Yes! But mention raising dues and member seem to faint in the aisles. My DH's groups and clubs the most inexpensive ones have dues of $100 a year. Most guilds have $25 a year. DH asked me why the guild puts a low value on what we do for $25 year. His groups, all men, would never stoop to $25 a year.

this is a touchy subject in my guild! Like most, only a few actually do the work because it is exhausting and the ones that have the time are usually retired and not physically able to; the others are working and don't have the time. 2 yrs ago we basically broke even, last year because we encouraged a minimal entry fee for members not working, we did make some money. So we voted to continue. The committees have been slow to be filled but it's done. I would have liked to see us go to a one day, less expensive venue and drop the ribbons, vendors, demos and just enjoyed seeing everyone's quilts--oh, well. A friend in another guild said that is what they did and it's been great and better turn out from non-guild members. A friend in still another guild said that members wanted a show,but no one would volunteer to coordinate it was just left up in the air and they didn't have one.

The guild I belong to has about 80 members and 50 are quite active (that is the attendance number at monthly meetings). We do a quilt show each year-this year will be the 12th. It is a one day show and held in one of the local schools. We have vendors, make and take areas, door prizes, etc. The entrance fee is $3. We do a raffle quilt every year as well. We had about 800 attend the show last year. It provides our major funding for programs and charitable outreach. We are all expected to work at the show in some way and to provide the show quilts.

I agree about the quilt dues. My guild has a $25 a year dues. I think that is ridiculous. I have brought up raising the dues to cover all our expenses and have fundraising be for extras. The treasurer did the numbers and said our dues would have to be raised to $40 per member. The members voted it down, said it was too much. So now we have the President begging everyone to help with fundraising events which no one wants to be in charge of.

Isn't the discrepancy of paying club dues interesting between men and women. Maybe women see paying a $100 for dues as money taken away from buying fabric but I think there is more to it. There is less value to "women's work"--not everywhere but I think it is the general consensus. I like to think that is changing for younger people.

I guess I'm in the minority because I love to work at quilt shows. When I was new to the guild, it was a great way to meet other members. My guild in NC had a quilt show every two years. It was held on Friday, Saturday and a half day on Sunday. One year we had 600 people walk through the door. Admission at that time was $3 per person. Yes, it was a lot of work but how else do you make the money to pay for your meeting place (regular meetings and workshops) and other expenses? Our dues were $20 per year. I was in charge of volunteers and I made sure the people at the entrance table were personable and friendly.

I'm with you, bethequilter, I love to work at our guild show. There's nothing more exciting and inspirational to me than being at a quilt show.

The guild I belong to has a quilt show every year and a condition of membership is to volunteer 2 3-hour shifts at the quilt show. The show goes for three days. We hang the quilts on Thursday and take them down on Sunday. I has been a chore to find people to be in charge but there doesn't seem to be a lack of helpers. Without the quilt show, I doubt we'd have a guild, the show pays the bills for speakers, meeting venue, etc. Our biggest money-maker seems to be our semi-annual auction where we donate stuff for us to buy back. This also requires a lot of woman-power and woman-hours.

My current guild has a show every year and it is profitable. Personally I like every two years. I always volunteer to work at the show but I am not on any committees. I also make a little quilt for the silent auction.I have previously served as chairs or officer positions in this or my previous guild and I no longer want to commit to be at every meeting etc. In the last two years some of the 6 smaller guilds have combined with a company and they do a big show together. The guilds have limits on how many quilts each can place in but they each have a boutique booth to sell things and a combined silent auction. The make money on tickets they sell before the show also. I have heard this is working well for them.

I think there are valid points made in previous responses. It is hard sometimes to find a good venue and the costs keep going up to rent them.

Boy is this a timely question! My guild does a yearly show, & last year lost money. But, that's not the reason for the timeliness. I'm currently the President of Texas Association of Quilt Guilds (TAQG for short). TAQG has 37 guilds under it's umbrella. Most all of them do shows, but what we're hearing is that attendance is down, participation of guild members is waning & revenue from them is way off. This past weekend we had the big Dallas Quilt Show. Attendance on Friday is always heavy, but this year was wall to wall. Saturday was pretty sporadic & Sunday's attendance was the usual light. The venders said they did very well this year in sales.
I don't know if this will be the trend of the year or not. I do know that in our May meeting we are looking into alternate means to fundraising besides raffle quilts, as everyone seems to be burning out on those.
If any of you would like further info, other than I can give here, PM me.