A Survey of Woodturning Clubs

[Russell Neyman]

​Our turning club would like to know more about other groups and how they operate. We figure this sort of information will help everyone find out what works best and give us clues where to seek out advice and ideas. Please take a minute to answer the questions below.


 What is the name of your organization?
 Where are you located?
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization?
 How often do you meet?
 Where do you meet?
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners?
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings?
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter?
 What are your annual dues?
 Do you have other means of raising funds?
 What is your annual budget?


(Please feel free to add additional comments about your club or about woodturning clubs in general, either within this thread or via personal message.)

Admin Edit: Please include a link to your Turning Club's web site. This will make it easier for new members to find your organization.

[charlie knighton]

What is the name of your organization? southside woodturners
 Where are you located? Martinsville, va
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? aaw
 How often do you meet? 1st Tuesday every month
 Where do you meet? artisan center/turners home
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? no
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? about 20/ 10 to 14
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SouthsideWoodturners)
 What are your annual dues? $25
 Do you have other means of raising funds? octoberfest/occasional wood sales to members
 What is your annual budget? we look ahead maybe 3 months/ we do have insurance through aaw

[Bill Blasic]

 What is the name of your organization? Presque Isle Woodturners
 Where are you located? Erie, PA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? Monthly, 1st Wednesday
 Where do you meet? Meetings at a members shop/business and hands on at a members shop.
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes Several volunteers in their shops and we open the meeting place two hours early for those who might need help.
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 60 to 70 - 30 to 40
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Website (http://mysite.verizon.net/piwturner/), E-mail and printed.
 What are your annual dues? $20
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Yes Raffles, Wild Winds Folk and Art Festival where club gets 30% and special raffles from demonstrators pieces.
 What is your annual budget? $1500 + or - We purchase our own insurance that covers all club related activities

[Russell Neyman]

 What is the name of your organization? Olympic Peninsula Woodturners (http://www.opcaaw.com/)/OPCAAW.
 Where are you located? Western Shore of Puget Sound, Washington State.
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Yes. Or, another organization? No.
 How often do you meet? Last Wednesday of every month.
 Where do you meet? Rented School Gym.
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes.
 How many paid members do you have? 112. How many show up meetings? 70-90.*
 Do you have a website? Yes. Printed newsletter? No. Electronic newsletter? Yes.
 What are your annual dues? $30.
 What other ways to you raise funds? Monthly wood auction.
 What is your annual budget? About $7000.


*There are another 60-70 people who attend our meetings a few times a year but who do not become paid members. They often participate in Club activities, donate to our wood auction, and join in on discussions, but don’t get the other benefits of membership (library, discounts, etc). We have no problem with this.


OPCAAW’s dues structure is strictly January through December, and pro-rated for partial year membership. Our actual paid roster will probably reach 150 by December 2014, at which time all dues will be due for 2015.

[George Morris]

 What is the name of your organization? Endless Mountain Turners
 Where are you located? North central Pa.
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? First Tuesday of Month.
 Where do you meet? Members shop.
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 20 paid 12 to 14 at meeting
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? web site (http://endlessmountainturners.webs.com/)
 What are your annual dues? 20
 Do you have other means of raising funds? 50/50
 What is your annual budget? Not enough!

[charlie knighton]

I like Bill's idea of mentoring ie>>>>


we open the meeting place two hours early for those who might need help.

when we start the new year in September, maybe we could do something like this

[Thom Sturgill]

 What is the name of your organization? Treasure Coast Woodturners Guild
 Where are you located? Fort Pierce FL (60 miles North of WPB on Florida's east coast)
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? aaw
 How often do you meet? Monthly (two meetings one 'business' meeting with show & tell and typically a video + morning demo at president's shop
 Where do you meet? Local College + members shop
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Not formal, but yes several members tutor.
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? Don't know about 40 during winter 20 summer
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Yes (http://tcwoodturners.org/), not any more, yes
 What are your annual dues? Currently $20 but going up to $25
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Wood raffles to members
 What is your annual budget? No official budget that I know of. (I'm 2nd VP)

[charlie knighton]

http://www.virginiawoodturners.com/this Is a club when I think of it

board member of Virginia Woodturners Inc........we and I do mean we.....a lot of people involved....put on the Virginia Woodturning Symposium every other year.....and this is our year....we do even years, north Carolina does odd years

[Lloyd Butler]

For a touch of Canadiana..

