Day sailing or racing

A lot of clubs haven't been able to move with technology very well.
If your committee only meet once a month and the membership sec. Checks the mailbox on the way to the meeting you might be waiting a while to hear from them.
Sounds archaic but is fairly representative.

Clubs do need to understand the impact this has on prospective members and find a way to adopt online systems but these incur cost.

True. Looks like a closed shop.

I'm surprised so many didn't respond. It is a bad time of year for contacting clubs, but I'd have expected a better hit rate than that.

What I wouldn't do is judge clubs purely on that. Try Facebook, check when racing starts and go visit, chat to the regulars.

I agree with the comments about the lack of communication being disappointing. I used to do many duties when I was more active at the club, and used to meet lots of potential new members who had turned up and basically wanted a friendly chat with someone who could talk about the sport and the club. Sometimes I'd get a spare BA out of the car and take the prospective member out on the water and get them to help me with whatever duty I was doing for half an hour. It's amazingly effective, as for many people walking into a strange club (and sport perhaps) can be difficult so it's nice to be welcomed and "accepted". You will not believe the stories I've heard from all these prospective members who had already been to one or two other local SC's, and basically been ignored or made to feel they were in the way. I think we've got a lot more to do as a sport to be more welcoming to our newbs. 

That,s just the thing Zero, I haven't been turned down as such, just ignored. Even sending money upfront didn't prompt a response.