Introduction
1. Start Up!
2. A New User Group?
3. Business Smarts
4. Understanding Members' Needs
5. User Group Meetings
6. Services and Activities
7. Connections
8. Appendix
9. Links to User Group Web sites
Introduction
Borland User Group Relations
An Overview
Borland User Group Relations was developed to further Borland’s
commitment to user groups. It provides a vehicle for user groups
to obtain current information and to access knowledgeable spokespersons
about our products and technology.
Our mission is to provide quality attention and support to user
groups, their Special Interest Groups (SIGs), and related associations
internationally, such as the Association of Personal Computer
User Groups (APCUG).
Borland User Group Relations provides user groups with products,
presentations, and/or printed materials on Borland products and
technologies. User group services offered from Borland include
the following:
Presentations
Borland is pleased to attend user group meetings and demonstrate
our software and technology.
Evaluation Copies
Evaluation copies of Borland software are available for review
in user group newsletters.
Borland SIG and User Group Support
Borland representatives work closely with SIGs and user groups,
focusing on Borland products. The program provides these SIGs
with products, presentations, white papers, videotapes, and other
pertinent information.
Newsletter
Borland User Group Link is published quarterly to keep user groups
up-to-date on the latest information from Borland.
Referral Program
The Program acts as a referral system for Borland customers who
need the support of a user group in their area.
GLOBALNET BBS
Borland is a major sponsor of the APCUG Bulletin Board System
(BBS), GLOBALNET,
which was established to enhance the exchange
of information among APCUG-member user groups from around the
world. GLOBALNET can be accessed via modem at (408) 439-9368.
You can visit the APGUG's web site at www.apcug.org.
1. Start Up!
Guide to Starting and Maintaining a User Group
This guide is primarily directed at new user groups but is also
beneficial to expanding and enhancing the quality of established
user groups. Each day, groups are finding new and even better
ways to conduct and improve their services; we hope to include
these new ideas in future editions. Let us know if this information
is helpful to you. We also encourage you to share additional tips
you might have as you enter the world of user groups! Send tips
to Borland User Group Relations, 100 Enterprise Way, Scotts Valley,
CA 95066-3249.
This guide is divided into the following sections:
- Start Up! describes the different types of groups,
cites a demographic study, some history, and a decision tree on
starting a user group.
- A New User Group? presents avenues to begin, along
with decisions to be made when organizing a group—including
purpose, name, structure of group, officers, elections, dues,
and legal decisions.
- Business Smarts introduces business affairs, accounting,
funding, promotions, and publicity.
- Understanding Members’ Needs offers suggestions
for membership recruitment and tracking, retaining, and utilizing
volunteers.
- User Group Meetings details the kind of information
necessary to provide for meetings that sustain the growth of the
group, partnerships, and meeting programs.
- Services and Activities touches on other services
and activities offered by some typical user groups, including
newsletters, tips on successful software reviews, bulletin boards,
Special Interest Groups (SIGs), shareware libraries, training,
user group libraries, fairs, and shows.
- Connections lists other groups and resources to
contact that can provide a wealth of information and tips for
user groups, as well as details of the Borland user group program.
- Appendix offers additional user group documents
as examples and starting points. These may not be the most comprehensive
documents available, but they do work for their individual group
and are definitely a good starting point for any group.
Borland has tapped the experiences of nearly 15 years of user
group activities. Many of the contributors to this binder have
been involved in the user group movement for more than ten years.
Although this guide is directed to the individual user group,
most of the suggestions and examples are applicable to corporate
groups as well. This guide is comprehensive so that it may be
a roadmap to guide you through the life of your group. It is not
necessary to follow all the suggestions in this guide when starting
out. For a simplified version to starting a user group, see
"Starting a Paradox User Group"
in the Appendix.
Remember that user groups exist to share information among users,
and user group officers are willing to share information about
management with officers of other groups. It's all about
sharing knowledge!
What Is a User Group?
There are more tha one million computer users around the world
who belong to user groups. These users are from virtually every
walk of life—computer professionals, students, retirees,
executives, hobbyists, and office workers. Most have joined to
obtain assistance and services for using the technology more efficiently,
to gain access to product information and directions, and to share
common interests, computer skills, and knowledge in a friendly
atmosphere.
Definition
A computer user group is defined by Electronic Computer Glossary,
The Computer Language Co. Inc., as an "organization of users
of a particular hardware or software product. Members share experiences
and ideas to improve their understanding and use of a particular
product. User groups are often responsible for influencing vendors
to change or enhance their products".
User groups vary just as much as users do, ranging from informal
to formal organizations. However, all share a single purpose—to
help their members learn about and operate personal computers.
