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stuwell
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I'm a fair bit behind in catching up with this thread, but this here is something I believe I (and others hopefully) could get behind;

 

I'd be all over the Claret membership in this scenario, which is something I would never have dreamed of entertaining with a £5,000 lump sum required up front. The lump sum is what is turning people off in my opinion. I know very few people with that kind of money to invest, especially with no monetary return.

Just for Clarity David, the change to Direct debit is for all payments, but those payments quoted are purely for ongoing contributions after becoming a full member at any level.

 

to join as a steel member you would still have to contribute £300, just that it would now be spread over a longer term monthly contributions, I suspect, that would be £25 pm over 12 months, perhaps the society would embrace even longer terms?

likewise a Claret membership would still be £1000, Amber £5000 etc with opportunity to pay over longer terms, then the payments would drop to those figures you quoted which are a divison of the annual paymetns currently in place.

 

 

Goggles and Flippers, I cant respond to all the points just now, I wasn't meaning to be condescending , although I do believe if the club board increase out support by 1200 paying punters that contribute significantly, they will have worked some magic.

 

your other points are all worth discussing with the Society, email addresses are on their site under members section.

 

drop them a mail, I think , but, I do not know for sure a lot of the ground work has been done with only approx 60 members a year still joining.

 

there will be plenty views on this, my only real wish on any change is that additional money I put into the society, contributes towards me moving up the membership levels.

 

on my choice not to pay annual subs, the club get quite a bit of my income,like they do from many others, I dont believe paying them society funds to host bebenfits that I will ever claim on is sensible. Id much rather it goes into the society goal of increased ownership share and providing security fo the club. a choice that every member has

 

EDIT: I see you've clicked that it was different when I was composing post, it is a lot, and thats the crux of the matter , money that needs put into the society the only real return is membership of that society and contributing towards the goal of fan ownership and some security funds for the club.

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You're right actually, not sure where I got the £5,000 figure from. Even so, £1,000 is a lot of money to invest in something with no physical return, isn't it?

It is, but as John Boyle and others have said over the years, you can't think of putting money into a football club as an investment at all. You're never going to get it back, you just have to hope that the number of good memories you have from the years you helped to keep the club solvent is worth it.

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Just for Clarity David, the change to Direct debit is for all payments, but those payments quoted are purely for ongoing contributions after becoming a full member of whatever level.

 

to join as a steel member you would still have to contribute £300, just that it would now be spread over a longer term monthly contributions, I suspect, that would be £25 pm over 12 months, perhaps the society would embrace even longer terms?

likewise a Claret membership would still be £1000, Amber £5000 etc with opportunity to pay over longer terms, then the payments would drop to those figures you quoted which are a divison of the annual paymetns currently in place.

Cheers for that, it's much clearer now. I still don't understand why the club wouldn't implement an option to allow fans to invest on a monthly basis without the up front charge? Or has that been done already? I personally wouldn't have any use for the incentives as I'm based overseas, but having a say on the clubs future would be worth the direct debit every month alone.

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Cheers for that, it's much clearer now. I still don't understand why the club wouldn't implement an option to allow fans to invest on a monthly basis without the up front charge? Or has that been done already? I personally wouldn't have any use for the incentives as I'm based overseas, but having a say on the clubs future would be worth the direct debit every month alone.

That is what is propoased by the society, as that is the feedback they have from fans who would like to join but have not got a lump sum or the intent to pay over the currently advertised 4 payments and likewise from those that want to step up a membership level.

 

no up front cost other than maybe, the first months payment. longer term contributions then at some point, where an agreed amount has been reached you become a full member at whatever level.

 

I should point out that if someone wants to join, but its purely down to a lower monthly payment required, the Society have for some time been encouraging people to contact them or Alison Wallace and terms may be able to be agreed to suit both parties

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Some seem to be failing to remember that for the WS to be set up they needed £250,000, the only way to achieve that in as quick a time as possible was pay up front, otherwise we'd be reaching that total by monthly subs around now.

 

The club had to incentivise joining in a time of success and no impending doom, a good number of members joined based on this (I agree it wasn't the defining reason but it certainly was the icing on the cake), to remove it completely will alienate people significantly the higher rate members.

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I'd add Brazilian at present an average Well Society member with a season ticket will have:

 

Paid £300 for their initial membership

Pay £300 for a seat in the East Stand

Pay £50 per annum to the Well Society

And get £30 off their season ticket

 

So discounting joining the society that fan would pay £320 per annum

 

 

 

What you are championing is the annual WS sub goes in its entirety to the WS. So that fan would pay:

 

Paid £300 for their initial membership

Pay £300 for a seat in the East Stand

Pay £50 per annum to the Well Society split into 12 monthly payments

And get £0 off their season ticket

 

Meaning that fan pays £350 per annum and the society benefits to a greater amount.

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I'd add Brazilian at present an average Well Society member with a season ticket will have:

 

Paid £300 for their initial membership

Pay £300 for a seat in the East Stand

Pay £50 per annum to the Well Society

And get £30 off their season ticket

 

So discounting joining the society that fan would pay £320 per annum

 

 

 

What you are championing is the annual WS sub goes in its entirety to the WS. So that fan would pay:

 

Paid £300 for their initial membership

Pay £300 for a seat in the East Stand

Pay £50 per annum to the Well Society split into 12 monthly payments

And get £0 off their season ticket

 

Meaning that fan pays £350 per annum and the society benefits to a greater amount.

