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Hello All,

As much as I did not like some of the banter in this thread it did not fully violate the board rules so I let it go. Besides, I do feel that part of your membership dues is a license to complain, so I let people run with that for a while. But now the discussion has gone off topic some and after this post I am going to go ahead and lock the thread.

I do not know what IDPA's financials are. As a non board member, I have no means to get that information. IDPA is a for profit corporation and as such, their records are not needed to be made public. IDPA's founders did this for several reasons, most notably because they wanted to keep the founders running the sport and have the sport run their way. Most of IDPA's original Board of Directors had founded other sport(s), and they did not want the sport to be governed by the rules of a not-for profit corporation. They felt that having elections for board members might bring about change in the organization that was contrary to the founder's beliefs, intentions and might run against the original Purposes and Principles of the sport. Furthermore, I suppose the memory of the BOD of a shooting sports organization voting Jeff Cooper out of his job as president of the organization he founded was something that likely was on their minds as well. I do not know this for fact; this is supposition on my part. I do know that is what I would have considered were I in their shoes.

IDPA has not concealed this fact, and members know they have no say in the management of the organization. Some do not approve, some do. Those that do not approve have mostly voted with their feet, which certainly is their right as consumers to do so.

Some posters seem to have taken odds with the concept of IDPA being "for profit". I really do not know what to say about this beyond saying that even with Obama trying like heck to change our way of life, we still live in a society governed by the rules of capitalism. As such, it is still not a sin for a company to charge money for a product or a service, and consumers are still free to judge the value of a product or service in relation to the price being charged. Consumers can decide it is worth the price or not and vote with their wallet. Furthermore, there is no sin (yet- I know Obama is working on that as well) to make a profit, and I assure you, were IDPA a not-for-profit organization nothing would be different. Employees of a not for profit are just as interested in being paid, and not for profit organizations make lots of money. The 'profits' are dealt with differently than with a standard corporation, but they are still profits. Not for profit shooting sports certainly do not return any surplus to their membership. Again, it is up to the individual consumer to come to terms with weather the concept of a shooting organization being 'for profit' clashes with their personal philosophies and political ideals.

While IDPA certainly could open their books or print up a financial statement, they have not and likely would not. I know some of you out there would like to see what the bottom line on their financials are. I cannot help you there, and while the forum is as good enough a place as any to complain about it, only communication with headquarters will possibly help you further your interests.

So having said that, what do you get for your $40.00?

First and foremost, membership allows you to be classified, maintain said classification, and participate in sanctioned matches. It also allows a member to participate in local matches after his trial match.

Shooters get their quarterly Tactical Journal subscription. Along with each renewal they get a membership patch, sticker, rulebook, and update for their gold card. Money helped develop and maintain the classification database.

So what other things does my $40.00 (and other sources of income) pay for?

The dues go towards paying for the brick-and-mortar costs of maintaining a headquarters. It pays for the salaries, taxes, and benefit costs of its staff. It pays for a myriad of office expenses; shipping, communications, technology, and so on.

There are expenses towards reimbursing certain costs by the Area Coordinators. I don't know for a fact but I suspect there are travel costs as well. In other words, the money goes towards the costs of doing business for a worldwide organization.

So at the end of the year is IDPA in the red or black? I do not know. And IDPA has made it abundantly clear that they meant to keep that information to themselves.

So you as a member or prospective member need to decide weather or not you can find value for the dues or not. In my case, I believe that paying less than the cost of a box of 9mm these days is worth it to get access to the big matches and to see my friends on the range. What you decide is up to you.

As an aside I would normally let this thread run its course but I suspect the next offshoot of this discussion is the ubiquitous "where does my match fee go?" and I really hope people do not start second guessing the financial motives of major and local matches. If I feel I get value for my match fee I really don't care if the remainder of my fee after expenses goes for beer and strippers for the range staff. I will say I have bailed on matches I thought charged too much and will again in the future. Again, as a consumer I can decide if the prices set are worth paying or not.

I know I likely did not answer this issue to anyone's satisfaction but I do think this is about as much info as one is going to find on the issue. Perhaps in the future things will change. And when it does, I will try hard to post whatever information that legitimately comes to light.

Ted Murphy
A02127