FMCA

[kev]

Today in the mail was my membership renual notice.  It is now doubled in price.  So I started to do some digging.  Found this

and I am here wondering what is going on. There is conversation on rvforums.com also.   

 

 

[erniee]

My dues are paid up till next year. I use to post on here for flooring. But since I got too old-77- don’t need it anymore. 

[bobww]

FMCA is in the process of changing to Family RV Association (FRVA). This is part of our expansion to provide resources and benefits to all owners of recreational vehicles and those interested in owning an RV. This is a long term recognition that we are a great resource and the changing RV marketplace (fewer coaches and more towables). The decision was made by the Governing Board back in August. We have been working with a professional branding consultant on a logo and other items since. We are in the process of fully rolling out these changes to our various platforms.  In addition, the Governing Board approved increasing the dues. This is the first dues increase in many years. In retrospect, it would have been less of a shock if we had made smaller increases in dues during this time. Why the need for the dues increase? Our membership has been decreasing (part of the reason for the name change) and our expenses have been increasing. We have run in the red for eight of the past ten years. We needed to address this issue before we ran out of reserves. We have substantially decreased expenses including reducing our staffing levels but this did not resolve the issue. We needed to increase revenue as well. I hope this helps you understand what is going on. If you have additional questions, either post them here or email them to me at bobww.fmca@gmail.com

[rayin]

Bob, it is my opinion you/ governing board have 2 choices;

 #1, Continue on  the present path, which is try to please everyone to increase membership; which from my experience never works well.

#2. Revert to the old format of being an exclusive club for motorhome owners only, and cater to these members. If a person owns a motorhome they usually have greater finances and enjoy the company of other MH owners.

Sorry, I forgot #3. File bankruptcy and hope Harvest Hosts buys the club, with the same downsides as Escapees is now experiencing.

Edited December 16 by rayin

[erniee]

Don’t sell it to Thor~

[elkhartjim]

FMCA/FMA/FRVA/ etc, raised dues a few years ago by a few dollars and there was such a drop in membership renewal that they had a dues rollback very quickly. Just look to Washington and you should realize you can't tax (raise dues) your way to prosperity.

"This is a long term recognition that we are a great resource and the changing RV marketplace". Are you kidding me, there are no resources available from FMCA that aren't available free or for a reasonable cost from other groups. I know, the medical evacuation plan, but do you really believe the younger crowd you're trying to attract will be interested since they rarely travel more than a few miles from home on their weekend trips?

Apparently, Escapees and Good Sam are hemorrhaging but their leadership had the wisdom to cut their losses and move on. How many more major rally's can FMCA finance when they are all losing operations?

IMHO, FMCA will fail and not because there aren't enough members but because the leadership has failed to lead. 

[erniee]

Raising the dues to help get new members is like shooting yourselves in both feet.

[palibs]

I would like to thank everyone on this forum for taking the time to provide your thoughts and ideas about the future of Family RV Association. 

The Governing Board made the decision in Redmond to increase the dues to $99.00 per year. The increase was more than the Executive Board expected but in retrospect we think it was a good decision. Our Dues were raised to $50 in July 2015, and except for the 16 months in the middle when dues were raised to $75 and then dropped back to $50, they have stayed the same. I think the EB and the GB should have been raising them every year during this time frame to keep up with inflation and minimize the appearance of such a large increase. 

I firmly believe that the benefits we provide along with the discounts we negotiate, make the $99 dues a bargain. 
To purchase a Medical Evacuation Program that even gets close to the benefits we provide with our membership, will cost well over $200.00 annually. 
The cost of everything to do with our Magazine has increased significantly during the last 9 years. Our options are to do away with the magazine or fund it so our members can continue to enjoy what they list as one of our most important benefits. Postage has increased almost 60% during this time frame. 
Our tire program and our Family RV Association insurance both save our members a significant amount of money which more than covers the cost of our annual dues.

Our dues increase is going to allow us to maintain our current benefits and expand what we provide our members.  This will ensure our continued position as the Premier RV Association in the RVing community. 

Thank you for being the best part of the Family RV Association, 

Paul

Paul G Mitchell
Family RV Association
National President
https://fmca.com
209-815-1837
 

 

 

[dp26]

It could be a disservice to be irresponsible. If $99 and inflation increases get to or close to break even, then it must be done or perish. Same decision any business makes. Well, the ones that survive do. 

Taking away services to keep the price low is surely fail. I suspect the benefits are why most join and stay. Sure, some enjoy he club aspect, but that number seems like a small percentage.

[rayin]

A few years ago  I stopped paying dues because DW became ill and could not travel. This fall she improved enough to begin taking our MH out for short 4-5 day trips this coming spring. This doubling of dues turned her off to FMCA, so I will not be re-newing my membership and removing the FMCA  emblems  from our MH.

