Quote Originally Posted by Madeleine View Post
For me it's about encouraging people to join the LDWA. The difference is the cost of membership (if you pay by direct debit). I will be giving the differential to the national organisation as part of funding raising so we can upgrade our website. The LDWA would have got the money via their membership fee if they had joined. Shame they haven't joined as they will miss out on a shed load of benefits....
Absolutely - my post wasn't meant as a criticism, but instead as a point that most organisations (inc the LDWA!) generally have preferential entry fees for their members at their events.

The balancing act comes between how much is too much for the casual participant (i.e. one whom only does say 3 events per year) without forcing them to become a member of the organisation (unless they wish to), but enough so that joining the organisation makes sense.

We've had the same debate for AIRE events. At present, we don't charge any different for local events, but we have a £2 surcharge (actually as with UKA races, it's a £2 discount for BOF members) for regional and national events (the old level C and B) if you aren't a BOF member (if you're a member of an affiliated club, you're automatically a BOF member). To do major (e.g. JK, British champs)/international events, I think you have to be a BOF member to enter.