 What is the name of your organization? Golden Horseshoe Woodturners Guild (GHWG)
 Where are you located? Burlington, Ontario
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? twice a month Sept-June with Club supported Xmas party in December. 1st & 3rd Thursdays. Hands-on evening, and then club meeting with demonstator
 Where do you meet? Knights of Columbus hall
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? paid about 140, hands-on 30-50, meeting nights 70-80
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? web site (http://ghwg.ca/) with newsletter and still 8-9 people without internet
 What are your annual dues? $45
 Do you have other means of raising funds? 50/25/25 on hands-on night, raffle table on meeting nights
 What is your annual budget? only real budget is Xmas party, due's cover rent, normal presenters and insurance and other programs are run to try and cover themselves.

Generally 2 all day pro demonstrators each year

[John Thorson]

 What is the name of your organization? Zumbro Valley Woodtuners
 Where are you located? South Eastern Minnesota (Rochester area)
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? AAW
 How often do you meet? Last Thursday of every month
 Where do you meet? We rent meeting room at a local township's Hall
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes we have a list of mentors by turning topic, we also do a 1 hour education class for new turners before the meeting over 5 months April through August.
 How many paid members do you have? over 40 How many people show up meetings? usually 30 or so
 Do you have a website? zvwoodturners.com (http://www.zvwoodturners.com) Printed newsletter? No Electronic newsletter? Not any longer, we use the website and email
 What are your annual dues? $25 a year
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Special events have a reduced-rate charge for members choosing to attend, monthly dues cover all normal monthly activities
 What is your annual budget? Membership x yearly dues
Missing question - Do your members volunteer at schools, Scout troops, 4-H clubs, fairs and other community events as representatives of the club? Yes

[John De Ryckere]

The name of our organization is Chippewa Valley Woodturner's Guild. We are located in Eau Claire WI on 1125 Starr Avenue. We are an AAW affiliated organization with meetings on the first Wednesday of every month, from 7pm until about 9. We also meet on the second Saturday of the month for "Coffee and Chips" at the club house. Talk, trade advice, or use one of our lathes to work on a project.

We have a number of mentors for a variety of wood turning concepts, as well as introductory wood turning courses. We also teach wood turning to the boys and girls club.

We have about 85 paid members, and the turn out is seasonal. It's lower for the few weeks of nice weather we (sometimes) get during the summer. During the fall and winter we get about 50 or 60 members turning up.

We have a website: www.cvwg.org (http://www.cvwg.org)

We have a newsletter, it's available at the website. We print them out for the few members who don't have internet access.

Our annual dues are a bargain at $25.00 per year.

We hold an expo every year, the website is at www.expressionsinwood.net (http://expressionsinwood.net).
This is the first year we're holding it together with the wood turners. It's a
significant component of our operating budget.

[Robert B Povalkins]

What is the name of your organization? Southern Piedmont Wood turners
 Where are you located? Concord NC
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? Yes
 How often do you meet? The 15th of every month
 Where do you meet? In our studio
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? About 60 paid members and 30 - 40 show up.
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Yes
 What are your annual dues? $45.00
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Grants
 What is your annual budget?

[Mike Peace]

 What is the name of your organization? Chattahoochee Woodturners
 Where are you located? Gainesville, GA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Yes Or, another organization?
 How often do you meet? Monthly meetings plus a monthly hands on sawdust session
 Where do you meet? In a free standing shop building we rent
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? monthly hands on workshops lasting about 4-5 hours for anyone interested
 How many paid members do you have? About 60 How many people show up meetings? About 30
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter?
 What are your annual dues? $25 individual, $30 family, free student membership
 Do you have other means of raising funds? monthly raffles, pre meeting meal, Christmas banquet raffle and auction
 What is your annual budget? about $4200

[Brian Libby]

 What is the name of your organization?MAINE WOODTURNERS
 Where are you located?SOUTH CHINA MAINE
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? ONCE A MONTH - SEPT THRU JUNE
 Where do you meet? ERSKINE ACADEMY
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? NO
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? ABOUT 100 MEMBERS - ABOUT 40 PER MEETING
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? WEBSITE: MAINEWOODTURNERS.ORG AND ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
 What are your annual dues? $30
 Do you have other means of raising funds? WOOD RAFFLES
WE USE MOSTLY "LOCAL" DEMONSTRATORS BUT TRY TO HAVE NATIONAL/INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN TURNERS AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.