This is sad to see happen, when all one has to do is look back and realize when the decline began in ernest, and take appropriate actions to undo what was done to perpetrate the decline.

Sure, returning to a MH only club will result in the loss of towables owners, you just have to re-adjust the business accordingly. I initially joined to be part of an exclusive MH club, now there's little difference  between FMCA and Good Sam club.

Since these forums are open, I will continue to converse with my internet friends and acquaintances as I am permitted.

Edited December 19 by rayin

[erniee]

How come we don’t see any of the national directors post here except when we discuss FMCA? They don’t contribute to tech topics, etc

[aztec7fan]

On 12/18/2024 at 6:10 PM, rayin said:

A few years ago  I stopped paying dues because DW became ill and could not travel. This fall she improved enough to begin taking our MH out for short 4-5 day trips this coming spring. This doubling of dues turned her off to FMCA, so I will not be re-newing my membership and removing the FMCA  emblems  from our MH.

This is sad to see happen, when all one has to do is look back and realize when the decline began in ernest, and take appropriate actions to undo what was done to perpetrate the decline.

Sure, returning to a MH only club will result in the loss of towables owners, you just have to re-adjust the business accordingly. I initially joined to be part of an exclusive MH club, now there's little difference  between FMCA and Good Sam club.

Since these forums are open, I will continue to converse with my internet friends and acquaintances as I am permitted.

i too am a non-member forum contributer.  last year, i looked into joining again since we were planning a long trip with my elderly parents in-law (and two adult sons). i thought the emergency medical coverage might be a good thing to have.  after doing research, it looked like the FMCA plan only covers the RV owner and spouse.  i went with the Good Sam plan instead which covered everyone.

i am also only interested in a motorhome only club, and would be happy to renew my membership (even at $99.00), if this club changed back to what they originally stood for and dropped the dumb name change.

Edited December 20 by aztec7fan

[erniee]

Back a long time ago when I joined there were a few magazines around- Trailer life, Motorhome, FMCA . Since all I have owners are CLASS A - not type A - as the woke establishment wants us to tag them now, I didn’t care 2 hoots about trailers- still don’t 

[palibs]

On 12/19/2024 at 5:06 AM, erniee said:

How come we don’t see any of the national directors post here except when we discuss FMCA? They don’t contribute to tech topics, etc

I posted on Tuesday this week and the National Vice President, Bob Weithofer posted just before that. Happy to answer any questions about Family RV Association and the things we are planning. FRVA is a member owned association and all members have a say in what we do. 

Paul

Paul G Mitchell
Family RV Association
National President
https://fmca.com
209-815-1837

 

 

[wildebill308]

4 hours ago, palibs said:

I posted on Tuesday this week and the National Vice President, Bob Weithofer posted just before that. Happy to answer any questions about Family RV Association and the things we are planning. FRVA is a member owned association and all members have a say in what we do. 

Paul

Paul G Mitchell
Family RV Association
National President
https://fmca.com
209-815-1837

 

 

I hope I am not suppose to be impressed because in the last 10 years you have posted 15 times. That and bobww  has posted 7 times in 9 years. 

Bill

[palibs]

19 hours ago, wildebill308 said:

I hope I am not suppose to be impressed because in the last 10 years you have posted 15 times. That and bobww  has posted 7 times in 9 years. 

Bill

Bill

I know you have been on this forum for a long time and are one of the key contributors. We thank you for that and want to let you know that we appreciate it. Any ideas, comments, suggestions you have are greatly appreciated. We appreciate all of our Family members and hope they stay with us. 

Thanks again for your comments,

Paul

[wildebill308]

To help people find the forums make it easier to find the link to it. I would put in the second row maybe next to "Magazine". I have heard from several people that say they have a hard time getting to the forums. I think that is one of the reasons participation has fallen off.

Bill

[erniee]

Perhaps a paragraph in the magazine about this forum?

[palibs]

Bill,

Thank you for the suggestions. I have forwarded them to our Communications and IT departments. We should be able to incorporate this in the new year. Long term we are working on our website layout to make it more intuitive and user friendly. 

Have a great Holiday,

Paul

[rayin]

On 12/23/2024 at 12:48 PM, palibs said:

Bill,

Thank you for the suggestions. I have forwarded them to our Communications and IT departments. We should be able to incorporate this in the new year. Long term we are working on our website layout to make it more intuitive and user friendly. 

Have a great Holiday,

Paul

That's great!  For an example of how NOT to design a discussion forum website, go look at the newly-redesigned Good Sam discussion forums. It's like the project was sub-let to an elementary school class; I quit that website.

Something I'd like to see addressed is the issue of, if a member doesn't join a chapter, they have absoluteiy no say in how the organization operates. This forum is their only channel to management.