Retreat eligiblity question - need advice please
 

We are a smallish guild that holds a retreat once a year. We are limited in the number of spots due to the location where we have the retreat. The location/facility is perfect in every way so we are not very willing to go to another venue. We have more members than spots at the retreat which usually works out okay as not everyone attends. In the past couple of years we have had quilters join the guild just so they can go to the retreat. They don't participate in meetings or any other guild activities during the year. Have other guilds experienced this? We hate to exclude anyone but want our regular attenders to be able to go to retreat. Any advice appreciated.

Offer tickets to the retreats to guild members first and formost, then any additional spots left unclaimed can be offered to the public. Those who are not members can then see and experience what a guild does and maybe make new friendships and want to join.

Our guild has By-Laws (rules) that govern our membership. The President and the Guild Board (Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary will add new by-laws as time goes on and also re-evaluate the old by-laws to remove them if they aren't relevant to the guild to date. If your guild has by-laws, I suggest you meet and make an amendment to your by-laws to add a section regarding your quilt retreat attendance. For example: Active members will have first choice in attending the quilt retreat. An Active member is someone who supports the guild through attending meetings and/or participates in guild charity projects.

If you don't have by-laws, then a member or President can make a motion to be voted on by members at a meeting. Those members in attendance can vote on the motion to be approved...All in favor raise your hand. Motion approved or denied.

I think that happens a lot, I have a friend who joined a guild just to go to the retreats. I think the guild should require attendance at a specified amount of meetings and participate in the guild charity projects.

I agree with copycat that you should by-laws that govern your guild and inact language relating to retreat attendance. The active members have priority in signing up and then any spots left are available for those who are not active.

My quilting group has about 40 members. We do retreat sign-up at the monthly meetings. Any open spots are mentioned at the meetings and offered to friends or family of someone registered for the retreat. We have not had to limit our number of attendees since pre-Covid. I agree with active members first and others later.

We do have by-laws, this is a great idea, thankyou.

We have retreat in person sign up at guild meeting. The members in attendance get the first chance to sign up. A small deposit is made at time of sign up to secure the spot. Anyone who fills out a form but does not pay the deposit goes on the waiting list until deposit is paid. A little note in the newsletter will say registration for retreat will be available at meeting. A deposit will be needed to secure your spot. The non active retreat members rarely make it to a meeting to sign up. Most said oh I didn't read the newsletter.
We learned not take pre registration Or the put my name on the list for the next one.

I think the ideas listed should work. Yes I think members should be first. Good luck.

I was in a guild that had a point system for active members. You got points by going to meetings, donations, teaching classes/running projects, work parties, working the yearly show, etc. Then you could spend your points (auction style) for highly desired retreats or classes. Newer/less active members might feel left out, but the more active people might spend like 20 points (and clear out their total) to make sure they got into the retreat, while other people may be able to get in with only 3 points. I think it is a good idea to have limited number of possible points, sort of like work vacation use it or lose it policies.

Of course, this would require a change in by-laws, reminders, and someone to assign point values and keep track. We had a spreadsheet that was viewable by all and listed names and points. Once set up, it wasn't too bad to maintain, we had sign in sheets at the official point scoring events.

Sounds nice at first, but what if you have a full time job, a family, church, and other interests and obligations? You'd be screwed. My friend Cindi tried to join a guild several years ago, but they were only active during business hours and she worked full time. In my opinion they did that on purpose - kept it very clique by refusing to have participation options for evenings and weekends.

I like the idea of opening signups to members only first. Easy enough to do. The guild in my area opens retreats and classes to members first and at reduced rates. Then if they still have availability, they open it up to the general public and charge a higher rate.

I hear what you are saying Peckish, and that is why I think that limiting points is a good idea.

The OPs issue is that these are members, on paper at least. They are registered and paid their dues but do not interact or help further the guild's interests. It takes work and effort to put on successful events, it can be a joy but you can also feel like you are taken advantage of. Those non-active guild people could put together a retreat themselves but it is easier to let someone else do the work.

