Do you think this would work?

[JenHunt]

We are looking at ways of increasing a) participation/help for events and work on the country (i.e. social club events and jump building etc) and b) younger members numbers...

Do you think that operating a scheme whereby people can clock up hours work or helping at events in return for a reduction for subs related to the number of hours done (up to a certain value)?

so, for example, you'd set the amount at say £10 per hour, maximum of £150 discount. Which would mean get a 30% discount on an individual sub you'd need to do 15 hours.

Or would it be better to say £5 for an event and £10 for jump building//ride clearing/brush cutting etc?

what do you think?

 

[Daddy_Long_Legs]

Sounds like a great idea! I can imagine that if I said that to my hunt committee there would be a riot!! Haha.

 

[Alec Swan]

Jen,

that sounds like an excellent idea, and in view of the fact that a better one still, would be that a rural court, could hand over those miscreants who are dished out with community service orders, and you could exchange the fact that as you are helping them, then so they could help you, then as there's not much chance of that, so I'd press on with plan A, were I you!!

Alec.

 

[EAST KENT]

I have always thought that a hunt`s faithful puppy walkers should have a quota of free days hunting...NO such luck hereabouts. Bit too much take and very little give is what I see.

 

[JenHunt]

well that's kind of what I'd thought EK, plus you get committees who moan about it being the same few who turn out everytime for the jump building, or P2P brush cutting etc, and the same few members who complain about the price of subs but don't get involved behind the scenes. this way, I'd have thought, that everyone wins to some extent.

 

[Addicted to Hunting]

That sounds brilliant! Think I would be at my 15 hours (well over) I would say that the same amount should be for everything, as people can help with what they find easier, and after helping at the hog roast for quite a few events, I would say that that can be fairly stressful and hard work anyway, would rather be jump building I think, espcially as would then be jumping a fence I built.

 

[Happy Hunter]

I would really appreciate this!

Works for the local riding club - 1 Morning dressage writing = 1 free class

 

[sonjafoers]

This post caught my eye JenHunt and I think it's a great idea.

We have just put something similar into place at my hunt but unfortunately it's caused a few ripples amongst those that have heard about it - and quite rightly so IMO.

The Committee have put forward that those that ARE UNDER 25 and help out will get a reduced subscription/free days hunting in order to encourage more young people to join us. That's great - but what about those of us who are over 25 and have put in many days and hours without doing it for reward. Ok I know we all do it for the love of the hunt and I know we will all continue to help without a reduction in subscription, but it doesn't feel quite right to cause such a division.

Anyway, I digress! Your idea sounds brilliant but I do think you should set the same 'price' per hour no matter what the help is - after all everyone is giving up their own time regardless of how manual their assistance is.

 

[ThePinkPony]

Think its a fab idea. Subs are so freaking expensive that something like this would be a real help for quite a few people.

 

[BlizzardBudd]

i think this is a really good idea i cant afford to join the local hunt and would love them to have something like this. it would be really fun helping build fences or just being useful with something

 

[tractor]

I think it's a good idea too, but there's another aspect you need to consider - does your hunt rely on subs being the price they are to pay their bills? We work on that basis, we work out our average bill cost pcm and then work out the subs rate from that - if our subs were down by 30% we'd be in trouble!

I hope that makes sense, and I'm not criticising your idea at all, but you need to be ready with an answer for every question .

If you do go ahead with it then can we have a report on whether it worked? Good luck!

 

[Herne]

It's an interesting idea - and one that I have tossed around on a number of occasions myself.

There are several potential problems with the idea that have so far put me off from contemplating it as more than just an idea.

1) As Tractor says, most hunts already need all of the money that they get. One would probably actually need to put the subs up in order to pay for the discount. (Help setting up and taking down an event etc. is great and essential, but it doesn't actually raise money. People coming to the Event and paying for the ticket is what raises the money.

The question you have to ask yourselves is: "If I 'pay' 10 Helpers for 3 hours each to run this event, which will cost the Hunt £300 in reduced subs, will that increase the revenue of the Event by at least £300 or more?". If not, you have a problem.

Other types of help, such as covert-laying or hunt jump building are not revenue producing at all. They serve only to improve the sport enjoyed by the field - which might gradually increase subscriber numbers, but that could take a long time to make up the immediate shortfall.


2) You will have to 'pay' your existing helpers, the ones who currently volunteer, as well as the new ones you entice with your scheme. That's a lot of money to "give away" for no increase.

Also, is there a risk that your existing helpers will now stop helping once they have totted up their £150, whereas a lot of them currently do way more than 15 hours per season for nothing.


3) What counts as work? Some people who turn out do 5 times as much in an hour as others do. If setting up an event counts as "work", does, say, working behind the bar at the "event"? What about stuffing envelopes?


4) Ok, so the Subscribers get paid £10 per hour for turning up. That's great, but what do the foot followers - of whom there are often many more - get? They don't have a Sub to reduce. Money off entry to events in lieu? See Point 1.


So, yes, whilst I can see the attractions of the idea in principle, the actual complications of implementing would be a logistical nightmare for those of us who would actually have to do it.

It is, of course, in some ways putting the cart before the horse. Rather than having our subscriptions reduced for helping raise funds, perhaps we should consider helping raise funds, in order to have our subscriptions reduced. If everybody mucked in with a will and doubled or tripled what the Hunt Supporter's Club raised (every year, not just once), then the Hunt Committee would be able to reduce Subscriptions accordingly.

Another way of looking at it is that the Scheme you propose is already in place. If your Hunt Supporter's Club raises say £20,000 per year and your Hunt has say 100 Subscribers, then every subscriber's Subscription has already been lowered by £200 per year. That means that every subscriber already owes the Hunt 20 hours of help, before we even begin to think about reducing it more...

 

[JenHunt]

oh I quite agree - there's plenty still to work out before/if it goes ahead. I was just trying to gauge people's enthusiasm for the idea.

 

[QassiaDeTouzaine]

A great idea- i bet it would be a popular thing as subs are soo expensive!

 

[VoR]

Fantastic idea in these days of 'austerity', unfortunately not sure that many/any hunts have such deep 'coffers' that they could absorb the cost and keep running.

 

[Maesfen]

I like Herne's considered reply, think it will apply to very many hunts and could cause a lot of division of which there is already far too much. With very few exceptions, members that ride do not, as a rule, either attend supporter club do's or even support them by buying a ticket; many think that paying their sub is absolutely enough for them thank you very much; sad but true.

I have this permanently etched on my brain, you might like it as it applies to most!

The Volunteers Lament.

We, the willing
Led by the unknowing
Are doing the impossible
For the ungrateful.

We have done so much
For so long
We are now qualified
To do anything with nothing.

 

[Herne]

We played with this idea at a Supporters' Club Committee Meeting the other night.

A possible variation on the theme:

Have a Raffle every so often, where the prizes are a predetermined amount of Hunt "Money Off" Vouchers (to be redeemed against subs, tickets, merchandise or whatever) and supporters earn one entry into the raffle per 5/10/whatever hours that they work.

That way any type of help can qualify, any supporter can benefit but the Hunt controls the limit of its financial exposure.

The difficulty would be finding the right proportion of of prizes to hours to entries to make the scheme attractive enough to actually encourage people to help without becoming too expensive to the hunt.

The other even bigger difficulty would be finding someone to administer the whole thing.

I suspect it will never happen...

 

[JenHunt]

Herne.... I believe you may have hit on something there.... but, like you say it would need someone to run it and a balance to be met on the hours/discount front.