USATF masters budget soaring to more than $75,000
USATF Masters T&F Chairman Gary Snyder of Boston has shared some great news with his board and others, writing: “On January 24th via email I received notification from the National Office that as a result of the 2007 membership fee increase we would receive an additional $20k for programs and projects previously applied for but not funded. For the âbudget geeks,â our new budget without the surcharge monies is about $60k. Joy (MacDonald) and I are developing a revised budget which we will distribute after the appropriate approval.” Last year’s surcharge was forecast as $16,000, so this might bring our total revenues to about $76,000 — a far cry from the $30,000 or $40,000 of just a few years ago.
So where’s the extra loot going?
One place is executing elements of the USATF masters Strategic Plan.
Job 1 is compiling a skills survey of USATF masters members. The second, Gary says: “is to find and hire a marketing professional to secure sponsors etc.”
New USATF Masters Vice Chair Janet Smith is in charge of 2007 skills survey. She writes:
One component of the 2005 Strategic Plan for Masters Track & Field was to develop a membership skills survey to âdevelop a larger base of volunteers, officials, organizers, helpers, committees, meet management, etc.â The initiative was one of the strategies presented to meet the overall goal (Grass Roots) to âencourage local USATF associations & regions to actively promote and recognize opportunities for Masters Track & Field….â
Compile a series of questions and checklist items into a one-page survey that will provide information regarding the interests, skills, skill levels, education and credentials of those interested in volunteer, officials, administrative, committee and management opportunities in Masters Track & Field.
Projected Timeline (PTL): 1 month from start of project.
Distribute surveys to Regional Coordinators and Association Chairs, so that they can disseminate surveys to members of their associations (Masters).
Orojected Timeline (PTL): 1-2 month process from completion of finished draft.
Enter, categorize and match information into a manageable database that can be accessed when necessary.
Projected Timeline (PTL): 1-2 month process from distribution and return of survey.
Establish volunteer coordinator or team to manage the information received, assess the needs of the Executive Committee, and match and assign volunteers according to their expertise.
Projected Timeline (PTL): 1 month from return of surveys.
Contact volunteers with their assignments and timelines.
Projected Timeline (PTL): 2 month process from establishing volunteer coordinating team.
Questions and suggestions for the survey may be directed to:
Janet McCarty Smith, Executive Vice Chair: P.O. Box 411 â Tulsa, OK 74101 . . . Or masterstrackmail@yahoo.com
Gary’s report also notes a few vacancies:
“There are still openings on the committee — the most significant is the (Laws and Legislation) chair, this being an L&L year, so if you are interested in serving send me an email with some info about yourself. Other vacant areas are Diversity and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).”
6 Responses
Distributing a survey via the associations and regionals is not an efficient way to reach us all. Unless the association has an email/regular mail system for its masters members, many will be missed. Since most of us give our email addresses to USATF, why not also use email to catch more members? If we want to identify people willing to volunteer who aren’t currently involved, the “grass roots” have to get the survey in hand.
I agree with Bill that sending out a survey via associations and regionals may not be efficient – but if USATF is as “efficient” in sending out surveys to masters as it is in sending out membership cards to members – paid my dues in November- it is Feb 15th and still no new membership card – then asking them to cull their email listings and email out a survey to masters is bound to be beyond their capacity.
Some masters do not “do’ email, and I expect that asking the associations and regions to do a mailing might be more practical in reaching the greatest number possible of masters than asking USATF national office to do anything.
Thanks for the note, Mary. But about those membership cards: The USATF Associations listserve on Yahoo Groups has a half-dozen posts raking Indy over the coals about the delay in sending membership cards.
Here’s what USATF’s Andy Martin said in reply:
Obviously the issue of getting the membership cards out to our members is one that is a point of frustration for all of us, and it is definitely the one project that I work on each year that I feel must be handled better and executed in a more timely manner. I will leave the excuses out of this email and just say we have to do better.