A user group can be an informal group that meets every week in
a member’s home or company conference room; or it can be
a large, sophisticated business organization with several thousand
members. There are almost as many types and specific reasons for
existence as there are user groups. Individual groups are difficult
to classify, but most fall within the following categories:
- Association: usually an umbrella organization
of computer user groups with no individual members (or it is its
members)
- Computer society: local or regional computer
groups representing or supporting various vendor-specific computer
platforms
- Corporate in-house user group: provided
for employees only, usually during normal working hours and often
supported by the corporate Information Center
- Corporate-sponsored user group: often
open to employees’ spouses, with after-hours meetings
- Special Interest Group (SIG): usually
a part of a user group or user society focusing on a specific
product, discipline, or topic
A 1991–1992 User Group Demographic Study
conducted by Arthur Saltzman of California State University and commissioned by the
Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG) indicates
that three out of four user group members are involved in corporate
purchasing of hardware and software for personal computers, influencing
an average of $89,830 in annual purchases. The survey, which involved
2,825 individuals from 12 user groups in the United States and
Canada, confirmed that user group members are an important source
of technical support for software users. (See excerpt from
“User
Group Demographic Study” in the Appendix for further information.)
Borland has always readily acknowledged the importance of user
groups. Philippe Kahn, former President and CEO, personally credits much of Borland’s
early success to user groups. “In the beginning,” he
muses, “the press paid little attention to Borland. However,
the word went out through user groups and we attracted a following
that helped us grow into a major software company. The most useful
pieces of advice that we get are from user group newsletters,
because they usually have no bias. Users want something that works,
from companies that listen and respond. That’s extremely
important. That’s why in the long term, we think that it
is just as important to work with user groups, in fact, as it
is to work with the press.”
User groups have played an important role in the industry by leading
the way in influencing vendors, as well as state legislatures
and the federal government.
- The Capital PC User Group, Inc. (CPCUG),
seeking the removal of copy protection from business software
products in 1983, went to user groups nationwide and presented
their case to computer publications and the leaders of most major
software publishers. A “Bill of Rights for Software Users”
evolved, followed by legal action that overturned Louisiana’s
anti-consumer Software Licensing Enforcement Act. These actions
convinced all major microcomputer software publishers to remove
copy protection from their products. Borland was, in fact, the
first major software company to remove copy protection from all
of its products.
- In 1987 Dick tenEyck, the Director of the now defunct Boston
Computer Society (BCS) Telecommunications Group, learned that
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was proposing increases
in access charges to electronic bulletin board networks. Using
these very networks, he reached user group members nationwide
who deluged the FCC with protests, resulting in the rescinding
of the proposal.
- When users began to voice their concern to the
industry and state legislators about “as is” warranties,
two computer industry associations, ADAPSO and the Software Publishers
Association (SPA), formed an industry-wide advisory board of users,
publishers, dealers, and analysts. The work of the Microcomputer
Customer/Vendor Advisory Board (MCVAB) brought about important
warranty guidelines to replace “as is” warranties: provisions
that warranted that the product worked in accordance with published
product specifications and advertising; a reasonable warranty
period (usually 90 days) for the customer to seek replacement
or refund for a defective product; and that bugs or program errors
would be fixed in a reasonable time or full purchase price would
be refunded. Borland, of course, has a cross-product policy of
an unconditional, 90-day money-back guarantee.
If there is a local user group in your community, contact a representative,
visit a meeting, and consider joining and participating. If you
are not fortunate enough to have an active local user group, then
this guide will help you start a group to serve your community.
If you are interested in starting a Borland product-specific group
or SIG, we’ll help you do it. Just contact Borland’s
User Group Relations Department.
2. A New User Group?
Although user groups can be found most everywhere, there may not
yet be a group in your community that is currently equipped to
meet your needs. Before starting a new user group and “reinventing
the wheel,” you may want to check to make certain that there
is not another group that could be expanded to fill your needs.
Generally, existing groups are eager to form additional smaller
SIGs for specific platforms or topics. User groups usually have
an administration in place and often have a newsletter or electronic
bulletin board system that can be shared, thus giving you more
time to devote to your particular interest area. Borland is happy
to help you locate an existing group, or to help you start a Borland
product-specific group or SIG.