Life isn't fair. For me as a working single mom with no family support and limited finances, I could barely go to monthly meetings and couldn't ever go on retreats or take classes or whatever special events for the most part. When I was able to do a day trip to Portland or whatever, it was special, and it was more for the fun than my limited financial purchasing power. Simply couldn't afford the time away from my child or the financial costs. Now that I am no longer working, I can do day things, but because of my vision issues I can't do night things. So it goes. I'm lucky I found a daytime weekly sewing group for company. It isn't a guild, it doesn't fit all my needs but I am grateful that they welcomed me in.

Most guilds have to decide between meeting during the day or evening. If they meet during the day, they are not available to quilters who work, and those are often younger members. I suspect though that there are far more older quilters who can't drive at night, so there's no one right answer. One of the guilds I belonged to in Oregon, the Midvalley Quilt Guild that met in Salem, had both night and morning meetings. The morning meeting attendance was by far the largest, probably 7 or 8 times greater than the evening attendance. But that was a very large guild with enough members to have leadership positions for both morning and night.

The guilds around here do have requirements for members (pay dues, sell or buy raffle tickets, help with guild activities like the quilt show, etc.) but the only one that seems to be actively monitored is paying dues. I think it's fair to give first dibs on retreat spots to the people who show up and help out. I'm not sure how well points would work, not having seen it in action, but it's something to think about.

Hmmm. Makes me wonder WHY they don't participate more. Has anyone asked them?

same reason only 10% of people on fourms ever post. There are lurkers and there are actives :)
When we lived in Portland Oregon their guild had a day meeting and a night meeting, it was wonderful.
Here, only nights 7 PM, and they aren't interested in anything else whatsoever. I know, I've asked a number of times.

The points system feels like Hall Monitor to me. On the other hand who decides what is active and what isn't. Someone warming a chair every meeting who never speaks, never volunteers, are they more valuable than someone who pays their dues to support the guild even though they know they can't attend meetings? Might be a bit judgemental to say they only join to go to retreats. Retreats and classes are usually weekends. Something to think about.

The quilt group at my church has started to do a day session and also an evening session on quilt day. Of course it the oldsters that come to the morning and younger folk who go to the evening session. I used to attend the guild meetings in person but because of health issues during covid I could only attend via zoom. Unfortunately, the zoom meeting is no longer available, but the health issues persist, So I just pay my dues and try and keep up with the news. However, I did participate by donating fabric for mask making and sure would be willing to donate more fabric. When I was working, my work interfered with the scheduled meetings so I had to miss meetings and really could not volunteer for some things.

I wonder if the guild is missing an opportunity here! You could definitely hold a larger retreat at a bigger venue. If your regulars want to gather at the old venue for a private retreat (not one held though the guild) I would do that.

Not only will the larger retreat generate a bigger profit, but it will go a long way to integrating new members, even if they are not meeting-goers, into the guild and build relationships. Once they make friends in the guild, they are far more likely to attend meetings, volunteer and just generally lend a hand.

One of the enduring problems in one guild I attend has been exclusivity and cliques. Some members have been "more equal" than others and it has turned off many quilters, who find the guild cold and unwelcoming. If you limit access to guild events, you will accidentally, and perhaps for the best reasons, create an atmosphere of exclusivity and clique-i-ness.

Others have made excellent points about day vs. night meetings, and the limitations many of us face in terms of attending weekend events, events during business hours, events that are not in some way accessible. Guilds need to think about events that appeal to particular demographics, and come up with a suite of events that has "something for everyone".

Our guild mission now is to welcome people in and make events as inclusive as we possibly can. A bigger tent! And a far more positive energy.

We stopped the join just to go to class or retreat . Classes and retreats are open to members of at least three month membership to get first choice of registering and all registrations for any event are in person at meetings.

THIS.

This is what I was trying to get across, only Kalama is much more eloquent than I.