[Russell Neyman]

The early responses to this survey inndicate a surprising trend toward a seasonal interest in woodturning. Didn't see that coming.

What prompted the discussion originally was I was wondering how our group compared with others. Were we average size? Did all groups meet every month, like we do? How do guilds address the experience gap between novices and advanced turners?

I'm surprised we haven't heard from more groups, but I'm guessing it will take time

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

 What is the name of your organization? GULF COAST WOODTURNERS ASSOCIATION
 Where are you located? HOUSTON, TX
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? YES, AND SWAT (SOUTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF TURNERS)
 How often do you meet? General meettings are the 3rd Saturday of each month, "Open Shop Nights" are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month
 Where do you meet? Presently: Trini Mendenhall Community Center: 1414 Wirt Road, Houston TX 77055
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 80-100. About 50-60 show up per meeting
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Yes (www.gulfcoastwoodturners.org (http://www.gulfcoastwoodturners.org)), Newsletter available at our website for download, and emailed to members
 What are your annual dues? $25
 Do you have other means of raising funds? monthly raffle, annual woodturning retreat
 What is your annual budget? not sure

[Roger Alexander]

I have tried to post Centralillinois Woodturners two time and now give up. I go over 10 or 18 words. Roger C. Alexander

[Russell Neyman]

I have tried to post Centralillinois Woodturners two time and now give up. I go over 10 or 18 words. Roger C. Alexander

Most of the Creek moderators are St Louis fans.

[RL Johnson]

 What is the name of your organization? Woodturners of North Texas
 Where are you located? Fort Worth, Texas
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? YES Or, another organization? No
 How often do you meet? Last Thursday of each month, except for December when we have our holiday party
 Where do you meet? Lion's Clubhouse
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes and we have an open shop about three times a year before our regular meeting
 How many paid members do you have? 120How many people show up meetings? 60-70
 Do you have a website? Yes Printed newsletter? Not any more Electronic newsletter? Yes http://wntx.org/
 What are your annual dues? $24
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Annual auction at the holiday party, selling shirt, Anchor Seal and lacquer
 What is your annual budget? $10,000

[Russell Neyman]

I'm wondering why more groups aren't.participating in this survey? Is it because they feel their turning club is "too small or insignificant? That they are more informal and these questions don't apply? Or, possibly, Sawmill Creek simply doesn't reach all parts of North America.

Looking at the number of views, the interest is certainly there.

[Robert Willing]

What is the name of your organization? Northwood Turners http://www.northwoodturners.com/
 Where are you located? St. Germain, WI
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? Yes
 How often do you meet? Every third Thursday of the month.
 Where do you meet? St. Germain, WI members shop
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes We also have Shop Crawls monthly at different members shop which are meant to help other member learn different techniques.
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 50+
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Electronic via email and review of previous meeting.
 What are your annual dues? $20.00
 Do you have other means of raising funds? We have grants from AAW which were used to make pens for VFW flights etc.. We give demos at the VA. We make bowls for local food pantry for their raffle as well as ornaments.
 What is your annual budget? Consist of membership and wood raffle at meetings

[kevin nee]

 What is the name of your organization? CNEW ( Central New England Woodturners )
 Where are you located? Worcester Massachusetts
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? Yes
 How often do you meet? Monthly ( First Thursday of every month)
 Where do you meet? Local Church function room (rent paid)
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Learn & turn program before meetings Mentor list on website
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 50 ish paid members 30 ish attend
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Printed & Electronic ( Going to electronic Jan 1, 2015
 What are your annual dues? $30
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Wood swaps, Raffles & Auctions (nice wood & tools ect,)
 What is your annual budget? Not sure

http://www.cnew.org

[Bill Bulloch]

