Entry Fees

It depends if you want to attract new shooters or not.

I realize clubs have expenses but they need shooters also.

The club I shoot pistol matches charges a flat $5 for everyone, (some events you can shoot a second gun for an extra $3). Their goal is to get more people involved and its working. Yet they get enough funds for target maintenance and other expenses, because of the number of shooters.

My local club tried charging $10 for each gun (RF and CF) for our bowling pin matches. I talked them into allowing one to shoot both guns for $10 instead of charging an additional fee for two guns. We get more shooters, and end up making more money.

In trying to get more involved in Rifle Shooting I don't charge anything for the CMP Clinics and Matches. I eat the CMP fees to conduct the matches. My goal is more shooters, not making money.

Our club isn't loosing money.

Same with training. I do most of the firearm training (CCW and SD classes) and I refuse to charge anything.

I want shooters, our club is suppose to be non-profit.

I hate to see shooting sports become a Rich Man's Sport. Nor should self defense be a rich man's game.

The less money we charge the more people getting involved, the more people getting involved in shooting, the more support we get for supporting gun rights.
 
I would much rather see the club get a bigger cut than the governing body, but I am kind of biased from doing some racing: In the triathlon world, a race can't be considered a Tri unless it is sanctioned by USAT. This means that in addition to the typically steep entry fees, you have to either be a member of USAT or pay for a one time race fee, equivalent to the yearly cost of a membership. This means that an organization that merely sends out a handful of certifying officials is getting about $35 from all of the (typically 1600+) competitors.

Then again if I was that opposed to it I would stop racing instead of just grumbling about it every time I register.
 
As far as the $25 discount goes,

The discount is for the Great Lakes regional (IDPA). The full registration is $125, but almost all our shooters register before the early entry deadline so we get very few shooters paying the extra $25. I think last year was the most late entries we have had in a few years and it was something like 8 to 12 shooters out of a field of 225.
The cost is about normal for a tier two or tier three match and the fee also includes ten stages plus Chrono, lunch the day of the match and a really nice tee shirt for every shooter. Since it's a regional we draw from about four or five states, Canada and we will be having a few shooters from Italy again this year. I think that's really cool. The Italian's are friends of our past match director so they visit each other every couple of years.
 
Additional fees for non-members is quite common at membership only ranges. At the matches I've shot it is typically $5. I've never seen them applied to major matches, only club level matches.

For club level matches the USPSA activity fee is $3 per competitor per division if there is a classifier in the match, and $1.50 for no classifier. The fee goes up for higher level matches.
 
For $1.50 or $5 I wouldn't say anything.

I was fired up to attend a 3-gun match at a "local" (only 30 miles away) club, which was advertising it would be allowing non-members to shoot. Then I got down to the fine print and found they wanted a $50 entry fee for their own members, plus another $150 from non-members.

Uh, no. If you don't want non-members to attend, why advertise?
 
Most folks don't even begin to know how to run a business.
And that's essentially what a club is doing, especially when trying to promote match attendance.
Those in charge with promoting a match are as likely to chase folks away as attract them, without much of a clue either way.
Most clubs would benefit from hiring an actual business manager, but try and convince anyone of that.
 
$100 more for non-members? That is ridiculous. For $150 you can attend some smaller major matches.

In fact I did a quick survey of matchsignup, out of 12 major matches listed, only two had match fees more than $150. One was a USPSA match at $155/170 (it bumps up), the other is the A6 USPSA 3gun championship at $175.
 
my local range has monthly IDPA matches that i attend. $10. if you aren't a member, $15. fees go toward supplies and equipment.

i have in the past lent my spare gun and gear to someone who either forgot something essential (like the gun) or had a mechanical problem with theirs. and ammo too.

i think it's more important that you come out and shoot than that i hoard my ammo. i can get more another day.

and i'm sure if you pled your case, i or someone else would cover your fee for one or two matches until you got your feet wet.

as noted above, it's important to attract new shooters.
 
$100 extra is punitive. They only want members to shoot.

My experience is USPSA and 3-gun. A $5 member discount is common for a local match fee of $20 to $30. The venue gets $5-$10 per shooter. Big regional or national matches are $200-$300, and I do not recall a venue giving discounts for its own members. And a $25 discount for early registration is not unusual.

At the big matches I worked, the venue got a fixed rate, based more on downtime because the match takes over the place. They did not care as much how many shooters so much as the range being closed to their members/regulars for a week or whatever.
 
Entry Fees to Stir Membership

It's a fine line between upcharging in order to spur activity towards signing up as a full time member, vs over charging people who aren't currently members and leaving a sour taste in their mouth.

One interesting way to do it is to cap membership, create a little scarcity. Anyone have any experience with ranges that cap membership numbers?
 
Yes, I have.
A member had to leave or die before a new one could join.
No thought about how to increase the number of members instead of having a membership cap.
Most club officers have no clue how to run a successful club.
Imagine a business that limits the number of customers because they
have too many.
 
Anyone have any experience with ranges that cap membership numbers?
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Yep, I was a member of a small rifle/pistol club. Stopped because life got in the way for a few years. Still capped with a two year + waiting list. Nothing fancy or special - they say if they go above a certain number of members that their insurance goes up a lot. (With the number of folks waiting, I would bet they could cover that increase immediately.) I think those in charge like to think it is their own "private club" for just them and their friends.
 
Anyone have any experience with ranges that cap membership numbers?
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Yes, and the flip-side.

Personally, I don't think that's a very creative or good way to deal with "too many" people. Over charging non members is also not a good business practice, but I think that FITSAC has a very good point that some people just want to have their own little club. In that case, go buy some land and make your own country club.

I was also part of a hunting club in NY that couldn't get enough people. They liked to be around 60 members, but they never got close enough to really worry about what to do if they went over.
 
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