Important Notice: Non-Members Take Note
Over this past year we have made a number of adjustments to budget our expenses, including taking on new office space at a no rent basis. That in itself is a great savings for the CBA. But due to the economy we have also seen more than 350 of our past paid memberships not renewed; a huge source if you consider these may have just been single memberships, but they also included family and supporting levels as well.
Every year our greatest expense is the Muddy Awards. Our October fundraiser provided enough for us to pay for the event this year. But the past three years have been painfully costly for us, leaving us on the fringe of being broke every time afterward. We would never do away with this prime event, but we have to look at measures to ensure that we remain a solvent business come December and January. We have not made any firm decisions with the Muddy Awards at this time, but are considering two positions: 1) charging an admission, either for non-members or a sliding admission for all with a lesser charge for members. 2) As mentioned to us being practiced by the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, supply multi-member recipients with a single award and having the remaining members pay for individual trophies if they would like.
One thing that we will begin, though, is we will start charging non-members an admission to our monthly meetings beginning in February. Members should remember to bring their membership cards with them each month. Non-members will be charged a $3 admission. This provides incentive to save $11 by becoming a member if they attend all meetings throughout the year. Plus, as with all CBA memberships, you’re allowed to vote for the Muddy Awards, receive the BluesNotes mailed directly to your home, receive CBA discounts on co-sponsored events, and admission to both our private members only summer picnic and holiday party. Supporting memberships receive even more incentives, check out our website for details (www.cascadeblues.org). We felt that $3 was a reasonable admission rate for non-members as not only will they be able to see two sets of music in an all ages setting, but they also have the chance to win prizes with our monthly ticket drawings. After all, it is called a monthly membership meeting for a reason.
Another important note in possible upcoming changes is directed to our advertisers. Many times our advertisers have taken several months to pay for the services that we have provided for them by publishing their information in the BluesNotes. It is vital that we receive these payments timely to help cover our expenses in the printing and mailing of the paper. We will be reviewing instating a late fee for delinquent payments; an actual percentage and amount of time before this fee is assessed will be discussed before placed into effect. All advertisers will be notified of this change if this direction is decided upon being taken.
The Board of Directors thought long and hard about making these changes. We want to be a user-friendly organization, open to the public for our events, but we also have to survive as a business. There is a good deal of expense for running the organization and we must be able to make ends meet where our outgoing monthly costs do not exceed what we receive. We are open to hear our members’ thoughts concerning these moves and possible ideas for revenue for the CBA. These may be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (place in the heading: Attention Board of Directors), or by U.S. Mail to PO Box 14493, Portland, OR 97293.
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Janiva Magness
