On the final day of the month our club had 207 Active Members. All membership information is pulled from ClubRunner statistics. Attendance for July’s meetings was 30% (down 4% from last month). Average attendance at each meeting was 61 members and 6 guests. Our Engagement Ratio for the month was 47% (down 9% from last month).

July’s membership saw no terminations nor new members inducted. The board approved one new member, Bonita Singal, into club membership.

Our club financial highlights include Foundation total assets of 2,962,268.89 and Club operating cash balance of $85,314.73

There are still 11 members who have not yet paid their dues, even after many efforts to contact them. Termination letters are being drafted and will be issued soon for these 11 people.

Meeting Frequency Survey – Meeting frequency was a topic that came up Joyce’s listening sessions at the beginning of her term. As a result, a survey went out to membership to gauge interest regarding the frequency of our weekly meetings. The survey was willing to entertain more data regarding this; however, many comments also stated some concerns.

• During the board discussion some felt that it was worthy to explore some of the options such as seasonal changes and/or move one meeting a month to the evening; which could engage a younger audience.
• Discussion also ensued regarding some amount of disengagement in the Club and how hard it is to fill positions or keep the newsletter going on a weekly basis. The feeling is reducing our weekly meetings may add to this disengagement. Our attendance percentage is on the rise and hitting pre-covid levels.
• Joyce will continue to gather data and bring it back to the board.

Overview of Michigan Union Contract – the last contract was signed by Shari Faulhaber when it should have been signed by an executive board member. Bill has been reviewing the current contract. Our cancellation policy is 15 days so there’s no significant financial consequences on where/when we meet. We are locked into a per-meeting cost for 2025 and 2026 will be similar.

• Union expenses are perceived to be more costly. Coming out of covid, our club did some extensive research looking for less-expensive venues. The results of that research were overwhelmingly favorable toward the Union.
• Marsha Chamberlain volunteered to investigate meeting venue alternatives – Joyce will get an update from her.

Grants – vetting procedure – The board discussed a system to review District grant requests to prioritize them. People are independently submitting grants without being approved internally and there aren’t enough funds to cover every grant submitted.

Golf & Pickleball Outing Update – We are trying a new on-line only auction feature with four early auction items. More details can be found HERE. We continue to encourage membership to sign up for our Annual Fundraiser. Please contact the board if you have any questions. Details regarding the event and signing up are located HERE.