This little gem is a prime example of accountant-speak and it’s never explained clearly.

The result is that, every year without fail, a number of well intentioned members contact me with ideas of how to run Riding On at a ‘profit’.

In ancient times, when the club was young, a fee was charged to members to cover printing and postage of a newsletter. That was the sole function of the membership fee.

The club grew, and sheer numbers made it impractical to fold and insert the newsletter into an envelope, and then get it down to the post office, membership fees were increased to cover the cost of having it done professionally.
As membership increased so did the size of Riding On. Costs were held down by the introduction of paid advertising but the rapid increase in membership increased the page count, and the postal weight, of the magazine.

It was also obvious that using part of the membership fee was now necessary to cover our growing administration costs, so at a NatCom meeting some years ago, Riding On was allocated $1.80 per member, per issue, to produce and post.
What was also of interest at that meeting was that budgeting was considered necessary because people were joining at three a day, and it seemed inconceivable that figure would increase.

Little did we expect the average of twelve a day, and as Kim Kennerson remarks, some months people join at a rate of around twenty two a day.

Well, the good news is that Riding On has always come in under budget - sometimes considerably so. The allocation also has to cover the printing and insertion of all the AGM, Odyssey and special inserts that arise during the year. Riding On does not make a loss!

I look forward - wistfully - to the day the financial gnomes can work out a way of displaying Riding On’s actual contribution to the revenue of the club as a fully funded item consistently coming in under budget for over ten years. It can’t be that hard?

Can it?

John Miller