Open Letter to FMCA

[deenad]

We joined sometime back using my parents FMCA number. We found that the rallies are great and attended a few. Three years ago my step daughter died, one week after my wife applied for retirement from her company. No choice but to take the grandkids into our home. $6,000 in legal fees later we got legal guardianship. Since then we've been to several FMCA rallies and the kids had a great time.

We don't belong to any chapters though. We did join one Good Sam chapter but they held their rallies during the week so we gave up on them. I did try contacting a local FMCA chapter a few months ago but never heard back from anyone.

[hermanmullins]

deen_ad

I am indeed sorry for your family's loss. Your grand children are fortunate to have y'all in their lives.

You are correct that most chapter have their rallies during the week. May I suggest that you write a post here on the Forum addressing this point and see if there is enough interest in forming a "Weekend Chapter, Children Welcome" there in the Pacific Northwest. I believe you will get enough people to respond that you could form a chapter up there. You might start by contacting one of the following:

Bud & Marje Fouts Kent & Karen Pratt Neil & Bobbi Radford

Puyallup, WA Royal City, WA Aberdeen, WA

budandmarje@msn.com karenkpratt@aol.com nrad4d@yahoo.com

They are Board Members of the "Northwest Area of FMCA.

I'm sure they will glad to help in any way they can.

[wvr3567]

Deen, sorry for your loss.

Membership has dropped from about 130,000 in 2004 to less than 87,000 today since 2004 - a loss of 1/3 of the memberships. The loss continues at a rapid pace - hundreds per month.

To remain viable, the Association needs to revamp its thinking in many areas. The one you mention about not even replying to you is probably the most crucial. Unless there is a legitimate reason for no response, it says, "you are not important to me"! That is sad.

What change could result in growth? Perhaps responding positively to families? Perhaps allowing towables? Over the last few years one would think the president and board would have some answers.

Happy Holidays,

Bill Reichert

[ki4nai]

Well, As a FMCA member under 55, I can point out a few things, as I have done in the past regarding membership loss of FMCA. According to wvr3567, FMCA membership drops at hundreds per month, (which I suspect is caused either by members being to old to drive or death. I attended the last FMCA Board of National Directors meeting and was surprised at what I heard. In support of the association hierarchy (Pres, Ast Pres, etc), it was the members themselves via the Chapter National Directors that have created the problems. A very good presentation was made for forming a new membership association for TOWABLES as part of the FMCA family (Most young families start out with some type of towable). But yet, after hearing how we were losing money and members monthly, the chapter board of directors voted it down. Thus the hierarchy that we need to hear from are the chapter national directors explaining why they did this, then the chapters need to be contacted and have the facts of life explained to them.

Since joining FMCA, I have joined 4 chapters, and each one of those, I searched out. Of the 4, I chapter was a click, to the point that I asked at a Rally where the chapter was parked, and was told that then didn't have room for visitors, chapter members or not. The 2nd one, I never heard a thing from them, to include the website not being updated. The 3rd chapter, I'm a Alt National Director, and the 4th, I'm a active member.

The end result should be forming new chapters of like minded families, then start to OCCUPY FMCA, until they get the message.

[wvr3567]

OCCUPY FMCA!! I was just thinking of that before logging on.

Hopefully, those Chapter National Directors opposing towables will have the guts to come forward and state their cases. I doubt they will respond.

Rest assured. They have all been made aware of what is going on by the president, so they cannot say they know nothing about what is going on here in the forum.

Thanks for chiming in.

Happy Holidays,

Bill Reichert

[kathie]

Deen, I am sorry none of the chapters responded to you, that is if they are from the Northwest Area. If you contact me directly I can give you some names and contacts for chapters in the Vancouver Washington Area.

Thanks

Andy Balogh

President NW Area Motorhome Association

kabalogh@telus.net

[ki4nai]

To answer the questions, the following information is in regards to the question of towables, this information can be found on the FMCA Members Section under Governance.

