The Vintage Motor Car Club of America

Paying the Bills

- posted July 23, 2025

Two weeks of cool, rainy, nasty weather, coupled with recent interactions with the visitor to our last meeting, has given me time to think about what I feel are this club’s most pressing issues. (OUR ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM)

First (but not foremost) among those issues that came to mind is our ever-shrinking membership. We are not the only club facing this dilemma. It’s not just we antique car clubs; it is almost every club or organization that relies on volunteers to carry out their mission. The Rotary, Elks, Moose, and other service clubs in addition to Volunteer Fire companies, Rescue Squads, Hospital Auxiliaries, and a whole host of other groups are sitting around trying to come up with a plan to attract new members and to keep the ones they already have.

While we do speak to this issue on a somewhat regular basis, we have no real plan. Yes, we have suggestions about things that can be done, but not a plan.

Second among my issues list is our continuous adoption of a deficit budget. I seem to remember someone reporting that this has gone on since COVID came to visit, but it may have originated even before that. Regardless, we need to understand that no matter how many members we have or are able to attract, not being able to pay our financial obligations will kill the club quicker than not having enough members to make it worth having a club. Ours is the only club to which I have ever belonged that operates in this manner on a continual basis. We all must surely realize that using our "rainy day" funds to pay our operating expenses is a surefire way to go bankrupt.

All the other clubs I belong to utilize the philosophy that all the regular operating expenses of the club are shared equally among the entire membership. In our club, the annual dues for each member do not cover these costs. We rely on annual dues, interest from our investments/savings, withdrawals from invested funds, and proceeds from Annual Tours and Meetings. The club cannot accurately predict the level of income from National Tours. Additionally, by utilizing this method, the club penalizes those who tour Nationally, by adding an additional financial burden on the members who tour. This method places a greater share of the operating costs of our club on the tourer than it does for all members who do not or cannot tour. Is this fair?

As an example, if I went on 5 national tours, and $50 extra was built into the cost of each registration for the benefit of the national club, I will have contributed $250 in addition to my annual dues to the club. Meantime, the hobbyist who does not tour, and may only belong to get our award-winning Bulb Horn Magazine, will only contribute $48 or $40 for an electronic copy.

Someone will likely point out that many clubs have car shows, flea markets, and do mall shows and similar activities to raise funds in addition to the dues. This is true; however, those additional funds are used for special projects like scholarships, holiday parties for the membership, club equipment, and activities that can be enjoyed by all the membership should they decide to do that. But the funds necessary to pay the costs of operating the club—such as rent, insurance, printing, website access, and other necessities—are covered by the annual dues.

I believe our dues were last raised 4 years ago. During that time, inflation has risen 4.7% in 2021, 8.0% in ’22, 4.1% in ’23 and 2.9% in ’24. If we compound those interest rates, our $48 standard dues rate would be equal to $58.14.

1,100 members at $60 would yield us $66,000. 150 electronic issue members at $52 would yield an additional $7,800. Which together would then net us $73,800.

While this would be an improvement, it does not fix the problem. Personally, I feel we should consider annual dues at $80 per year.

This would yield $100,000 annually, end the deficit budget, and get the club up on a sound financial platform. Additionally, we can eliminate the need for adding additional money to National Tour budgets and place the full operating expense equally upon each member. Members then only need to choose a hard copy or an electronic copy of the Bulb Horn, as it will be by choice and not your membership status. It may seem to be ambitious, but we need a fix, not a patch. $80 annual dues is $6.67 a month and not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things. Not shouldering this minimal amount now will end VMCCA as we now know it.

This would yield $100,000 annually, end the deficit budget, and get the club up on a sound financial platform. Additionally, we can eliminate the need for adding additional money to National Tour budgets and place the full operating expense equally upon each member. Members then only need to choose a hard copy or an electronic copy of the Bulb Horn, as it will be by choice and not your membership status. It may seem to be ambitious, but we need a fix, not a patch. $80 annual dues is $6.67 a month and not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things. Not shouldering this minimal amount now will end VMCCA as we now know it.

In response to this epistle, I am delighted to learn your thoughts and opinion. I will value even more your suggested solution to this dilemma if it differs from mine.

We need your suggested solution more so than pointing out the weaker points in mine. Got an amount in mind… let’s hear it!

President Duane