Avenues to Follow to Get Started
- First check to see whether or not a user group already
exists. Borland User Group Relations has a listing of more than
600 user groups. Call to find the one nearest you. Other places
to check in your community are computer stores, libraries, and
with other users to see if they are aware of any existing computer
user groups. Often local newspapers will publish a list of user
groups in their Business or Computer sections. National publications,
such as Computer Shopper or PC World, or regional
publications such as Computer Currents (Atlanta, Boston,
Dallas, and San Francisco), Computer Digest (Baltimore
and Washington, D.C.), or MicroTimes (Northern California),
also publish user group listings. APCUG has developed a User Group
Locator system to assist you in finding user groups in specific
areas. By phoning (914) 876-6678 from a touch-tone telephone
and entering either an area code or zip code, information on the
groups in that geographical area is provided. If a local group
is found, contact the leaders and discuss your needs with them;
plan to visit their meeting to see what they offer.
- If you don’t find an existing user group, you
may want to contact other users and start your own computer user
group. There are many successful groups that are willing to assist
you in starting a new computer user group. Some of them have contributed
materials to this guide and are eager to share their successes,
and even failures, with others interested in sharing the technology
and assisting users. You are encouraged to contact these successful
groups and attend one of their meetings. If you are interested
in starting a Borland product user group, a User Group Relations
Specialist will assist you.
- You may also want to contact established user group
officers through on-line services such as
America Online,
CompuServe,
Fido, RIME, Internet, and GLOBALNET.
Visit the APCUG's web site at www.apcug.org.
Checklist for Forming a New User Group
- Plan an organizational/interest meeting with other
interested users, located in a convenient meeting space.
- Prepare the agenda and create a survey or interest
sheet to learn the interests and needs of the constituency you
plan to serve.
- Promote your meeting by notifying potential users
through computer dealers, a press notice in the newspaper, contacts
in end-user support departments of area corporations, schools,
and friends and neighbors.
- Hold organizational meeting.
- Survey attendees for their interests and needs.
- Recruit volunteers for organizational committee to
make initial recommendations.
- Evaluate attendee surveys to determine focus of group.
- Choose interim leaders.
- Locate regular group meeting place.
- Determine regular meeting date and time.
- Plan for services or activities to offer at start.
- Determine budget.
- Establish dues based upon projected members and budget for services.
- Plan programs for the first three to six months.
- Follow up your plans with the attendees of the organizational meeting.
- Advertise user group meetings.
- Recruit members.
- Organizational committee should recommend name, purpose, structure,
activities, dues, and legal status.
- Draft Constitution and Bylaws.
- Hold meeting to approve organizational committee recommendations, approve
Constitution and Bylaws, and elect officers.
- Evaluate progress.
The remainder of this guide contains suggestions and tips beneficial
to both those starting a new user group and to those maintaining
existing user groups.
User Group Organization
Good strategic planning, written documentation, and directions
are as beneficial to volunteer user groups as they are necessary
to large corporations. Those groups that take the time to plan
are often the most successful. In starting a new group, planning
committees are often involved in drafting Articles of Incorporation
and the Constitution and Bylaws. Regardless of how planning
is accomplished, it is most important that planning is a part
of the process and that input is sought from all who are interested.
A Mission
Have an initial planning session and include a review of a mission
statement or statement of purpose on your agenda. A mission statement
is often helpful to keep a group on track when considering new
activities. Also, the stated purposes or goals in a mission statement
can help prevent misunderstandings. Keep in mind that a mission
statement can be as simple as “to provide direct support
and assistance to users.”
As an example, the first stated purpose of the Monterey Bay
User Group—Personal Computer, Monterey, California, is:
“To educate the general public in personal computer use,
and provide instruction in, and dissemination of, educational
material in the public interest, including but not limited to,
material relating to the fields of computer programming, personal
computer software, and personal computer hardware, through publications,
lectures, demonstrations, workshops, and discussion groups, or
otherwise.”
The Name Game
The name of the group, too, is important. You’ll use it in
all publicity and promotions—it should be one that is both
descriptive and recognizable to the public. Some examples of current
group names are:
- Alaska Computer Society
- Association of Database Developers (ADD)
- Boeing Employees Computing Society
- Cajun Clickers Computer Club
- Catskill Power Users
- Alamo PC Organization, Inc. (APCO)
- D–BUG—Denver–Borland User Group
- 1960 PC Users Group Houston
- LAPALS—Southern California Paradox User Group
- WPCUG—Women's PC & Mac Users Group
- Utah Blue Chips
- WMCPA—Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association
Structure
Although user groups are often structured in various ways depending
on size, most have officers and a board of directors. The needs
and services of your group will determine the positions you establish
in the beginning. Other positions provided for in the Constitution
and Bylaws can be added as the need arises. Some groups also
have advisors and steering committees. A business structure is
necessary to present a viable professional proposition to vendors
and other supporting organizations. At the very minimum, officer
positions should include a president, secretary, and treasurer.