Family Motor Coach Association

Actions

Executive Board Meeting April 30, May 3, 4 and 5, 2011

19. To approve that a committee be appointed to research the process, cost, issues, and benefits to establish a separate corporation, to be affiliated with FMCA, for selfcontained towables and report back to the Executive Board in a timely manner.

GOVERNING BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Governing Board Meeting Page 6

August 10, 2011 Madison, Wisconsin

question was raised on item #19 concerning establishing a separate corporation for self-contained towables. A statement was made that this is a motorhome organization. It was reported that towables were allowed at the Perry

convention as an experiment and to bring in additional revenue. A suggestion was made to consider towables if it would keep the organization alive by increasing attendance and dealer participation. The board was reminded that

this action was only to explore the issue of self-contained towables. It was clarified that the Marketing Strategy Committee suggested allowing towables at the Perry convention to generate revenue and expose more people to the

motorhome lifestyle.

A motion was made to call the question. The motion to end discussion was seconded and carried.

A rising vote was taken and the motion to accept item #19 failed with 164 votes “for” and 225 votes “against.”

marty

[ki4nai]

I have shown what happen to a good idea. I spoke with wvr3567 last night and suggested that he poll the different chapters to find out what the reasons were in voting this down. I also suggested that he contact the Area Vice Presidents to assist.

So, in closing, I see that their has been over 3000 views of this topic, so I would ask that Chapter Officers post their views on this topic and if they disagree with allowing Towables, why?

marty

[wvr3567]

Membership has decreased by the thousands since they took the vote. Time is running out rapidly. Soon the membership level will require reducing staff, lowering the number of direct6ors and / or reducing their compensation, modifying or eliminating insurance options, etc., etc., etc!!!

Now, not later, is time for those who voted against accepting towables to state how they propose to increase memberships. Motor coaches memberships continue rapidly declining in huge numbers.

It will be interesting to see if any of them will "man up" by coming forward. Not coming forward now means they have nothing positive to contribute.

If the membership was presented the facts and asked to vote on the towable issue, they might just vote "for" them.

Will those who voted against, please explain your position and whether or not you would reconsider. We need to do something positive now and wait till next summer when thousands more will have quit.

Merry Christmas Eve,

Bill Reichert

[NavyDad89]

While I would welcome a resurgence of the growth in FMCA membership, I would be quite sceptical that simply including towable self contained RVs into this organization would actually provide a positive growth. Some individuals seem to imply that the inclusion of towables either within the FMCA or by adding a sister group for owners of towable RVs will increase the organizations membership rolls in and of itself. I do not believe this to be quite as simple and easy a solution as some have opined. Simply changing from the Family Motor Coach Association to something like the Family Recreation Vehicle Association will not, IMHO, change one thing other than to lose some current members and cost one huge pile of cash to change all the paperwork involved with the incorporation of said organization.

Other RV organizations, to which we previously belonged, that included all types of RV units (primarily towables) have also shown a drastic decline in membership numbers over the past 5 to 8 years. Some of those organizations were brand specific and even with the melding of brands under fewer manufacturers the membership numbers within those clubs did not increase. Many, but not all, clubs formed for other reasons (full timing, family camping, organized touring and travel, etc.) seem to also have been in membership decline.

The FMCA certainly could use more input from people with perspectives other than those who are now being heard. I believe that the best way to be heard is to be active within the club, show interest in holding an office, get elected, make your suggestions and hope you can find others who agree and are willing to help sway the direction of the organization. I DO NOT believe that posting demands for justification for decisions that one disagrees with in this forum is actually going to have any positive effect for any of us.

[ki4nai]

Ed, If anything, it will open the line of communications (a good thing). Now for the rest if your suggestions, I agree that being involved in a chapter and getting elected to a office does help. But, a large number of these chapters don't want new members per say. Or if they do, they have so many requirements (camp as a chapter 6 to 9 times a year) to remain a member that alot of people don't even apply for membership. Like in my case, I full time, and only sitting in 1 part of the country for only a few months out of the year. So, the biggest thing that needs to change 1st is attitude, one that happens, other things will start to fall into place.