I've held every office and position in our guild over the years. Now I am vice president for the fourth time. The same members do all the work, their job titles change but they seem to be the ones who volunteer to fill a needed office. Many volunteer to help but never show up or make a big mess of their responsibility. We know which members not to rely on when they volunteer to do anything. It takes a lot of work and planning to have an interesting guild program, class, workshop or event. It's fine to not come to meetings or participate but pay the dues and send money for this and that sometimes but that does not keep the guild going. Then have complaints that the guild does not support all the members from those that don't contribute anything not even a show and tell is disheartening.

What about drawing names, a sort of lottery. Everyone who wants to go signs up. If more people sign up than spots available, names are drawn. Yes, someone may not be able to go with their friend or "clique", but maybe that's a good thing. They'd be forced to get to know their fellow members. Or, they would possibly drop out because they couldn't go with their tribe and more spots would open.

Another suggestion, if you sign up for a retreat, you also have to sign up to volunteer for some type of guild activity or job for the following year. If you don't come through on said signup you can't do the retreat the following year.

I've been a paying member of various clubs and groups over the years and not been able to participate much and I've understood that you tend to get out what you put in and the less you are involved the lower you should set your expectations. That being said, I have a couple of thoughts.
It can be very overwhelming to join a group, church, club, guild and be presented with a list of expectations and the accompanying pressure to participate. (Example: visiting a church in my new neighbourhood and being asked before the end of coffee time after the very first service I attended to take on a not inconsiderable role in three areas of the organization (Sunday School, Youth Group and Choir!)). Another club's meeting was a parade of committee chairs all asking for "minimum participation" by each member of the club and then listing what meeting those expectations would look like. I have chosen to go elsewhere in some instances because of this. However, sometimes a dialogue has opened and I have found myself able to get involved at a level that works for me at the time and occasionally this has grown to my being able to take on a larger role later when circumstances were more favourable. My willingness to put the extra effort in later came because I didn't feel cornered at the beginning.
I think Peckish had the right idea - maybe engage with these members and explain the guild's expectations and needs and invite them to seek opportunities to get involved that work within their limitations/interests? :-)

One by One makes some points that are common experiences in every club, where it can be almost impossible to find folks who will fill executive positions and be effective volunteers.

I think it remains critical that guilds nevertheless remain inclusive and welcoming.

I did have one illuminating experience a few years ago: in the middle of a very interesting class, for some reason a few of the guild executive showed up and had a whispered conversation in the adjoining open kitchen...for about 20 minutes. This was typical of that guild at that time...there was definitely an "insider" group that ran things, but in a rather exclusive way.

This is the kind of thing that turns many quilters, especially newer and younger quilters, off guilds. Which is a shame. I look around our guild meetings and gosh most of us are over 70. We have to find ways to draw in the younger quilters and pass the torch!

YES! in order for out guild to retain it's "not for profit" status, our bylaws require attendance at at least 4 meetings (we do have several snow birds who are out of state for several months) as well as being on a committee AND submitting a charity quilt that meets our guidelines.

for some reason a few of the guild executive showed up and had a whispered conversation in the adjoining open kitchen...for about 20 minutes.

in my guild the board meetings are open to all members. We zoom so any member can attend from home. The link is in the newsletter email every month. Our board goes over the upcoming happenings for the guild and what is needed to be done to get it arranged, our treasury report if we need a fundraiser soon, etc. Nothing hidden or secret. Having a closed executive meeting is ridiculous for a guild and I would unjoined that very night.

Maybe go by seniority?

those that have been dues paying members the longest,: get offered the first chance to sign up - with a deposit.

If they pass on the first opportunity, they go to the end of the line.

This idea would, of course, have to be approved by the group.

Sometimes personal limitations (migraine headaches, mental fatigue) make it impossible to be reliable. Sometimes, the best we can do is show up occasionally.

What about having a retreat for newbies and wannabe members? Instead of limiting it to members, limit it to non-members, with members filling in the empty spaces. I would help to bring in new members, make new friends and an opportunity to teach and learn. Even the old, diehard quilters can learn a new thing or two.