Paul Tomblin wrote:

all without
hitting up our members for anything extra beyond their monthly dues.

How does this work financially? For example, doesn't it mean that your
monthly fees (fixed or variable or both) are "overpriced" to pay for future
upgrades?

Consider a member that joins in 2000 and leaves in 2004. If, in 2005,
there's finally enough money for some planned upgrade, doesn't that mean
that the now-ex-member helped to fund an upgrade he or she will never use?

This is an issue in the club to which I belong. We try to fund upgrade by
increasing equity. That works as you described a sha One buys in and
cashes out at the end. The only loss is the opportunity cost of leaving
that equity with the club for the duration of membership.

When we bought a new plane, for example, equity was increased. We did this
over time, so in looks like a periodic payment. But a departing member
gets all his or her equity back.

Similarly, we don't use much of an initiation fee that's not paid back. The
only cost "lost" on joining is the cost of the checkride and such.

I'd be *very* interested in more discussion here regarding how other clubs
do this.

- Andrew