[NavyDad89]

Ed, If anything, it will open the line of communications (a good thing). Now for the rest if your suggestions, I agree that being involved in a chapter and getting elected to a office does help. But, a large number of these chapters don't want new members per say. Or if they do, they have so many requirements (camp as a chapter 6 to 9 times a year) to remain a member that alot of people don't even apply for membership. Like in my case, I full time, and only sitting in 1 part of the country for only a few months out of the year. So, the biggest thing that needs to change 1st is attitude, one that happens, other things will start to fall into place.

ki4nai,

You assume that the people you want explanations or justifications from actually use this forum? Have you considered that in our age group and in the age group of many FMCA members and even officers, computer literate regular forum users are in the great minority?

As a former full timer I understand the problem you see with local chapter associationships that work for you. We saw the same thing. Now that we are primarily in one location with excursions as we decide we need to roam a bit, we have looked for a local chapter but have not found one that seems to be a fit for us. If I really felt the need to belong to a chapter, I would look for something else that fit us. Should I not find that good fit - I, personally, would look for like minded people and explore the possibilities of starting a completely new chapter. In my life's experience, I have never considered that someone should change their rules or expectations so that "I" liked them - I simply looked for something that fit "MY" needs or wants or found someone of similar mind and associated with them as long as possible.

[ki4nai]

Ed, 1st, I'm not demanding anything. I'm trying to clear up the few issues. that a few of the posters had on this and another forum. In my case, 1 of the 4 chapters that I did join, left a real bad taste in my mouth for chapters. The 2nd of 4, II never heard from them, nor did they up-date the website with current information. As for the other 2, 1 I am a elected officer, and the 2nd, i'm active in another way. Yes, in my life experience also. it was either conform to the requirements and work from within the group, or move on.

And yes I do understand the issues of being computer literate in the older age group. But I do disagree with you that they are a minority. I would suggest that you visit a Geek on Tour class and see how many are attending. Or listen to the complaints at a campground when the wi-fi fails. Or maybe do like I did by mistake and leave your wi-fi un-protected at a rally, and watch how many people jump on and how fast the gigs are used.

So to me, your statement that you would look for like minded people for the starting of a completely new chapter is 2 sides, the 1st being that these birds of a feather have already flocked together and refuse to allow the ducklings to join, and this thread seems to be promoting the formation of a new chapter, but will require start up help from others to do so.

Granted this is not only answer to the FMCA problem, but it is a start.

[diplomatman2002]

I agree that admitting towables in one manner or another will not in itself cure FMCA's problems but it is an important step to make to start us on the road to recovery. The biggest problem that FMCA has now, other than income, is apathy. We need something to interest our members and benefit them. Prior to our November Executive Board meeting in Cincinnati I asked Member services for a list of all our Northeast Area members who had not renewed from January to July and had my membership chairman and her committee call each one. Two hundred sixty total calls were made. 12 said they would renew, 27 said that FMCA had nothing to offer them, the remainder either had their motorhomes up for sale or had sold it or had given up motorhoming because of loss of a partner or because of age. We are not unique in the loss of members-- every other organization is experiencing the same problem. Young adults with families do not want or can't afford a motorhome. They want a towable with room to sleep a family or a toy hauler to carry their atv's. This is the young blood that we need to grow our organization. We are aging out and need to attract young families.

The next problem is member apathy. We need something that will interest our members and benefit them to hold them. We are experiencing a net loss of around 600 members a month. It is difficult to get members to fill chapter offices and good active chapters are a key to growing the organization. It is a proven fact that if a member does not join a chapter in the first year, their chances of remaining a member are slim. Chapters some times have the same officers year after year and they become tired and not interested and just hold the job because no one else will do it. Everytime a new FMCA member inquires on the website about a chapter, that chapter contact person is notified and also the Area Vice President. In too many cases the chapter does not even make a contact to the person inquiring.