What is the name of your organization? Barnesville Woodturners
 Where are you located? Barnesville, GA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? Once a month, the 2nd Tuesday, for Club Meetings with a Demonstration at each meeting. We, also, have Saturday Workshops and a Tuesday Workshop. The Saturday Workshops meet at 9 A.M. and the Tuesday workshops meet at 3 P.M. on the day of our monthly meetings. We alternate between Saturday and Tuesday Workshops, so everyone will have the opportunity to attend one.
 Where do you meet? Member's Shop -- same one each meeting unless announced otherwise.
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes, with about 10 mentors.
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? We have 39 members and average about 35/40 a meeting including nonmember guess.
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? We have an Electronic Newsletter that is emailed out each month, and a website (www.barnesvillewoodturners.com (http://www.barnesvillewoodturners.com)), where our Newsletter can be downloaded.
 What are your annual dues? $25 Single/ $30 family.
 Do you have other means of raising funds? We have a wood raffle at each meeting and will hold a special fundraiser raffle as needed (a raffle of donated woodturnings). We had one this year and one in 2008.
 What is your annual budget? It varies from year to year. Funds are allocated to cover paid demos, workshops, our Christmas Party, expenses for supplies and several donations we make to promote the Arts.

[terry mccammon]

What is the name of your organization? Chicago Woodturners
 Where are you located? We meet in Arlington Hts, IL
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Yes
 How often do you meet? Monthly, 2nd Tuesday.
 Where do you meet? Private School
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes before the meeting and on the following Saturday
 How many paid members do you have? Approximately 150 How many people show up meetings? 50-65
 Do you have a website? www.chicagowoodturners.com (http://www.chicagowoodturners.com) Electronic newsletter? On website
 What are your annual dues? $25.00
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Turn On! Chicago bi-annually.

[Scott Hackler]

 What is the name of your organization? South Kansas Woodturners
 Where are you located? Wichita, KS
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW Chapter
 How often do you meet? Once a month
 Where do you meet? A rented building just for the day in the Boeing/Spirit Employees fishing lake
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes, we have 5-6 mentors available for personal assistance
 How many paid members do you have? 52 How many people show up meetings? 25-30
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? We have a non-maintained web site (for info only) and a monthly e-newsletter
 What are your annual dues? $35
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Not currently, but are working on some changes to start
 What is your annual budget? $1700


Our club is small and has been this size for years. We are looking at aggressive fund raising ideas and ways to increase visibility within our area to increase our membership.

[Mark Greenbaum]

 What is the name of your organization? TAW - TN Association of Woodturners
 Where are you located? Brentwood TN
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? Yes AAW
 How often do you meet? Monthly, first Tuesday evening usually
 Where do you meet? Brentwood, Baptist Children's Home
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Tes - Turn & Learn meetings, Saturday AM after club meeting date
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? about 180, usually about 65-100 show up for meetings/demonstrations
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? http://tnwoodturners.org/ - electronic newsletter, with weekly constant contact emails
 What are your annual dues? $25
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Annual Symposium
 What is your annual budget? ??


(Please feel free to add additional comments about your club or about woodturning clubs in general, either within this thread or via personal message.)

Admin Edit: Please include a link to your Turning Club's web site. This will make it easier for new members to find your organization.

[Tom Boley]

 What is the name of your organization? Flint Hills Woodturners
 Where are you located? Manhattan, Kansas
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Absolutely
 How often do you meet? First Sat of the month
 Where do you meet? Red Oak Hollow Lathe Works, Wamego, KS
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Brand new club but expect to have such
 How many paid members do you have? 25 How many people show up meetings? 21-22
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Web site: flinthillswoodturners.org; newsletters posted on web site
 What are your annual dues? $25
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Silent auction each meeting
 What is your annual budget? Don't know yet. First meeting was April 2015

Upon formation, we immediately incorporated in Kansas and then applied for 501(c)3 non-profit educational charity status with the IRS. It was approved in ten days!
Anyone interested in more information can write to president@flinthillswoodturners.org.

