Executive Director’s Commentary
By Don Eversmann, F240000
June 2004
The membership database for the Family Motor Coach Association is a complex collection of information. But it’s quite organized, and the file management was developed based upon members’ lifestyles.
Basically, FMCA keeps a computerized file for each member that includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. We record this information from membership application forms or from telephone conversations with members, and these days members also can supply data online via FMCA.com. What you may not know is how flexible we can be in accommodating you when it comes to your address.
We realize that some members are full-timers. Others are snowbirds and spend a significant amount of time in two locations during the year. Some use FMCA’s mail forwarding service or a mail forwarding service provided by another organization. Those on FMCA’s mail forwarding service may want to receive their monthly copy of Family Motor Coaching magazine, or, perhaps only the January membership directory issue, at another address. Some members use a mail forwarding address but prefer to be identified in the January membership directory as being from a specific location, such as the town where they lived before they hit the road.
I have asked Beverly Spurgeon, director of our Membership Department, to elaborate on the many and varied ways we can accommodate you regarding your address. We want to help you receive materials sent via the mail in the most efficient and economical manner possible. Please do not hesitate to call the Membership Department staff at the national office and ask them to modify your records to meet your needs.
It’s important to note that only you can make changes to your information in FMCA’s membership database.
Often members will register for a rally or convention and ask that their confirmation materials be sent to an address other than the one listed in their membership database. This is fine, and we are always happy to accommodate the request. However, if this change is to become a permanent part of your record in the database, you need to call the Membership Department and request the change, or make it online at FMCA.com.
Also, please do not forget to change your e-mail address whenever you get a new one. E-mail is a very timely way for us to communicate with members about important issues that affect our motorhoming lifestyle.
FMCA Member Addresses
By Beverly Spurgeon
Director of Member Services
The majority of FMCA members have a basic address where association mail and monthly copies of Family Motor Coaching magazine are sent. A change to a member’s basic address that is received by the first of the month will be effective with the next month’s issue of FMC magazine. You can use the change of address form that appears regularly in the magazine, or, as Don mentioned above, you are welcome to report address information to the Membership Department at the national office (800-543-3622) or update your basic address information online at FMCA.com.
Members occasionally are sent announcements that pertain to FMCA benefits or programs provided by partner companies. These mailings are reviewed and approved by the Executive Board, and FMCA’s membership list is protected against use for any other purpose by a confidentiality agreement. Members who prefer not to receive mailings of this type may request to be excluded from these offers. FMCA’s membership list is neither sold nor used for purposes other than those approved by FMCA.
Many members, such as snowbirds, have seasonal addresses. A member’s record can accommodate two addresses that are programmed to automatically switch from one to the other at designated times of the year. Seasonal addresses can be set up for one year only or until further notice.
Some members move back and forth from one location to another, but not at set times. The database stores a member’s previous address, so it is easy to make the change when a member telephones the Membership Department.
Those who use FMCA’s mail forwarding service have their monthly issues of Family Motor Coaching magazine sent to them along with their other mail via the United States Postal Service, and members are responsible for paying their own first-class forwarding postage. These members have the option of providing a separate address for the magazine to avoid the cost of forwarding it. The separate address also will be used for the member’s dues renewal notice and any benefit information that may be mailed during the time that the address is in effect.
Members who don’t want issues of FMC magazine mailed to any address while they’re traveling can notify the Membership Department to stop delivery of their magazines for a particular period of time. This can be arranged until further notice, or specific dates can be entered into the member’s record. The record can even be flagged so this occurs every year at the same time.
The January issue of Family Motor Coaching magazine incorporates the association’s directory listing of members, which includes their residential city and state. If you use FMCA’s mail forwarding service, your address in our records is noted as Cincinnati, Ohio, even though you may consider somewhere else to be your home. So, we give mail forwarding participants the option of listing a different city and state in the directory, if they like. We notify them in advance so they can indicate their preference.
FMCA’s intent is to be as flexible as possible in giving members options for receiving their association mail. Please call the Membership Department to discuss any concerns you may have.