If this organization is going to survive we need a change in attitude. It can no longer be business as usual. We can no longer do things because that is the way we have always did it. Change is hard especially when we get old, but change is necessary to save this organization.

We have a good Executive Board, we may not agree always as to how we should do things but without question we all work very hard and have the organizations interest at heart. There is not a one of us that do not dip into our own pockets for a few thousand dollars a year just to do what is nearly a full time volunteer job.

The Governing Board is the key to change in FMCA. If they are for it, it will happen. We need people to get active and be heard. We need to hear your support and your ideas.

Paul DuBois

National Vice President

Northeast Area

[aztec7fan]

Young adults with families do not want or can't afford a motorhome. They want a towable with room to sleep a family or a toy hauler to carry their atv's. This is the young blood that we need to grow our organization. We are aging out and need to attract young families.

Paul, twice now you have said this in your posts and I have to completely disagree. I have a motorhome and I am not retired or over 55. I have two boys ages 15 and 11 and I've had tent trailers, camped in tents and I'm now on my 2nd motorhome. I bought our latest one with some money I saved for $6500.00. It's not pretty but it serves it's purpose to take my family on an occasional vacation or trip to the mountains. My neighbor across the street just bought himself a 1970's Titan motorhome which is ugly as sin, but he only paid $1,000 for it. He just got rid of a trailer project he was working on to get this instead. He has an 11 year old boy who plays with my kids all the time. My boss at work owns a newer class C and his wife and their 10 year old daughter take it out a few times a year, and another co-worker has a motorhome up in the Pouder canyon they visit several times a year with their kids. (and yes, I've shown each of these people the FMC magazine, but none are interested in joining)

My point is, all types of families can and do own motorhomes, so don't automatically assume that they don't.

Also, shame on all of you for suggesting that towables should be allowed into this club just for some quick cash. This club was founded specifically for motohome owners and doing anything else spits on the hard work and dedication the founders put in to make this club what it is today. I believe Ken Scott wound be disgusted that we are even considering such a thing and this would be his "pipe nightmare" rather than his "Pipe Dream".

Rather than making this club like any other club where "we just want your $40.00, now you're on your own", we need to set ourselves apart from Good Sam and any other club like it. There is nothing wrong with that organization, but I just feel FMCA can be and will be a higher quality organization. I've already offered many suggestions on other threads, so I won't repeat myself. I just feel there are hundreds of thousands of motorhomes out there, and we should be able to make this business work as is without resorting to drastic measures. They made it work in the 1970's with 5,000 and 10,000 members, why can't we make it work today with 87,000? Do we have that much overhead and costs to cover?

[diplomatman2002]

Chris; I do not expect everyone to agree with my statements and respect your right to disagree. I have based my statements on my knowlege as an Executive Board member and my conversations with younger members and members who have been in FMCA for years and also former members who have given up traveling in a motorhome and downsized to a smaller towable. I have the greatest respect for our Life members and last year at our rally many of them were in attendance and were honored at a rally dedicated to George Snyder, who was instrumental for creating the Life Memberships that saved FMCA many years ago. I seek their advice very often. For instance I received a phone call from one of our early members last week asking about towables at our rally, and when I told her that we were allowing them, she said that it made her very happy because her son had a towable and would be able to bring her so she could see her friends.

Now times are different from when FMCA was formed. The economy is in very difficult shape, and the interests and goals of younger families are not the same as they were several years ago. Toy haulers and pickup trucks are popular ways to camp.

Prior to becoming an Area Vice President I spent 14 years involved in the RV business and still keep in touch with all my dealers in the Northeast and know the sales trends that is what I base my statements on. At the present time our revenue is meeting approximate 65% of our expenses; Because our membership is under one hundred thousand members, which is a benchmark for advertisers to place their dollars, our magazine income is down over one million dollars despite the fact that the magazine staff is doing their best to increase revenue.

