FWSA Direct Family Membership Status:
The Family/Youth Involvement Committee carefully considered the opportunity and risk related to creating a Direct Family Membership category for FWSA in 2004. Establishing a Direct Family Membership category would enable us to build and assess our potential audience for FWSA Family Programs, however we are just beginning to develop family and youth programs and therefore have little to offer to Family Members at this time.
FWSA's primary membership base is Club Members, who are members of FWSA by the association of their Ski Council and Ski Club. FWSA also has a small contingent of Direct Members at this time. Given the relatively low Direct Member count as compared to the larger FWSA membership base of Club Members, do we really need a direct Family Membership or expect to grow our membership with such an offering? We concluded that our primary member base will continue to be Club Members, but also agreed that FWSA must take a leadership position within the community of organized skiing to remove limitations on serving the family/youth market by providing for their membership.
FWSA determined that recommendations for family membership bylaw changes should be deferred to allow for further development and success of Family Programs at the council levels, as well as review and coordination of changes required throughout the bylaws to support the category and definition of Family Membership. Providing for family membership and offering valued services to this class of membership will be a multi-year endeavor.