Bylaws spell out the basic structure of the group—membership
criteria and dues; when and how the group meets; the governing
bodies (directors, officers, committees), how they are selected,
roles and responsibilities; procedures for elections; handling
income and expenses; and how the group makes decisions and delegates
responsibilities. Bylaws are the operating procedures of the group,
with rules for operating together and a process to change these
rules. Appoint a small group to review the bylaws of other groups
and draft your version to bring before the members for discussion
and ratification. A
sample user group bylaws can be found in the
Appendix.
Officers can either be elected or appointed, but it is important
to clearly define the responsibilities of each job or task at
the start so that members know what the expectations are before
agreeing to serve. Sample job descriptions and officers’
duties are contained in the Appendix in both the
Quad-Cities Computer Society
Bylaws and the
Monterey Bay User Group–Personal
Computer (MBUG–PC) Volunteer Manual.
Some job titles applicable to a user group are:
- President/Director: chief executive officer
who chairs meetings and votes in the case of a tie
- Vice President: assists the President or committees
- Treasurer: maintains accounting records and files necessary reports
- Secretary: records proceedings and handles records and correspondence
- Membership Chair: registers new members and maintains membership
records
- Program Director/Chairman: coordinates and schedules meeting
programs and coordinates with speakers for equipment as needed
- Vendor Liaison: communicates with local dealers and vendors on
special offers
- Public Relations: handles publicity for the group
- SIG Coordinator: assists Special Interest Groups with formation,
meeting locations, and publicity
- Newsletter Editor: produces user group newsletter
- Advertising Manager/Director: solicits advertising for newsletter
- Reviews Editor: Product Review Coordinator: coordinates reviews
for the newsletter by recording evaluation software received and sending
reviews to the vendor
- Volunteer Coordinator: recruits members for user group tasks
- BBS Sysop: maintains electronic bulletin board
A small group, or a group that is just starting, will often combine
duties among fewer officers. Cross training, a succession plan,
and assistants for key officers should be planned so that the
group can continue without interruption if an officer should become
unavailable.
Officers, terms of office, and election procedures are detailed
in the bylaws. Positions such as editor or sysop are often appointed,
however other offices can be either appointed or elected. Some
groups elect a board of directors and the board then elects the
key officers from the board members. Other groups hold elections
for the officers and the board separately. However your group
decides to hold elections, it is important that this information
be made public knowledge and that all members have a chance to
participate.
Ethics
Often user group members or officers are also employed in the
computer industry as consultants or in the retail channel. It
is important that these relationships are kept separate from user
group activities, especially for officers and other leaders. Some
groups have drafted a Code of Ethics to address this issue.
Cajun Clickers Code of Ethics
Cajun Clickers Computer Club, Baton Rouge, Louisiana:
It is the mission of our club to maintain a high standard of ethical
conduct within the club and in relationships with the community
and business associates such as hardware vendors, software vendors,
etc. The Cajun Clickers Club and its Members adopt the below prescribed
rules of conduct. Failure of any Member to follow the prescribed
rules of conduct will be reviewed by a Board of Ethics Panel for
continued Club Membership eligibility.
- Members will not use the Club name Cajun Clickers
Computer Club or its registered Logo in any activity that
results in personal gain. The use of the Club name or the Club
Logo may not be used without the expressed written permission
of the Club.
- Members will not use their Club affiliation to solicit
any products, equipment, or favors from vendors without expressed
permission of the Club.
- Members will project an attitude of courtesy and
respect for other Members, Club activities, and Club property.
- Members will maintain a high degree of integrity
within the community, and always act in the best interest of the
Cajun Clickers Computer Club when called upon.
- Members will refrain from the exchange, copying,
and distribution of copyrighted software.
- Members will act in a polite and courteous manner
during all Club activities. They shall freely and openly share
their computer knowledge with other Members.
Dues
Membership involves board decisions to set up the qualifications,
types, privileges, and dues structures for members. Usually membership
is open to all interested computer users in the community. Dues,
however, vary from group to group, with annual fees ranging from
$5 to $50 for individual members, and averaging $30. Special rates
are often available for students, senior citizens, spouses, and
additional family members, and multiple members in a corporation.
Dues are normally assessed to cover the anticipated expenses of
holding meaningful programs, agendas, and a monthly newsletter,
but are kept to a minimum. Additional funding is often available,
but should not be counted on for the normal meeting and newsletter
expenses.
Before setting membership dues, a group needs to determine the
activities and services they plan to provide. Dues need to reflect
these costs.