We are experiencing a loss of over 600 members a month and that is a conservative figure, as some months the net loss is greater. If you take 600 members a month times 12 months, that is 7,200 members a year that we are loosing. 7,200 X $40 a member is $288,000 dollars a year of revenue that we don't have.

Due to the fact of unforseen problems, we have had to spend approximatly $150,000 to update our IT department to make it federally compliant. If we failed to do this we would face a very large fine. We will also have to spend several thousands of dollars a month for license fees and support for it. If it was not for the expertise of our National Secretary, Vicky Ferrari, who is an attorney, and her husband, John, who worked for Perot Systems and Dell Computer systems before he retired and is an expert in this field, our cost would have been much greater.

We have reduced salaries, not replaced some staff that have left and taken other steps to control spending, but the fact remains income is not covering expenses. It is thought by some members that we will need to use about $100,000 of our reserves each month to meet expenses. We currently have between seven and eight million dollars in reserves, depending on the market.

I don't suggest that towables are the cure all for FMCA, but could be a part of the solution. I know that everyone on the Executive Board is open to input from our members, so I encourage you to convey yout ideas.

Paul DuBois

National Vice President Northeast Area

[ki4nai]

Chris, Thanks for your input!!!!!!!

To me, the problem is attitude of (not all) the members themselves!!!!. My 1st rally, which was a Area rally, I was treated as a outcast, and after 7 rallies, I've learned and see first hand that unless you're parked with a chapter, or with friends, don't expect alot of fellowship. This is the result of old blood. It's now time to move toward gearing up for the younger families on the road today. If we can't change, a change will be made for us.

The bottom line on any club, business, assoc. is money. When I attended the meeting in Madison, I could not believe the overhead in putting on the rally, but it was not the event cost, but the payroll for the event. Then in defense of the payroll, I heard that people (members) were paid to ensure that they have volunteers to help put on the rally. And then, look at the money paid for the Department head volunteers, (etc., Security, Parking, etc.). Thus based on that, everything is about money. And then, during the meeting, we were told how bad off FMCA is, regarding funds, and what the outlook was, but yet, these very same volunteers fought to keep their checks, and then fought to keep out a new group of members that could help turn FMCA around.

[Y-Guy]

Interesting thread, how it's lasted this long and the vast thoughts and input. We've been members since 2007 and never attended a rally. I've been part of other rally groups that were more family oriented and still camp with one of them. The biggest difference is that the group was mostly all families and under retirement age. When I looked at FMCA and Good Sam clubs it was just the opposite and when I looked at the various National Rallies the musical "entertainment" wasn't even something I would consider going to let alone paying for. The kids activities were cute, but not something that my kids would get into. I maintain my membership for a few reasons, I do believe in the value that FMCA represents to my future lifestyle, the discounts (though not as helpful) and the magazine.

I will say that our family, with kids now 13 and 16 having owned our Motor home for 5 years now is very typical for families in my neighborhood. I know of 5 families with kids and a Class A and 3 others with Class C. Of them I am the only one that is an FMCA member. Of those 5 Class owners 4 of us have bunk bed models. The reality is that layout is still fairly new by comparison. But there are families that want a motorhome and obviously the manufacturers have wised up. Along with chapter representation it may be worth FMCA to also look at creating generational representation. I can not see any of those families attending a National Rally, but obviously FMCA did not attract them to get or keep them as members either. So something is missing the mark.

I am also in Rotary and they have woken up to the aging (greying) of the organization and created a New Generations to focus on the next generation of Rotary.

Tom, my last bit is to say that don't give up on FMCA but if you want to gather with other families open your reach and look beyond just motorhomes too. We started off as members of a Coleman Pop Up group that had been around for some 30 years, then moved on to two other groups. Both were RV based but the key was we didn't care what you owned as long as you enjoyed camping. Good luck.