[Dennis Ford]

 What is the name of your organization? East Texas Woodturners
 Where are you located? Tyler Texas
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? Once per month - usually the second Saturday
 Where do you meet? Tyler Junior College West Campus (http://www.easttexaswoodturners.org/rtdc-map.jpg)
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 110 members usually about 60 at meeting
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Website - http://www.easttexaswoodturners.org/ newsletter http://www.easttexaswoodturners.org/newsletter/htm


I am also a member of an informal turning group that meets each week on Friday - no dues, website or newsletter. We have 10 - 15 show up each week, location rotates among several shops.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

 What is the name of your organization? Lehigh Valley Woodturners
 Where are you located? Allentown amd surrounding areas, PA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? YES
 How often do you meet? General meetings are the 4rd Tuesday of each month
 Where do you meet? Presently: Woodcraft Store in Allentown, PA
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Help is available
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 50-60. About 35 show up per meeting
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Yes (www.lehighvalleywoodturners.com (http://www.gulfcoastwoodturners.org)), No newsletter...yet
 What are your annual dues? $20
 Do you have other means of raising funds? monthly raffle
 What is your annual budget? not sure

[Paul Saffold]

 What is the name of your organization? Apple Valley Woodturners
 Where are you located? Winchester, VA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? monthly
 Where do you meet? professional shop
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 50-75, ~30
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? http://www.applevalleywoodturners.org; yes, for those w.o. email; yes
 What are your annual dues? ind $30, family $35, member of other AAW club $20
 Do you have other means of raising funds? raffle
 What is your annual budget? not enough

We try to have 1 to 3 professional turners give a daylong workshop in addition to presenting at the regular meeting each year. This year's are Mark Supik, Liam O'Neil, and Stuart Batty.

[Keith Buxton]

 What is the name of your organization? Show-Me Woodturners
 Where are you located? Festus, MO
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? 2nd thursday of the mont from 6:30pm-9
 Where do you meet? Festus Band Building
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? no
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 68 paid members right now we have around 40-50 show up to a meetings
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? http://www.showmewoodturners.com Electronic news letters
 What are your annual dues? Ind $30 family $40
 Do you have other means of raising funds? no
 What is your annual budget? $600.00

[Russell Neyman]

I thought bumping this would be a good idea. New chapter presidents find this sort of thing useful when working on budget, membership fees, and meeting dates.

[Edward Weingarden]

What is the name of your organization?
Western Mass Woodturners
 Where are you located?
W Springfield, MA
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization?
AAW
 How often do you meet?
Once/month
 Where do you meet?
Rent space in a CNC engraving shop
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners?
Yes
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings?
Approx 75 paid. Approx 35 at meetings
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter?
Website, although it's not very active. No print or electronic newsletters
 What are your annual dues?
$25
 Do you have other means of raising funds?
Members bring wood they have harvested which is then raffled off. If the club does a craft show, 10% of the proceeds go to the club. Nominal rental fee when using a video from the video library.
 What is your annual budget?
Don't know

[John K Jordan]

​Our turning club would like to know more about other groups and how they operate. We figure this sort of information will help everyone find out what works best and give us clues where to seek out advice and ideas. Please take a minute to answer the questions below.


I thought bumping this would be a good idea. New chapter presidents find this sort of thing useful when working on budget, membership fees, and meeting dates.

Russell, so after 4 and 1/2 years, did the info you got here help your club? What did you decide to do differently? If you filled out your own survey again now would it change much?

I'll try to add something to the thread but I don't know all the numbers.

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

​Our turning club would like to know more about other groups and how they operate. We figure this sort of information will help everyone find out what works best and give us clues where to seek out advice and ideas. Please take a minute to answer the questions below.

This is one of the two clubs I belong to. I know more details about this one.

 What is the name of your organization? Smoky Mountain Woodturners
 Where are you located? Knoxville, TN
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? AAW chapter
 How often do you meet? Once per month.
 Where do you meet? Knoxville WoodCraft, classroom
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Offer mentors
 How many paid members do you have? About 70 paid members. I never counted the attendance but it's crowded.
 Do you have a website? newsletter? http://www.smwts.org/ Newsletter on website
 What are your annual dues? $30
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Yes, raffles, auctions
 What is your annual budget? I think around $7k

As for operation, the board of directors meets quarterly.