User Group Services and Activities
Service/Activity
- General Meeting
- Newsletter
- Electronic Bulletin Board
- Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
- Shareware Library
- Training/Seminars
- Resource Library
- Fairs/Shows
- Help Lines
- Community Service
- Resource Center
Complete details of these typical activities are included in the
“Additional Services and Activities” section of this
guide.
After the services or activities are identified and costs are
estimated, the projections are divided by the estimated number
of potential members to determine the necessary dues to be charged.
Legal Issues
Incorporation
Many user groups will incorporate with their state as a means
to avoid individual liability by the officers, as well as to protect
the group from lawsuits. Each state has different corporate laws
and sets minimum procedures that must be met. Contact your State
Department of Assessment and Taxation for further details.
In general, incorporation is a good idea, especially if your group
has substantial assets and public exposure. As a state corporation,
you will probably have to file an annual return with the state
that may or may not require a filing fee. (This fee is often waived
or reduced for not-for-profit organizations.)
If you intend to apply for state or federal tax-exempt status
(see following sections), incorporation is generally a prerequisite.
Nonprofit Status
State and Local--Most user groups are operated as not-for-profit,
all-volunteer organizations. In many cases, individual states,
counties, or local jurisdictions will provide special benefits
and/or considerations for such groups. If this is the case for
the state or community in which your group is located, it might
be advantageous for your group to avail itself of these benefits.
Contact your state offices for further information.
Federal--If your group is organized as a not-for-profit
organization, you may want to consider applying for tax-exempt
status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Section 501(a)
of the Internal Revenue Code sets provisions by which qualifying
organizations may be exempt from paying federal income tax on
their net income.
To a user group, tax-exempt status can make more resources available
for the educational or social purposes for which the group was
established. And by choosing the proper exemption classification,
the group can reap additional benefits that will enable it to
improve both the quality and the quantity of the services that
it provides to its members and the community.
Basically, there are three categories under which user groups
may qualify:
- 501(c)(3) Educational organization
- 501(c)(4) Civic league
- 501(c)(7) Social club
Each section has its own qualifications and benefits. Most groups
consider Section 501(c)(3) to be the most desirable—and also
the most difficult classification to obtain. As a qualified 501(c)(3)
organization, for example, a user group would have access to the
following benefits:
- Net income from group's activities is free
from federal (and possibly state) taxes;
- Property donated to group may be tax deductible;
- Volunteers can deduct un-reimbursed expenses and mileage;
- Group qualifies for lower second- and third-class postage rates; and
- The group may be eligible to use federal, state,
and local government and other nonprofit organizations' facilities.
For additional information, contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040
and request IRS Publication 557, Tax-exempt Status for Your
Organization. APCUG-member user groups should also contact
the APCUG Secretary and request the APCUG Tax-Exempt Kit.
Insurance
In this day and age of liability lawsuits, you must protect your
assets. If someone comes to a meeting or sponsored activity and
breaks an ankle falling over a hazardously placed piece of equipment
and seeks to hold the group responsible, are you protected by
insurance? How costly would it be to replace property, equipment,
etc., due to fire or theft? Too costly? Investigate the cost and
invest in adequate insurance coverage. One group got the go-ahead
for free use of space at a civic center for an event only because
the group agreed to provide a certificate of one million dollars’
liability insurance. Many user groups, especially those that hold
large public meetings, have substantial assets, or are otherwise
actively involved in computer shows and fairs, carry an insurance
policy for the group.
Some common insurance coverages include:
- Damage to user group–owned property
(fire, theft, water, vandalism, etc.). For a user group, such
coverage should include locations specifically designated on the
insurance policy; unnamed locations to cover property moved from
location to location; and property damaged while in transit. Coverage
for damage to owned property and non-owned property for which
the group may be responsible (damage to a members’ computer
used for group purposes, for example) should be tailored to meet
individual group requirements.
- Employee Dishonesty. This coverage protects
the group from things such as theft of funds, equipment, etc.,
by an individual officer or director. For most user groups, the
definition of employee must be amended to include noncompensated
officers and directors.
- Commercial General Liability. This coverage
protects the insured for its legal liability in causing bodily
injury or property damage to the public. For example, if someone
should slip and fall and injure himself while attending a user
group activity, the user group would likely be liable for any
damage incurred. Similarly, such coverage would also insure the
group against any damage done by members to the meeting hall or site.
- Automobile Liability. This coverage protects
the group from any liability arising out of the use of a vehicle
not owned by the group that is used on its behalf. For example,
if a user group officer is involved in an automobile accident
in his or her own car while engaged in user group business, the
user group could be held liable for the damages.