[MystreBengals]

I am a brand new member. This is my third post in the forum, including my introduction. I have been contacted by a moderator who lives in my area that is willing to come over to me and help educate me on my new to me 2009 Monaco Knight. Right after that a local chapter member made contact, sent me their rally schedule and invited us to join them. We are under 55 (though not by much lol) but by my reckoning, my membership fee has already been worth it and I haven't even seen the magazine yet. This forum has gained me a ton of fantastic knowledge already.

I am an optimist. I am a member of The International Cat Association, and we are having much the same issues, believe it or not. Membership is declining rapidly, it is aging out and cost of travel for people showing their cats has increased a lot. I have been focused on trying to find ways to rejuvenate the declining numbers. One of the most clearly defined causes has been that new members don't feel welcomed. Sound familiar? Anyone remember the Moonies? Those nuts at the airports with the flowers? The grew their memberships very simply by making new members feel very loved and welcomed. Now I am not suggesting cult building lol, but the first thing that FMCA and chapters need to do is find ways to wrap their arms around the membership that starts members talking to everyone they know about how fun their organization/chapter is. Get heads out of boxes, use social media, (only 2557 "like" the FMCA Facebook page) get folks networking to others, get online make a Facebook page "Young families in Motorhomes" or something like that. Be bold and stop the belief that what we have always done is good enough, because if we want to bring in youth, you need to relate the way they do.

I am excited by what is yet to come in my membership. I intend to make the most of it and find more friends all over the country.

Wow as a brand new member I probably yak too much huh? LoL

[ki4nai]

I want to Thank everyone for your input so far, please continue to keep the line of communication open...

[dickandlois]

FMCA Thoughts,

Trying to think outside the box regarding the posts I have been reading on this thread.

Maybe FMCA needs to start a subdivision called Family Camping Association FCA. With many of the same benefits offered the self-contained units?

Using FMCA’s structure and regional layout, already in place to form Chapters that can include trailers and self-contained units for its membership.

The different life styles could then interact to better relate to their chosen style of camping. The great outdoors being the common thread and allowing the existing FMCA members to belong to the new chapters, using their current dues structure.

Combining them into 5 regions for area Rallies: North West, South West, Central, North East and South East and the experience of FMCA to form Chapters and Governing bodies.

Should this prove viable, then the Governing Boards could work on other issues still unresolved regarding the acceptance of tow-able units at National FMCA Rallies.

The Change in school year starting dates and numbers of school days now taking away the standard summer brake, timing is also an issue in setting dates for National Rallies that can truly be called family friendly.

Just fuel for thought! Rich.

[jrwitt]

I agree that the governing board needs to find some way to stop the loss of members and to attract new members. But, I am not sure what you suggest is going to help. First, there are already organizations out there they serve any kind of camper. Family Campers & RVers (FCRV) for one. What would be the advantage of joining a subchapter of an organization that remains primarily committed to motorized campers with non-motorized units just being a subchapter?

If the FMCA truly wants to bring in non-motorized campers, then they need to be made full members of the organization, not just step children who are "not quite good enough" to be full members. This would require that FMCA change their name, charter and direction to include all. Then you have the problem of losing a lot of motorhomers who belong to FMCA just because it is exclusively for those who own motorized units. I know that if my RV was a 5th wheel or travel trailer, I would not want to join an organization that classified me as something not quite as good as the motorized RVs that the organization favored.

I wish I had something more constructive to suggest to rebuild membership, but I really don't think what you propose is any solution at all. It seems like every suggestion I have read in this forum involves "allowing" non-motorized RVs as some kind of sub-class. This just isn't going to attract many folks who don't feel that traveling with a trailer somehow makes them less than a "real" RVer.

Has the FMCA tried contacting the manufactures of motorhomes (and dealers as well) to try to work out some kind of free membership to anyone who buys a motorized RV? Perhaps the first year's cost could be split between dealers/manufacturers and the FMCA. Maybe FMCA already has such a program? If not a free membership, then maybe FMCA could come up with a packet that the dealers and manufactures could provide to every new motorhome buyer (and used motorhomes too). I do like the idea that some have suggested of letting non-members attend rallys and other events. This could attract people who are thinking of going to a motorized RV. Just some rambling thoughts. Btw ... I tend to agree with those who have said they would like to keep FMCA just for motorhome owners. It is unique in that respect. But unless a solution to membership loss is found, the organization may not survive.

