult member, who was a member in 2019/2020 – will pay £47.00 – membership will expire 30 September 2021.
* A lapsed adult member, from 2018/2019 or earlier – will pay the pro-rata fee for new members – again, membership will expire 30 September 2021.
* A new adult member will pay the pro-rata fee for new members.

Just another AGB attempt to increase funds by reneging on the deal they offered.

 

[Kerf]

Just another AGB attempt to increase funds by reneging on the deal they offered.

Agreed. AGB’s problem is it’s trying to be a one size fits all organisation. That clearly hasn’t and doesn’t work. Financially it painted itself into a corner with its expensive HQ with all the expensive trimmings, increased and still increasing wage bill and relentless, and pricey, pursuit of medals. I strongly believe that its refusal to waive or reduce fees during the pandemic has lead to the massive slump in membership which is why we’re seeing the ridiculous situation of archers being asked to pay full AGB fees for what amounts to a few months of summer shooting.
And the one size fits all fee structure is iniquitous. Someone who participates actively in record status shoots, national and regional shoots, local competitions etc pays the same fee as someone who only shoots once or twice a week at their local club.
Personally I’d like to see a tiered system with competitive archers paying more than the hobby archer. Or a system in which every one pays a (lower) flat rate but those who want to compete pay an enhanced entry fee, a proportion of which goes to AGB.
I know £47 isn’t a lot but it is the perception of what you get for it. For the competitive archer the perception is good, he/she feels AGB is doing something for them and they feel they’re getting value for money. For the hobby archer it feels like a shooting tax imposed by distant suits sitting in their gilded ivory towers.
And I also think AGB has missed a trick. Currently I can see many archers not renewing until the new membership year starts thus saving the £47 plus whatever their club fees are. (In my case for example that would amount to £102 inc county and regional costs). Wouldn't it have been better to offer pro-rata to everyone? Even AGB should be able to see that (potentially) thousands of pro-rata fees is better that considerably fewer full fees?

 

[Aleatorian]

While i agree with your sentiment over the pro rata for all to encourage people to come back within this membership year, i don't agree with the below statement.

Personally I’d like to see a tiered system with competitive archers paying more than the hobby archer. Or a system in which every one pays a (lower) flat rate but those who want to compete pay an enhanced entry fee, a proportion of which goes to AGB.

Competitive archers already pay more, and I feel you are just looking at the small picture and focussing on an individual's club only. Competitive archers are a huge benefit to the archery ecosystem.
They tend to buy the big ticket items at shops aiding in keeping them afloat, alongside the stream of beginner and intermediate kit. Many actively promote certain shops and the sport itself. They pay up entry fees at competitions hosted by various clubs, which in turn funds other clubs coffers which leads to membership fees for those being kept fairly low.
Example being, my previous club (member base of just under 50), based on school grounds, didn't/couldn't run open competitions, membership cost circa £350pa (inc. AGB/County/Region). My current club (member base currently around 80, usually 100+), based on own field with clubhouse, runs or hosts several open competitions over the year, membership cost circa £150pa.
See without the income from the competitive archers, membership cost to the club itself would be more restrictive and could become akin to the likes of Golf Membership fees.

At the end of the day, how much a person shoots is entirely decided by them and (basing this purely on AGB membership fee), what else can you do for less then £4 a week?

 

[dvd8n]

At the end of the day, how much a person shoots is entirely decided by them and (basing this purely on AGB membership fee), what else can you do for less then £4 a week?

Well, my field archery club costs me about 50p a week for 24/7/365 shooting all in; association fees, club fees, insurance, the lot.

 

[dvd8n]

Your comments about competitive archers may well be true but there is a definite perception among a lot of archers that AGB don't provide value for money. That's something that AGB need to fix somehow.

 

[Kerf]

While i agree with your sentiment over the pro rata for all to encourage people to come back within this membership year, i don't agree with the below statement.



Competitive archers already pay more, and I feel you are just looking at the small picture and focussing on an individual's club only. Competitive archers are a huge benefit to the archery ecosystem.
They tend to buy the big ticket items at shops aiding in keeping them afloat, alongside the stream of beginner and intermediate kit. Many actively promote certain shops and the sport itself. They pay up entry fees at competitions hosted by various clubs, which in turn funds other clubs coffers which leads to membership fees for those being kept fairly low.
Example being, my previous club (member base of just under 50), based on school grounds, didn't/couldn't run open competitions, membership cost circa £350pa (inc. AGB/County/Region). My current club (member base currently around 80, usually 100+), based on own field with clubhouse, runs or hosts several open competitions over the year, membership cost circa £150pa.
See without the income from the competitive archers, membership cost to the club itself would be more restrictive and could become akin to the likes of Golf Membership fees.

At the end of the day, how much a person shoots is entirely decided by them and (basing this purely on AGB membership fee), what else can you do for less then £4 a week?

I take your point entirely. However, neither of the fee options I mentioned above would stop that. There would still be competitive archers.
My underlying point is that for whatever reason(s) AGB is in a mess and needs a radical overhaul if it is to retain and then grow its grassroots members. There will certainly be a rise in fees before long but how palatable that will be depends on how it convinces us it’s money well spent. Or it could just blithely impose the fee increase and callously depend on its effectively closed shop monopoly to see it through. I fear the latter.