:blink: In between playing truant and gluesniffing I could still determine £30 off a £300 seat for £300 initial membership doesn't equate to a 5% discount though...

 

By dismissing your analysis, a Society member who renews is paying £50 for a £15 season ticket discount with the excess £35 funding benefits whilst nice to have availability of are rarely used?

 

So championing the society benefits long term and the club don't incur costs is such a bad thing?

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The discounts should be extended to those who pay a lump sum up front only in my opinion. An option for a continual direct debit payment with nothing up front should also be available, providing those fans with only a say in the running of the club after, say, six months of continual payment.

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  • 1 month later...

Aye, I got one and will be signing up to the £10 a month scheme. It's ideal for me and my budget.

 

Emailed Well Society and got a reply from Alison straight away explaining a bit more:

 

The monthly instalment would be for an amount and over a period to fit in with your budget until the level you choose to take is fully paid eg steel membership would be fully paid after 30 months at £10 per month. The renewal payment would be an optional payment at £50 per year after that, in order for you to receive the benefits. Regardless of whether you renew annually or not, you will always be a member and receive a vote!

 

 

If after the 30 months you wish to continue with your monthly payment, you could aim to pay the difference to take you to the next level-claret.

 

 

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I am already a Steel member but would be happy to pay £10 per month to take me to a claret member. Admittedly it would almost six years but I couldn't care less what colour my card is- I'd just rather pay money that is being retained by the Society. I was annoyed at myself when I paid my £50 renewal before realising that was being absorbed by the club to pay for benefits I have no intention of using.

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Likewise. I thought the 50 quid was going towards administration fees for the fund or similar. That's not unusual for the management of things like this.

 

Even if I wanted to make use of the offers, I couldn't, so it was 50 quid I could have kept in my pocket.

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Lots of important information lost on far too many people due to lack of simple decent communication from the Society' and answers to well worn questions never being recorded

 

Please if you think its appropriate, email them and tell them so....

 

pretty sure they're ignoring me now, as since the early meetings I've asked for FAQ sections to be populated and updated

 

they even said in the minutes of the last but one meeting that they would refresh the FAQ section, not had the heart to tell them that there has never been such a section.

 

Even with todays great decision to email previous survey responders with the direct answer that they could now join on longer term contribution plans, it isn't recorded anywhere to acknowledge members, nothing on twitter, facebook or most importantly the Well society webpage.

 

Be nice to now know, the answer , for current members stepping up to next level, do we get the same terms, as Frazzle mentioned, to move from e.g.. steel to Claret over a longer term.

 

and then some detail can we vary the Standing order i.e. start off with a higher contribution and reduce if circumstance change? say £20 or £30 a month but cut down to a minimum off £10 a month if required and step back up until the jump in membership level has been achieved?

 

again steps forward being taken by the society and as a voluntary board members its not fair to be overly critical , but saying one thing then not following it up leads to frustration amongst even committed supporters

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They should be shouting a major change like this from the rooftops (I appreciate it has just been announced) and not just to the survey respondents. Time for articles with friendly journalists looking to fill column inches, in the programme, on the website etc. Everyone who could potentially be persuaded needs to know how simply they could do it.

 

I'm a member but this will probably allow me to step up to the next grade.

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How does the membership run?

 

If I join today, is my membership renewal in feb 2015? Or does it run alongside the season? In which case I could wait until renewal time.

 

Can't afford it myself, but was going to sign up my son, just wondering when best time would be.

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How does the membership run?

 

If I join today, is my membership renewal in feb 2015? Or does it run alongside the season? In which case I could wait until renewal time.

 

Can't afford it myself, but was going to sign up my son, just wondering when best time would be.

 

Defo a question that needs some clarity in regards to kids,

 

drop an email to info@thewellsociety.co.uk

 

and you should get a response.

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How does the membership run?

 

If I join today, is my membership renewal in feb 2015? Or does it run alongside the season? In which case I could wait until renewal time.

Up to now at least, my renewal has been due 12 months after joining date. (Which was beginning of March in my case, IIRC.)

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Up to now at least, my renewal has been due 12 months after joining date. (Which was beginning of March in my case, IIRC.)

 

just for Clarity,

 

Full members (Adults) , do not have a 'membership' renewal date.

 

once the membership subscription payment is made, then effectively under the current setup you are a member, no annual fees are required (at present or in the past, although it could change?)

 

the annual term is not related to 'membership' but to associated bolt on products for want of a better expression (at present)

 

like the currently debated 'benefits' package , which you can choose to renew annually under the current setup, at present I think it's £50, but it is not compulsory to pay this retain your membership of the society, as its essentially a payment to the club for them to fund the benefits package ie discounts etc.

 

there was some talk of removing the benefits option, but it was to be reconsidered as some members declared that particularly on the higher packages that the benefits was a primary reason for taking the level of membership.

 

so it was left 'as is'

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