How Chambers are Funded

We're working on final plans for our annual golf outing, set for Aug. 31 at Little River Country Club.

About a year ago, a chamber member asked me why we held a golf outing. This particular member thought we ought to concentrate on business development.

We agree. And that is exactly why we hold a golf outing every year: To raise money to fund our business development programs.

Chambers have two basic sources of income: Dues revenue and non-due revenue. The latter category includes money raised at special events, management fees, and sometimes rental.

Our annual golf outing falls into the special events category, along with our wine tasting and several other events. (For the record, the contract we have with Marinette County to manage tourism falls into the management fee category and the rent we receive from Don Clewley, executive director of the Marinette County Association for Business & Industry falls into the rental catergory.)

The golf outing raises an average of $10,000 annually. That money goes into our general fund, but it covers expensees associated with programs. Salaries are covered by your dues investment.

A smart chamber gets about 60 percent of its revenue from events and contracts and about 40 percent of its income from dues. That's roughly where we stand. Some chamber experts recommend different ratios, but generally a 60/40 ratio either way is considered healthy.

Many people assume chambers receive annual allocations from taxpayers or the government. That is simply not the case, unless the chamber has a contract as we do with Marinette County for tourism. A situation like that is not unusual.

No matter where our funding comes from, we work very hard to use it wisely.

And we look forward to our golf outing, a day to kick back and have a little fun - and raise money to fund programs like our new Web site job listing page and other online efforts to serve members.