Jack

[dickandlois]

Jack,

I do not disagree with your thoughts. However, FMCA has some good perks that many of the others still do not offer.

Also, family costs and other items limits them from stepping into a self contained unit. There are used units on the market,but not everyone is real handy at keeping them in operating condition with out paying for the labor.

Having them interact with the existing members and finding other relationships that could be expanded once the nest is empty could not hurt.

Rich.

[Benfrench]

I am a "new" member to FMCA. I camped with FMCA as a kid with my folks, and I just joined a chapter that they belong to. I am young..not even 30 yet, with no children. I am married and I camp with a dog. I went to a chapter campout, and while everyone was very nice and social, it isn't my crowd. At 8:00 the fire was out and everyone was inside watching TV....I can watch TV at home...I was without a doubt the youngest person there.

I bought a Class "B" for the reason that I grew up Motorhoming, and I wanted to get back into it, within my budget. I owned 3 pop-ups prior to. I belong to a Pop-up group, still, and we do a rally a month usually. It doesn't matter what you camp in there, and everyone goes out of their way to make you feel welcome, not like FMCA. I have sent for information on a chapter that may be closer to my interests, but I have not yet heard back...not the way to get folks to stick around.

Just my 2cents.

[jrwitt]

"I do not disagree with your thoughts. However, FMCA has some good perks that many of the others still do not offer.

"Also, family costs and other items limits them from stepping into a self contained unit. There are used units on the market,but not everyone is real handy at keeping them is operating condition with out paying for the labor."

What perks are those? Not disagreeing with you, just wonder what FMCA perks are offered that other organizations don't offer.

I also find it interesting that you use the term "self contained unit." All the RVers I know that own travel trailers and 5th-wheels DO consider them self-contained. In fact, I have done federal income taxes in the past for H&R Block and for AARP volunteer programs. The IRS says an RV qualifies for all the tax deductions of a 2nd home if it is self-contained which the IRS defines as having kitchen, bath and sleeping facilities. There is no requirement for it to be motorized. After all, your stick-built house is not motorized, but it is certainly self-contained. Also, I know a few people that are quite will off financially that have pull behinds because they perfer them, not because they can't afford to "move up to the real thing." Personnally, I would prefer a Class A if I could afford it, but not all RVers feel that way.

I do not mean to criticize you. I know you contribute a lot of good advice to this forum. But as a former pull-behind RVer, I have met many people in motorhomes that seem to think that they are a step above those who pull their RVs around. In fact, I have talked to people who have trailers that don't like to be in organizations that allow motorhomes for just that reason. I don't think either side means to be critical. It's just that people on both sides of the issue seem to have pre-conceived notions about the other side. This is why I seriously doubt that you are ever going to attract a significant number of trailer owners to join an organization called Family Motor Coach Association. This is going to be especially true if they can only be a member of a sub-class or sub-chapter. It needs to be either a motorhome organization for motorized RVs or a all encompassing RV organization for any class of RV. In fact, at the other extreme, FCRV even allows tent campers to join. As a person who has had both (Class C & trailer), I just cant see it working when you "allow" pull-behind RVs to become a sub-chapter of a motorhome organization. You might as well just tell them that "we don't really want you, but we need your money."

One suggestion I will make to the governing board: if you really want to invite trailer RVers to become a part of the organization, then set up a committee to study the idea and INVITE the same number of motorhome owners and travel-trailer owners to serve on that committee.

I still would like to see the FMCA remain a motorhome organization if a way can be found to increase membership and revenue.

Anyway, this is all I am going to say on this subject. This topic could easily become inflammitory and I don't want to start a war between well meaning RVers from either side of the issue. RVing is a wonderful lifestyle and we should all enjoy it whenever we can.