Last year our first mailing went the first week of January and I thought we had begun to turn the corner at having a process nailed down that would have us getting the cards out in early December in future years. Obviously that did not happen this year.
While each year there are many components and factors that play into getting the cards designed, ordered, and customized it was introduction of the new USATF logo that is at the root of this year?¢Ç¨Ñ¢s delay. I realize this is not going to be a factor/reason that will be popular it is the reality of the situation. There were some other ?¢Ç¨?ìsmaller?¢Ç¨¬ù factors that have caused the delay but waiting to have the final logo files and design elements has been the source of the majority of the delay.
I fully expected to have the cards out the last week of January. I have two calls/e-mails into our fulfillment house for an update on the card mailing. The first call went in about a week ago. I am unsure why I have not heard back, as they are usually very quick on their responses to calls and e-mails. At this point, I have not heard back from them so I am not 100% sure where we are at with the mailing. The good news is that the cards are being mailed out 1st class so once they get to the post office here in Indy it will only take a few days to get to our members (vs. a few weeks if they were mailed bulk rate).
Moving forward, we recently posted the Grass Roots Marketing Coordinator position and one of that person?¢Ç¨Ñ¢s key responsibilities will be to manage the benefits program. This will include designing, ordering and mailing of the membership cards.
Andy Martin
USA Track & Field, Inc.
Director of Grass Roots Programs
One RCA Dome, Suite 140
Indianapolis, IN 46225
317.713.4675 (Direct Line)
317.261.0481 (Fax)
In an effort to short circuit the problem of the chronic delay in mailing out new membership cards, I paid for a multi-year membership. Silly of me as what I was given was a number for 2007 – and of course – the “card is in the mail” stuff. So in 2007 it takes several months to get the cards mailed out – and for 2008, 2009, and 2010 it will again take months to mail out the cards with the new numbers. The excuses will be varied – new vendor, lack of personnel, new logo, yada yada yada.
I do not have much faith that the wizards of Indianapolis have thought through the consequences of multiple year memberships and the lack of providing the new numbers until sometime in February or March of the new year. I participate in track meets in January and February where I need to provide the new number, sometimes I sign up in December for a January meet and need to provide the number for the upcoming year. Given the track record of Indianapolis in not making the new cards available until several months after the new year begins there may be more than a few people “bent a little out of shape” at the notion that they may have to pay again just to get the number in a timely fashion.
I have belonged to the USATF and its prior organizations since 1978, and until Indianapolis took over the task of mailing out cards, it was not a problem – I paid, the card came from the local association in short order. Now that Central Party Headquarters has taken over this most difficult task of manufacturing cards and issuing them, it is beginning to resemble the old Soviet Union producing all left shoes one year and all right shoes the next.
I too have been frustrated in the past by the slow delivery of USATF membership cards. However, a few years ago I discovered that by going onto the USATF website you can find your current year number very quickly at the beginning of January at the very latest (I’ve never looked earlier). Entry forms don’t want a copy of the card, just the number.
Those who use the web can go to the website and see if they can get their current membership number. Not everyone uses the web – believe it or not. I do – and come next December I will see if I can get the 2008 number for the entry form before January 1st. I am not holding my breath that it will be possible. Yes meet directors want the number and not the card. If they wanted the card, most of us would not be running any USATF sanctioned meet until March or April. I find it just astonishing that the USATF seems to be so incapable of a simple thing like mailing out a membership card. If they cannot do the simple thing – make one wonder about such things as mailing out surveys for masters. Masters are at the bottom of the list of their interests. While having regions and associations mail out surveys may not be a good idea -especially since some associations seem to be pretty lifeless – waiting for the national office to do this maybe a worse idea.
Handing out surveys at national masters meets is not adequate as one gets a fairly limited slice of the membership. Getting a mailing list from USATF of all masters members and doing a snail mail might be the best way – since some people do not have email – really – some do not- it would be a job to do this but IF USATF gave the masters committee chair an electronic list of all masters members – including home addresses – which they have – mailing labels can be made -but all this may be wishful thinking.
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