- Workers’ Compensation. This coverage
is only applicable to those user groups that have paid employees
or staff.
Other insurance coverage that may be of interest to some groups—but
are generally extremely expensive and difficult to obtain for
all-volunteer organizations—are Professional Liability,
Directors’ and Officers’ Liability, and Publishers’
Liability.
For further information, you should contact an insurance underwriter
or agency in your state or local jurisdiction. If your group is
interested in obtaining insurance, it is advisable to seek several
quotes from different insurance companies.
3. Business Smarts
The more professional and business-like the user group is run,
the easier it is to attract additional supporters and participants.
This includes creating stationery, business cards, logo, and promotional
materials. Some user groups join their local chamber of commerce
and encourage the chamber to become a corporate member of the
user group.
If a user group is to succeed and grow, not enough can be said
about the importance of sound financial management. Haphazard
attention to income and expenses has brought the downfall of many
groups. Take some simple steps:
- Identify a person who is responsible for handling
your affairs—in many cases this falls to the Treasurer. Protect
your group by having more than one person responsible for signing
checks; limit expenses that can be paid without full review of
the executive board; use receipt books; set up a process for deposits;
make the procedures part of your bylaws; hold an annual audit;
and publish Treasurer’s reports regularly.
- Choose a good standard, easy-to-use, computerized
accounting package—one that a new person coming in can use
with little training and one that will capture the various areas
of income and expenses, giving a clear picture of how financially
sound your group is at any given time.
Accounts usually required by user groups include:
Income
- Advertising
- Contributions
- Interest Earned
- Membership Dues
- Sales
Expenses
- Bank Charges
- Bulletin Board
- Charity/Contributions
- Computer
- Cost of Goods Sold
- Depreciation
- Dues (group)
- Entertainment
- Equipment
- Freight
- Insurance
- Interest Paid
- Janitorial
- Legal & Professional
- Miscellaneous
- Office Expense
- Photocopies
- Postage
- Printing
- Promotion
- Rental
- Repair
- Services
- Supplies
- Taxes
- Telephone
- Trade Shows
- Training
- Travel
- Utilities
- Wages
- Know what services your group can afford. A group
can survive without an annual budget plan, but those that have
real success will point to carefully planned budgets as a must.
- Identify your estimated income and expenses for
each service as accurately as possible. Don’t add additional
services without carefully estimating all expenses. Services such
as a resource center or bulletin board are not normally considered
until a group is large enough to support such projects. A new
group customarily begins with a general meeting, newsletter, and SIGs.
- Review your budget and books to identify when your
dues and other established means of income are not keeping up
with expenses so that your group can address, in a timely fashion,
other possible funding activities.
One of the main guidelines for most groups is to keep costs low
and overhead to a minimum. Often discounts, donations, or equipment
loans are available, especially if the group is a registered,
nonprofit organization.
User groups that succeed don’t limit their income to membership
dues. Be creative! Take your itemized lists of operating, services,
and special activities expenses to your membership and ask them
to contact the Treasurer with names of sources that might make
a donation of funds or equipment. You’d be surprised at how
many expenses can be offset this way.
Alternative Income
User groups have discovered numerous activities to raise revenue
to carry out the goals of the organization. These include auctions,
shows, fairs, swap meets, shareware sales, group purchases, seminars,
and electronic bulletin boards.
David Reed relates that the Central Kentucky Computer
Society, Inc., Lexington, Kentucky, holds the state’s
largest computer show each April with 5,000 attendees and more
than 70 exhibitors. “We also sell shareware at a local mall
four times a year and make considerable money on that, and we
hold an annual auction for our members just before Christmas.
By doing this, we have been able to fund our resource center and
are starting a local SeniorNet Learning Center.”
According to Mark Walsh of the Portland Personal
Computer Club, Portland, Oregon, they “sell raffle tickets
at general meetings for whatever the vendor donates. This brings
in $50 to $75 a month. Members get one free ticket, any additional
tickets cost $1.”
Anne Ehrenshaft’s East Tennessee PC User
Group of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, “raises money from the
sale of blank diskettes, disk-of-the-month (specially prepared
disks chock full of shareware), an auction and swap meet, and
a small commission for passing along some terrific discounts on
magazine subscriptions. Some of the SIG leaders also prepare disks
and/or tutorials for which they ask for donations that are turned
back into the club.”
Melissa Moore of the Detroit Area Network User
Group (DANUG), Detroit, Michigan, reports that they “have
received extra money by selling copies of our mailing list to
different vendors who use the list for specific purposes, such
as seminars and workshops. Also, for the past two years, we received
a percentage of money collected by an exhibitor company that produced
a networking conference in Detroit. In return, DANUG provided
speakers and access to our mailing list.”