The club raises money for club programs and for others:
Support to a local children's ranch - money, tools, workers, and teachers for a woodturning training program.
Members donate Christmas ornaments, sold to support local children's hospital. Raise up to $4000/yr
Financial support to the AAW

Other programs:
Members donate turnings for the Beads of Courage program for children with cancer.
Members donate turnings for Pens for the Troops
Members display artwork at an exhibit at the Knoxville airport.

The club has income from:
Monthly wood raffle for donated wood, $200-300/yr
December silent auction, about $600 this year
Annual March wood auction, donated wood and dry roughed out bowls, about $1600 in 2018
Occasional special wood auction.
Raffle tickets, several week-long classes at Arrowmont, around $500/yr
Raffle tickets, several week-long classes at John C Campbell, around $500/yr
Sometimes we get an AAW grant for one of our outreach programs

Our mentoring program is informal. Those with time and ability let the club know. Many have come to my shop, usually for 1-day instruction, phone consultation at any time.

Our annual wood auction in March brings in a lot of money and also helps members who might have trouble finding good wood. Wood is donated by members and auctioned to members. We only allow blanks ready to turn - no uncut log sections, no firewood, no junk wood. This does rely on the members who donate their time to cut, seal, and perhaps dry wood for the auction. Several members process raw wood supplied by other members who don't have a big bandsaw. (I have a sawmill which helps) I'm also the auctioneer so come on down!

In '18 we also had a special, impromptu wood auction - I cut some big green wood bowl blanks from wood someone brought to me. These needed to be auctioned immediately so they could be turned green instead of holding them until March. This was quick and fun, I may do it again this year.

Our December silent auction accompanies our Christmas "party". This typically has donated wood blanks, tools, books, and turnings from demonstrators.

The monthly wood raffle is wood donated by members but most is log sections. Tickets are $1 each.

The raffles for the Arrowmont and JCC courses are very active. The tickets are $2 each. The winner each month does not win a course but has their name put into the hat for the course drawings at our December meeting. These raffles have allowed several people to attend a good course they otherwise may not have been able to afford.

The club also has a cash "door prize" drawing each month.

We have quality monthly demonstrations from experienced club members and quarterly turning challenges.
We have regional demonstrators from other clubs.
Twice a year we hire outside demonstrators for a two-day demo and workshop.

JKJ

[Fred Belknap]

Probably the biggest reason for lack of replies is the questions you ask are only known by the officers of the club . Members don't know several of the answers. I'm a member of the MountaineerWoodturners inWV. As just a member I'm not sure I could answer all the questions or if I should.

[Russell Neyman]

(I edited and re-posted my comment to include the quotation of a question I was responding to,)

[Tony Rozendaal]

 What is the name of your organization? Milwaukee Area Woodturners (MAWt)
 Where are you located? Milwaukee area in southeastern Wisconsin
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? Monthly
 Where do you meet? Woodcraft of Milwaukee (which is in New Berlin, WI)
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? supposedly but it's not very active
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 65/40
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? Website; https://mawturners.com, IN place of a newsletter we email members when news posts are made. After each meeting I schedule a number of posts for the same day which then all go out in one email.
 What are your annual dues? $35
 Do you have other means of raising funds? Wood raffle at each meeting. Occasionally have paid events.
 What is your annual budget? Not sure.

[Russell Neyman]

Russell, so after 4 and 1/2 years, did the info you got here help your club? What did you decide to do differently? If you filled out your own survey again now would it change much?

I'll try to add something to the thread but I don't know all the numbers.

JKJ

The input helped us make basic desisions especially with regard to raising (or not) our membership dues. At 30 years, we're one of the oldest AAW chapters and obviously OPCAAW has been doing things correctly. But it's nice to get confirmation.

