Motherwell Chief Executive Leeann Dempster has emailed fans about a significant change to ‘Well Society memberships.
An extract of Leeann’s email can be found here:
You may have known that prior to Christmas, the Society board commissioned a survey to gauge the feeling amongst both members and non-members.
The purpose of the survey was two fold. Firstly we wanted to get supporters thinking about the ‘Well Society again and why it is important to the club. The second reason was to get feedback, which we could use to inform us on how to move forward and what to do next with the Society.
We had around 1,000 supporters who completed the survey. The numbers were roughly split between those who had joined and those who had not.
For those who had already joined, the feedback was focused around the positive elements of the ‘Well Society such as the understanding of the need to convince others to join, the fact that they felt we needed more visibility and more events to get more members and that ultimately, the success of the idea of supporter ownership hinged on many more joining to reach the target.
For those who have not joined the feedback focused principally on the fact that they thought the ‘Well Society is a good idea, that they planned to join it at some point in the future (80% said they intended to join) however paying £300 or £1000 upfront is just too much to manage at the moment.
Now from just £10 a month
The feedback from the survey gave us food for thought and the board of the ‘Well Society and the club met to discuss and debate how we could tweak the Society in order to overcome the barrier of upfront payment.
We were previously advised that we could not ask for payments over a prolonged period of time i.e. a £10 a month type arrangement. However, in light of what you are telling us, we revisited this and challenged the advice. I am pleased to say that we can now accept payments on a monthly basis via standing order.
This means that from as little as £10 a month (or more, if you can afford), you can now join the Society or, if you are already a member, upgrade your membership.
Upgrade your membership
One of the key aspects of achieving our aim of raising £1.5m and full fan ownership is not only attracting new members, but also convincing those who have already committed to upgrade their membership to the next level.
If you’ve already committed to the Society, and its aims and objectives, I am asking if you would consider taking the next step to become either a ‘Claret ‘ ‘Amber’ or ‘1886’ member?
If we can convince people to invest further, not only is their tangible benefits including doubling the discount on your Season Ticket, a signed ball, be in the 2014/15 squad photo, a signed bottle of Claret and much more, you will also further propel the Society towards it’s overall aim.
What’s better, we’ve made the transition from one membership level to another that little bit easier on the wallet by offering the monthly payment options.
If you’d like to know more about what we have changed or to work out a plan that works specifically for you then all you need to do is contact Alison by email at wellsociety@motherwellfc.co.uk, by phone on 01698 338006 or simply by popping into the office.
You can also download an application form by clicking here or a standing order mandate form by clicking here.
Why should you do it?
The club needs your help to make the transition to supporter ownership – it can’t happen unless more supporters join or upgrade, take an interest and ultimately add money to the funds already raised.
We think that £10 a month makes the Society more affordable to everyone, be it joining or upgrading, and we have listened to how to make changes to make it successful.
You now know that monthly payments are available on upgrades, our plan is to leave you to consider the options and hopefully you’ll chose to contact Alison.
If however we don’t hear from you within the next week or so, it is our intention to follow up this email with one to one phone calls. This means you’ll be contacted either by myself, or a Well Society member or a player – all will try to convince you of the need to join.
I’ll finish by saying that it was John Boyle who started us on this journey; he wanted us all to share in the ownership and support the club – for the club to be secure and for us to prosper.
We will continue to try and convince you of this purpose.
Yours,
Leeann Dempster
Chief Executive