Recently NOHVCC Board Member Bryan Much shared an article from www.BestRestProducts.com about the struggles of the traditional motorcycle club to thrive in today’s society. While this article directly speaks to motorcycle clubs, we at NOHVCC believe that the ideas and topics found within are relevant to many of the OHV clubs you all belong to. We encourage our NOHVCC partners to read this article and share the thoughts and ideas found within with your club to see how it may benefit your club moving forward. We thank author David Petersen for permission to use this article. Please note that sharing this article does not represent NOHVCC endorsing the author’s stance on this topic, or the products found at www.bestrestproducts.com, but rather we share this in the hope that it will create constructive discussion at upcoming club meetings.
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It’s not just motorcycle clubs that are being affected by a changing in society, it’s all clubs, social organizations, professional and civic organization as well. I am on multiple non-profit boards, including a motocycle club, the state OHV organization, a local free clinic board, and even a state professional licensing board. All are having difficulty with leadership aging out, and all are actively trying to recruit younger members with marginal success. A few pointers: You need to make membership worthwhile by offering a benefit. Maybe you take care of a trail system that isn’t well known and members join to learn where your secret stuff is. You can indoctrinate them on trail ettiquette and respect for resources if they join, but not if they don’t, so this can be a win-win. In return they do things like pick and shovel work that is better done by young strong backs.
We can attract new members to our licensing board because they carry important responsibilites
and members gain expert knowledge. Because of this they’ll work almost for free. In short there is something in it for them. I could go on and on about this. but the point is that you have to make joining your club worthwhile, or no one will join. Also it has to be fun. There will always be some long boring meetings because that is necessary to conduct club business, but stay organized, keep the meetings short, and respect people’s time. It’s always been difficult to keep clubs going. What happened to all the old time Harley clubs back in the 1940’s and 50’s that they featured in the “Wild One” ? Some of those guys and gals are still around and I’ve love to hear what happened to their clubs, and why they dissapeared. I’d bet it was the invention of television, cheap fast cars (Malibus, Mustangs and GTOs), more sophisticated forms of rock ‘n roll ( Beatles, Stones, and eventually the hippie movement and acid rock) and other easily accessable forms of entertainment that stole their members, just like the internet, cell phones and social media are stealing ours.
If nothing else it was really fun writing this, and my hat’s off to everyone who still belongs to a motorcycle cub. We can all agree they’re the best!