When I introduced this survey -- I also formed an alliance with seven other PNW chapters to exchange ideas -- I realized that our club needed to get younger and more diverse. One key way to do that was to bring our communications systems up to speed. We did that by introducing a Facebook page, upgrade the electronic newsletter (we converted to MS Publisher), and to actively recruit women and younger men. Based on this survey, we did raise our dues by five dollars a year. which allowed us to add one more premium speaker.

One area of improvement I can see in many of the chapters I visit is methods of raising funds through wood auctions. So many clubs have random drawings and members simply buy a ticket at the door. A live auction -- with an auctioneer -- allows more discussion for the value and potential of each piece and some good-natured competition for one piece or another. We also reward the donors of wood at our end-of-the-year holiday party, and that substantially improves the amount and quality of donated wood.

I'd be glad to discuss this further if any of your chapter officers wants to call to knock around ideas

[Alex Zeller]

I can't help much but I can offer my experience. Hopefully it will help you. The local club meets once a month and has a second meeting that's more just playing around in president's shop. This seams like it's pretty common with all of the clubs. Both are on a Wednesday and start about 6pm. Unfortunately it doesn't really work with my schedule. In the days of old people worked 40 hour weeks and were done at 4:30 in the afternoon. Now 10 and 12 hour shifts/ night shifts, etc are much more common. Having more flexibility I think would help get new members. It's a little awkward to ask a club member to meet you outside of a meeting when you've never really met.

I can say it's disappointing as I have plenty of questions that I don't like to ask here (I hate to feel like I'm just taking away without giving back). Plus there's no substitution to actually watching then handling the tools to try and accomplish specific tasks. I've only made it to one shop session so I don't feel comfortable asking them to do anything special for me. In a perfect world I would like to make some new friends (hopefully one or two close to me) but without being able to put the time in at the meetings it's really hard.

[Russell Neyman]

Probably the biggest reason for lack of replies is the questions you ask are only known by the officers of the club . Members don't know several of the answers. I'm a member of the MountaineerWoodturners inWV. As just a member I'm not sure I could answer all the questions or if I should.

OK, I guess. But certainly you know how often and where you meet, what your membership dues are, and if you have a wood auction to raise funds, right?

[Neil McWilliams]

Name of your organization? Artistic Woodturners of NW Florida
Location? Pensacola, FL
Club affiliations: AAW
When do you meet? 2nd Saturday monthly 9-12; occ. paid workshops with visiting turner 12:30-3:00. December meeting is our Christmas party.
Meeting place: Ragon Hall (square dance and swing dance hall venue) Store room for lathe and media provided.
Mentoring program for newbies? about 15 members are self-listed as mentors for novice turners. Mentoring in private workshops.
Paid membership: 45 Usual meeting attendance : 25-30
Website: www.artisticwoodturners.org Monthly newsletter posted on website.
Annual dues: Jan-Dec. $48 single, $60 family - prorated for 10 months or less (beneficial for snowbirds). Ages 16-21 free membership. Members of other AAW clubs attend free.
Fund raising: auction each meeting featuring wood stock and objects of value to woodturners
Community service: public school demonstrations; sponsor day of turning for foster kids during their annual one week day camp
Annual budget: $2200-$2600. Club charges $10/attendee for visiting demonstrators and underwrites the remainder. Afternoon workshops usually $25/attendee.
Notes: Try to schedule 4 visiting turners annually. Challenges: freshening the membership with new, younger members. Website has been most useful tool. Getting members to serve as officers. Raising our membership fee from $30 to $48 cut the membership in half initially but eliminated the least interested/involved; great rebound with visitors enjoying the new level of enthusiasm and choosing to join.

[Chuck Saunders]

 What is the name of your organization? Kansas City Woodturners Club
 Where are you located? Kansas City, MO
 Is your club affiliated with AAW? Or, another organization? AAW
 How often do you meet? 2nd Monday of the month with Open turning on Thursdays and Saturdays
 Where do you meet? Our Club Shop 3189 Mercier St, KCMO
 Do you have a mentoring program for novice turners? Informal
 How many paid members do you have? How many people show up meetings? 100/70
 Do you have a website? Printed newsletter? Electronic newsletter? kcwoodturners.org, electronic newsletter
 What are your annual dues? $55
 Do you have other means of raising funds? annual auction, classes