Membership renewal methods

the majority are paying for something only the minority are really using. · Originally posted by JohnJack

   Having just received the latest £300 renewal letter, as with most years I'm left wondering why I can't pay by direct debit and why I still have to write a cheque like it's the 80's or bank transfer which is at least somewhat more modern.  

I can't for the life of me understand why in this day and age I can't pay by direct debit either monthly or quarterly with a view to spreading the cost over the year rather than being hit with a £300 at the beginning of the year.  I appreciate the sum is not all that much and what I get from the club is definitely worth that, if not more.  But why not make it easier to pay?  It's not a huge amount of money but for cash strapped 20-30 somethings, it can be a struggle to find the spare cash at this time of the year.  As it is I'm left wondering if I should rejoin this year or just keep the boat at home and just do class events and remind myself to put some money aside to pay for next years fees and the inevitable (and in my view) pointless joining fee.  It seems to me Sailing clubs want more members but don't necessarily make it easy to join/pay/afford it.  

Using gyms as an example, if you went there, they said it was going to cost £420 plus a £150 joining fee upfront you would probably walk away and find something else to do, but they break this down into slightly more affordable payments monthly payments and suddenly it's affordable.  Can't sailing clubs do this?  I would assume there is some form of admin overhead but at the same time there are plenty of companies that provide this service for small fee's per transaction so surely this could be outsourced?

This isn't intended to be moan, more of a question to see if other clubs are doing it and why clubs might not see it as a viable option....