Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Waste of money

Yesterday I received a personally addressed letter from our cash-strapped radio society, the RSGB. What had motivated them to write to me? Apparently it was to tell me the annual subscription is to rise to £47 a year - the first increase since 2006 - and to ask if I would donate to the Spectrum Defence Fund - which I already have, once, and a lot of good that did - or the Radio Communications Foundation.

Why could this letter not have been put in the same mailer as RadCom, the monthly magazine that all members receive, or even published in the magazine itself? Why did this even merit a letter, rather than a page of the magazine, in the first place?

A few months ago I read that the RSGB was to use a bequest from a silent key member to employ a professional fund raiser. This, presumably, is the result. What a waste of money.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

£47 sounds a bit steep. I know direct comparisons aren't always that useful, but regular ARRL membership costs $39 for US residents - about £25.

Dave
AA7EE

Unknown said...

I guess the RSGB doesn't have the economies of scale ARRL has.

Over here £4 a month is the price of a technical magazine so the RSGB subs don't look so expensive by comparison.

Anonymous said...

Hi Julian,.....employ a professional fund raiser .....say no more.!!

Everytime I here about professional FUND RAISERS!!! I see things going sideways for the business in question..
Now I know why I cancelled my membership...it's a pity... I would so much like to see the RSGB free of idiocracy...

Mark MW0MJB