SOME THOUGHTS ON MEMBERSHIP DUES,

BOOSTERISM AND THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Submitted by

Keith Davies - Co-CEO & Executive Director

Greater Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce

Earlier this month, we welcomed Apple Alley Restaurant as the 500th member of the Greater Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce. That was an important milestone for us for two reasons: It demonstrates that the GGVCC is moving forward and growing, and it also helps financially because a major part of our annual income is derived from membership dues. But when dues are not paid in a timely manner, it affects the chamber's ability to pay its own bills.

Remitting annual dues is a responsibility of all members, so we thought we would take this opportunity to remind everyone that the GGVCC -- just like other non-profits in our county -- needs to minimize its accounts receivable. As things stand right now, we are fiscally healthy, but we need timely annual dues payments from members so that we can keep current with our vendors and other monthly obligations.

Membership dues are the fiscal lifeblood of the chamber. They help support the many special events we are involved with -- either on our own or in collaboration with the Grass Valley Downtown Association or Nevada City Chamber of Commerce -- as well as paying the rent on our new office and visitor information center, and ensuring that we can maintain a first-rate, professional office staff.

In an effort to reduce our accounts receivable, and to ensure a high level of personal contact with our members, we recently hired Yolanda Cookson to manage membership retention and help us as we move forward from our 500th member to our 550th member -- and beyond. Yolanda and/or members from our Ambassador Committee might drop by for a visit, so please welcome them at your shop or office, and share with them any ideas you might have that will help keep the Greater Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce on its current positive path to marketing and promoting the area.

What we do as a chamber of commerce is called "boosterism" -- an old-fashioned term that has relevance even in the 21st century. Our mission is to promote the community, enhance the perception that some people might have of the chamber, and help our members attain their fullest potential. But to accomplish our mission of community boosterism, we need to be boosted ourselves -- and that's where prompt payment of yearly membership dues comes into play.

The classic counterpoint to boosterism is "knocking" -- a term used in the late 19th century at a time when the original Grass Valley Board of Trade was evolving into the current chamber of commerce. Knocking our community, the County and Cities elected officials, or the chamber for that matter is the sort of thing naysayers do. We see and hear the knockers every day, but we are determined not to let misplaced negativity and the uninformed interfere with all the good things accomplished in 2013 and all the positive steps we will be taking this year to support and enhance the local economy and the business community.

If you are a member of the Greater Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce and have not paid your annual dues, we urge you to do so. And if you are not a member of the chamber of commerce, we urge you to consider joining. No other advocacy organization in Western Nevada County can do more for your business than what is being done by the GGVCC, and we hope you will want to be part of that process.

Finally, to all of our members who pay your dues within 30 days of receiving our invoice we applaud you and thank you very much. We could not do it without you.

Call me at 273-4667 or email me, and we can discuss why the best investment you can make for your business is to be a dues-paying member of the Greater Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce. 

Download the PDF here.

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