APS Membership Discount

I just received an email I thought I'd share with the broader audience here about a discount offer on APS memberships, for anyone who may be interested.

The APS is the American Philatelic Society.

The offer is here -
https://info.stamps.org/aps140

you still son't get the promised hipstamp discount, tho.

Trying to stop the bleeding with a discount promotion that isn't even holiday related. They need to trim costs, not lower revenue from their primary product.

The APS often (it seems every year for at least the past 15, or so) offers membership discounts during the last quarter of the year. The trouble is reaching the audience. Hopefully stamp clubs, shows, dealers and bourses will post the promotion.

Until last year, membership was pro-rated on quarters, the 4th being only $14.25. This was the most common time to buy memberships and the highest drop rate, so we eliminated it for a 5-quarter promotion.

Last year, membership went to a 12-month cycle no matter when it was purchased. It's been $45/year since 2008 so it's still a good deal.

I have received a promotion from several stamp clubs that I still belong to.

Side note: During my tenure, membership was 25 percent of the total income. So a special discount isn't really cutting the "primary revenue." I can't comment on spending since I am 14 months gone and look at the financials every month anymore.

Thanks for clarifying, Scott!

Only in politics does a discount not equate to less revenue.

Your reading comprehension is better than that. Your "insight" about cutting the "primary revenue" was what I corrected. Membership dues are not the primary revenue. So a simple discount for 30 days, is, at best, a marginal loss in revenue unless you sell more memberships than if they had not cut it (they will).

As the guy who balanced the budget and eliminated the $5.4 million debt and left a significant amount of money on my way out the door, I trust my understanding of the organization's finances better than yours.

When I was in politics, I also cut spending. Not projected increases, but real spending. But tap away on that keyboard.

APS will be launching a new better (the promise) website in 2027 and with the new Director of Education is leading an effort to create a new educational marketing video. Summer Seminar will be back in 2027. As noted early, dues do not cover all the expenses and donations by generous members that allowed the building to be paid off and started SCHOOL (still a shell) and the Mason digital effort.

I stand by my comprehension that (100 x .75 < 100).

In any case, the APS website is offline right now. What happened?

The APS site works for me.

Yes, back online again.

What defines "primary revenue " ? 25% of anything though sounds like a pert fair amount…..
William

People who come from different worlds define things differently. My background is construction management/engineering. In my world one percent is worth fighting for whether you are a contractor or an owner, let alone 25%. There is always the argument that you could spend (waste) $1000 chasing $10 but I always stood by having a standard and sticking to it. That way you don't get lazy and lose the muscle memory that keeps you hopefully in the black.

Given that the APS is struggling with declining membership I see the desire to attract new members. Personally, I would look at better communicating value instead of discounting product. You also can leave a bad taste in the members mouths that are paying full freight for the same thing. Does the APS offer membership levels such as bronze, silver, gold?

Well whatever they do, I hope they dont start offering less for more like the old scott catalog did - only to have the new co. put the format back to "normal". Now I got stuck with a handful of pitiful catalogs not knowing ( to what extent) the format had changed to less information and mini images!

Membership dues are approximately 25 percent of total revenue (it was closer to 50 percent when I started). We diversified revenue because we didn't want any one pillar of revenue to pose a risk to the organization's sustainability. Please note, we were paying nearly $1 million a year in debt service until 2020.

Back to the membership, now imagine you offer a 30-day discount to incentivize sales. So you offer $11.25 off the product you sell. Now, in a given month, you sell 100 memberships, but with a discount, you sell 150.

You "spent" $562.50 on advertising (as evidenced by this thread, etc.) in lost revenue, and in exchange, you generate an extra 50 memberships. So instead of $4,500 in membership dues, you generate $6,750 in membership dues. History tells us that 2/3rds of the people who sign up for a membership above $25 will renew year over year.

When I came to the APS, we averaged 1,300 new memberships a year. By the time I left, we averaged over 2,000 new memberships a year. So why does the APS keep losing membership? Because you would lose 3,000 members a year, 2,000 to death. The number one reason people left the APS was death; the number two was changes in health. That was a byproduct of a free life membership program that ended in 1973, but the APS still added free life members through this year. Ironically, Scott Trepel was the last man over the fence to earn a free life membership, but he resigned one month before he was entitled to it.

The demographic cliff is nearing its end, meaning you will likely start to see an increase in membership in the next three years. For what it's worth.