Promotion and Publicity
Successful user groups have many things in common, including an
informative newsletter, interesting meeting presentations, comfortable
and accessible facilities, and good promotion.
Successful techniques to encourage computer users to become members
almost always involve getting the user group name before the public.
Promotional opportunities can be found through:
- Swap meets
- Fairs
- Local shoppers' guides
- Community service announcements
- Public libraries
- New computer sales from dealers to include free 90-day user
group memberships
- Local media coverage of meetings and events
- Speakers at business groups like Rotary, Lions, or Kiwanis
- Brochures through newcomer services like Welcome Wagon
The Las Vegas PC User Group made arrangements
with a local dealer to post a membership number of one of their
members in the store. If that member visits the store during the
month and shows their membership card, they are given a prize.
A promotion like this benefits both the members and the supporting vendor.
Vance Jochim of North Orange County Computer Club,
Orange, California, reports that “we’ve got one small
group that is very active in going to all the commercial swap
meets and setting up a booth where they hand out flyers. It’s
well designed—it looks really nice—the flyer, and everything.
We have people show up. We’ve actually run out of room now
to have meetings.”
According to John Aucott, Tucson Computer Society,
Tucson, Arizona, “we recently completed a rather successful
effort at the Business and Technology Exposition in Tucson. This
wasn’t free. We had to spend $400 for the booth. We had volunteers
from the Society show up and man the booth for two-hour periods.
We also offered a free, 90-day membership in the Society. In other
words, if you came and signed up, you could try the Society for
90 days, completely free of charge. We signed up 42 new members
at the last one.”
Hewie Poplock’s Central Florida Computer Society, Orlando,
Florida, “volunteers to help at the local computer show, either
with registration or sending people to seminars. In turn, they give us
a free booth at which we hand out brochures. We’ve found that very
successful.”
Publicity is an ongoing job and involves creating strategic relationships
with the media, computer dealers, libraries, schools, and other
community service organizations.
Additionally, informed local dealers can be
a major source of support, as long as the user group makes certain
to treat all dealers equally and to remain impartial.
The best promotion or advertising comes from word of mouth—from
a satisfied member. Additional sources for exposure for your group
include:
- Newspaper ads
- Community calendar
- Dealers
- Bulletin boards, both electronic and community
- Local radio talk shows
Press releases can make a big difference in the promotion of a
user group. A sample press release from the Pasadena IBM–PC
User Group is included in the Appendix. Remember these tips:
- Get the editor’s attention.
- Get to know the local editors.
- Proofread your copy.
- Be professional.
- Continue to send releases even though not all
are printed, thus keeping your name before the editors.
- Send copies to the city editor, lifestyle editor,
and business editor.
- Let them know that you are providing an educational
service to the community.
- Be certain to clearly state who, what, when, where, and how it
impacts the readers.
- Be sure to include a contact name and phone number.
4. Understanding Members’ Needs
Membership privileges usually include attendance at meetings;
access to a group library of promotional literature, press releases,
publications, manuals, and books; newsletter subscription; electronic
bulletin board access; shareware access; discounts available on
hardware, software, and services; entry into door prize drawings;
and training opportunities.
User group leaders need to know members’ interests to provide
appropriate speakers and programs. It is important to continually
survey your membership to better understand the needs and concerns
of the constituency that you want to serve. Membership surveys
are accomplished as easily as a simple show of hands at a meeting
to see how many are interested in a subject, a short two- or three-question
survey to be completed at the meeting in order to participate
in a door prize drawing, or an annual full membership survey.
Something of value attached to the submission of a completed survey
will often increase the return rate. This can be anything from
a drawing for a software package to an extra month or two of free
membership for all who return the survey. Not only can a survey
help to identify the topics of interest and levels of expertise,
but members can be encouraged to identify topics that they are
willing to present or assist others in using.
The membership application is a tool that can be very useful for
meeting the needs of the members. The demographics contained in
the information is often helpful to a vendor when targeting a
presentation for the group. Often a membership list is requested
by dealers and vendors; it is important to first get permission
from members to release this information. Information on the
membership application form should be coordinated with the needs
of the membership tracking database. Information that you will
need includes:
- First and last name of member and spouse (if
spouse is also a member)
- Address, including street address, city, state,
and zip or postal code
- Telephone numbers, including home, work, and fax, along with
best number to contact and convenient time to contact
- Date joined
- Occupation
- Company
- Equipment and software used
- Interests
- Amount paid
In addition to this information, the membership database usually
includes the membership expiration date, a field to indicate whether
or not mailing information can be released, and information on
volunteer involvement.
