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NPAA Presidents 2nd Quarter Newsletter

Category: npaa

 Jul 19th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Jul 19th, 2009 at 12:00 AM

With half of the year behind us it’s become apparent that the NPAA has been affected by the overall slowdown in the U.S. economy.  The decrease in consumer discretionary income has shown its effect in the NPAA membership.  The NPAA currently has 310 paid members down 12% from last year’s total of 350 general members.  However the number of members alone is not as concerning as the make up of the membership.  We have 52 new members who have joined us since January 1st of this year, meaning that we have lost 92 past members or 26% of our 2008 membership total.  On a positive note our organization has retained all of our 2008 Supporting Partners in 2009.  That retention of our Supporting Partners is a huge vote of confidence in our organizations relevance by an industry that has had a very challenging year.  The general membership numbers though disturbing, are not yet devastating.  

What do I mean by this?  The Board had been concerned about the effect the economy would have on our membership and we took action to reduce our operating costs wherever possible very early in the year.  To date the organization has the funds to continue to operate through the remainder of 2009, but without a concentrated effort by our members to meet our 2009 Membership goals we will fall short of our 2009 budget goals.  The next 90 days are critical, so I am again asking each of you to “Make a Difference”. For those of you who have been NPAA members for years, I ask that you rededicate yourself to the organization and the sport of competitive angling by networking with your peers to get them to fish any events possible and to renew their membership with the NPAA.  For the new members who can see the value the NPAA will have to you and the sport in the future, I ask that you do what you can to bring a new member to the organization.  Each of you can “Make a Difference”.  

Our organization is facing a critical time in our history.  I am confident that if each member and Supporting Partner is willing to do what you can to meet our 2009 Goals outlined below, we will come out of this economic downturn stronger than ever with a member base that can make a difference for the sport and the industry.  

2009 NPAA Goals

•            Increase Membership by 20% (350 2008, Goal is 420)

•            Increase Supporting Partner’s by 30% by year end (14 2009, Goal is 19)

•            Develop two new sources of revenue to allow NPAA to grow capital reserves

•            Continue to support Youth Clinic activities

•            Develop a fund raising system to support Youth Clinics and other NPAA Projects

•            Monitor legislative initiatives that can impact the sport of fishing and create a system to lobby for legislation that allows for the use of the resources by anglers

•            Execute changes to By-Laws and Articles as voted upon at 2010 Conference

•            Continue to leverage the power of the internet through the NPAA website to grow membership and support our industry partners

•            Make the 2010 Annual Conference an event that our members feel they must attend.

In closing please don’t hesitate to communicate with myself, Cody, or any other Board Member if you have ideas that you feel can help our organization.  This is your organization, and the more you contribute to it the more you will get out of it.

Working to Make a Difference,

Patrick Neu

NPAA President

Note:  Mark your calendars and plan to attend the NPAA 2010 Annual Conference to be held in the Minneapolis area on January 8th-10th, 2010!