Re: Siege Mentality? (was Re: RTM 19th Century Treasures)

["Chris" <chrisc@fl.net.au>]

If revenue from membership was only $10,245 and there is no regular income
source due to the place being shut up,  They must be getting a huge amount
from donations.
I don't know how much their paid employee is getting, but they would have to
be at least raising $100 grand to pay the bills, buy rolling stock, new
earthworks on the museum site, and general maintainence. etc.

Chris


"Eddie Oliver" <eoliver@efs.mq.edu.au> wrote in message
3A24DC3F.54921D41@efs.mq.edu.au">news:3A24DC3F.54921D41@efs.mq.edu.au...
> In response to previous messages, I received the following email. I have
> the author's permission to publish it to the newsgroup with his/her
> identity suppressed. In the interests of allowing all concerned (on any
> side of the debate) to present their cases, I reproduce the complete
> message below, unedited except for deleting the originator's details and
> with few typos corrected. I have not checked the arithmetic or any other
> assertions.
>
> Beyond saying that I would love to see trains running again on the
> Dorrigo line, which in my opinion is the most beautiful line in NSW, I
> emphasise that I am taking no personal position in this debate.
>
> -----------------
>
>  Dear Eddie,
>
> The reply by Trevor Edmonds to your question about how large the DSR&M
> Ltd
> membership is prompted me to look back through some past issues of the
> DSR&M Ltd
> newsletter. I have my doubts about the accuracy of the figures given by
> Trevor.
>
> The following may be of interest.
>
> Regards
> [name deleted]
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> Eddie Oliver wrote:
>
> To assist those of us who want to try to get all this debate into
> perspective,
> could you tell us please how large IS the membership, and how many were
> at the
> AGM?
>
> Trevor Edmonds replied:
>
> Membership is around 700. There were about 40 at the AGM
>
> ------------------------------------------
>
> To know if this is actually true, some further information would be
> needed. It
> would be interesting to know if all the five categories below are
> included in
> the "around 700" figure.
>
> The DSR&M Ltd 2000 Annual Report shows that the revenue from membership
> fees for
> 2000 was $10,245 (1999 - $11,790). At $45 per year that is 227 members
> who paid
> the membership fee in 1999/2000. (262 for 1998/1999). The revenue may
> also
> include a fee from Temporary Membership fees.
>
> In order to know the true membership figures, the numbers in each of the
> following categories would need to be known.
>
> (a) Ordinary Membership (those that pay an annual membership fee).
>
> (b) Free Membership (those who maintain a property loan of $500 or more,
> or who
> donate $250 or more annually to the time payment scheme)
>
> (c) Honorary Membership (pay no annual membership fee in recognition of
> past or
> continuing contribution - these members do not have a vote)
>
> (d) Temporary Membership (limited to three consecutive days - twice per
> year,
> 2.5% of annual fee - these members do not have a vote)
>
> (e) Complimentary Newsletter Status (for those people or organisations
> that are
> not actually members but who provide advice, support or information in
> various
> ways).
>
> As for the number of members attending the AGM in person, this figure
> seems
> rather high compared with past AGMs.
>
> 1994 AGM - 29 attended in person (meeting duration 14 minutes)
> 1995 AGM - 30 attended in person (meeting duration 60 minutes)
> 1996 AGM - 23 attended in person (meeting duration 20 minutes)
> 1997 AGM - 19 attended in person (meeting duration 27 minutes)
> 1998 AGM - 25 attended in person (meeting duration 56 minutes)
> 1999 AGM - 21 attended in person (meeting duration 29 minutes)
> 2000 AGM - "there were about 40 at the AGM"
>
> Apart from the AGM, there have been several members social evenings. The
> last
> advertised one appears to have been in March 1996 in Sydney. Before that
> they
> seemed to take place about 3 times per year. Newsletters (all published
> by K.
> Jones) and attendance at working bees as a volunteer seems to be the
> primary
> method of information to members.