Recruiting New Members
There are many successful techniques for recruiting members, but
don’t forget them after they join. Be sure that there is
a new user or a mentor program to make the new members feel welcome.
A new member kit is also a welcome addition. You need both the
experts to service the beginners and you need the beginners to
keep the experts interested.
Offer a free trial membership (from one to three months) to a
new computer owner who purchases at a local dealership. You not
only gain new members, but you cement good relationships with
participating dealers. Flyers or brochures promoting the user
group should be available at computer shows, fairs, or other local
events where computer users are present.
Keeping Members
Retention is an activity that should be planned. Expiration notices
sent well before the renewal date, plus reminders on mailing labels
and in the newsletter often help. Some groups offer renewal rates
at a reduction from initial membership rates or a bonus for prompt
renewal. Phone calls to follow up on nonrenewals will often retain
those who forgot to send in their membership, and equally as important,
can detect problem areas within the group that can be corrected
before additional members are lost.
In the Appendix are samples of an invitation to
participate in the forming of a new user group and applications to join
existing user groups.
Volunteers
Your user group will be much more successful if members are actively
involved and enthusiastic about the group. Allocating even small
tasks to a larger number of members requires more up-front time,
but pays off in the long term by getting and keeping good volunteers.
Also, the more that is done by several people, the less chance
there is for burnout to sap the enthusiasm of key volunteers and
officers.
Getting Volunteers
The most successful way to recruit volunteers is to first identify
specific projects and then ask for volunteers individually. Getting
members to volunteer in a large meeting generally is not quite
as successful. Often this is the main task of a volunteer coordinator;
however, it should be a task for all leaders to help identify
and recruit potential volunteers. A good place to start is with
a check box on the membership or renewal form to identify skills
and interests.
The Central Kentucky Computer Society of Lexington,
Kentucky, has been very successful in getting a large percentage
of their group to volunteer for various tasks. One of the directors
volunteered to call every member (more than 600 strong) to see
if there were people willing to take on specific tasks. He asked
each member on the phone what he or she was interested in, what
excited them about the group, and what they disliked. He also
asked if members were willing to serve as a volunteer, and asked
what task they would be willing to do from a list of tasks that
included setting up equipment, calling other members, working
at shows or fairs, and other such necessary jobs. There now are
more than 150 registered volunteers in this group of just more
than 600 members—quite an impressive percentage.
In an article written for I/O Port newsletter
of the Tulsa Computer Society, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Don Singleton
suggests the following tasks for potential volunteers:
- Making a few phone calls to try to arrange something we need
(speakers for a SIG, a meeting place for a SIG, advertising
for the newsletter, etc.)
- Trying out a new computer program, and then writing a review of it
for the newsletter, sharing what you liked and did not like about
the program, so that other members can benefit from your experience
- Spending a little individual time with a new member who has just
bought a computer, or who has just bought a new computer program and
needs help
- Donating some of your time to help church workers,
or workers in some charitable organization who are having trouble
getting the most out of their computers
- Spending a few hours sitting in a booth at a
computer show, telling people that stop by the booth what the
Tulsa Computer Society has to offer
- Presenting a program to our user group, or to another user group in town
- Speaking to a class in the public school system, telling students
how computers are used in real life, and possibly sparking the interest
that motivates them to work toward using computers; or speaking to a
group of public school teachers about computers and teaching computer skills
- Leading a Special Interest Group that enables TCS members interested
in a particular subject or program to get together and share their
experiences with other interested users
- Adapting computers that help handicapped persons in their day-to-day life
and communications
Perks for Volunteers
Members volunteer for a variety of reasons, often as simple as
giving back assistance that they have received and appreciated
themselves. This is often all that is expected or needed in return.
However, recognition or additional perks can often increase volunteer
participation. Those who do not volunteer still get the basic
services, while those that do can also receive additional opportunities
such as:
- Additional BBS time
- An annual recognition dinner or pizza party
- User group personalized business cards
- Free or reduced rate membership
- Identification badges
- Front-row seats at user group events
- Entry into a special prize drawing just for volunteers
Dan Hanson, Greater Cleveland PC User Group,
Cleveland, Ohio, reports that they “have a volunteer-of-the-month.
We have them come down, give them a certificate, give them a baseball
cap with the logo on it—not a big deal but they seem to really
appreciate it. People have been asking how they can get the hat.
We don’t sell them or give them away for anything except
volunteer-of-the-month. So if they want to get the hat, they have
to do something.”
