CLARIFICATION OF
QUESTIONS & CONCERNS
RELATING TO “ISSCA”
AFFILIATION AS A CHARTERED CLUB
1.
CONCERN:
All local club events & shows must use ISSCA approved
rules.
CLARIFICATION:
Local &
Regional clubs, whether Chartered or Non-Chartered, do
sponsor shows or events using any rules
deemed appropriate for the particular event. ISSCA does
not require use of standard rules for locally sponsored or
supported events put on by chartered clubs for their
members unless show/event points are to be credited
to participants who are ISSCA members for possible
national-level club honors. ISSCA Chartered Clubs make
this decision independently during planning of individual
events.
2. CONCERN:
You have to be an ISSCA member to participate in an
event if it is solely sponsored by ISSCA; i.e. the ISSCA
Nationals event.
CLARIFICATION:
Non-member participants can be permitted in an ISSCA event
as long as the participant can be qualified as a potential
Club member. Additionally, the Club magazine must be
provided to or for Club members as a related benefit. Any
formal distribution or sale of the magazine or Club
merchandise to the public is not permitted by a non-profit
organization. If the magazine or Club items are sold to
the public, the non-profit status will be jeopardized or
lost.
Under the IRS
non-profit guidelines for a 501c (7) organization, Club
member benefits must be offered only to Club
members or potential Club members with “similar interests
or characteristics”. Otherwise, an ISSCA-sponsored event
that is offered to the general public may become an
“unrelated business income” item that will jeopardize the
organization’s non-profit status.
At present, this
requirement is applicable solely to the ISSCA National
event, conducted once annually. There is no foreseeable
change that would make mandatory ISSCA membership a local
club issue—it is not and will not be a requirement or
goal. This can be compared to organized drag racing under
one of the national sanctioning bodies, where each
competitor is necessarily a member of the national
organization to compete in events it conducts, for similar
reasons as dictated by ISSCA status with respect to IRS
rules. The “plus” in this, and thus the reason for
two-tier pricing for the national event, is that the
difference in cost to attend the National as an
individual, makes them an ISSCA member for the year, with
all of the benefits that come with membership.
3. CONCERN:
Undue pressure to join ISSCA
CLARIFICATION:
The officers and directors of ISSCA are encouraged to
inform their fellow regional and local car club members
about ISSCA events, activities and goals. Currently all
ISSCA officers and directors volunteer their personal time
to the club, and there is no formal membership drive and
no membership quota of any sort. Our policy is that
Chartered Club status is not to be forced.
After the
quarterly face-to-face board meetings, and the
twice-monthly board meeting chat sessions, it is common
for directors to pass on news about the plans, events, or
member benefits that are constantly being improved. This
sometimes gets expressed to non-chartered clubs as “the
need” to join up. The real goal of ISSCA is to
improve the member and Chartered Club benefits so we see a
higher level of participation at all club levels;
…..local, regional, and national.
4.
CONCERN: There are limited if any benefits to
becoming a Chartered ISSCA Club.
CLARIFICATION:
During the first year ISSCA was created, the goal was to
become organized nationally, elect officers and directors
who would get things done, and coordinate the diverse
interests of all owners of Impala SS /GM B-body
automobiles who were truly interested in club activities.
Attention was given to creating member benefits of
communication, group knowledge, experiences, and events.
Since January of
2003, a new emphasis has been placed on helping local and
regional clubs. Early in 2003, ISSCA committed over
$1,800 in cash and merchandise to eight individual
Chartered Clubs for their local events. ISSCA now has
established “Local Event Support Guidelines” that are
designed to fairly allocate future contributions following
a review of a request for support. A dedicated budget
item for Chartered Club financial support is now in place
with more than $6,000 budgeted for local club event
support for 2003.
Impala SScene
magazine has become more significant as a benefit for our
club members. New emphasis is being placed on getting
input from our diverse regions, more support from auto
parts vendors, and event listings, making this a great
source of communication for our members. Recently ISSCA
made a significant monetary commitment to enhance the
publication effort and our new Editor is doing a great job
utilizing the new equipment and resources.
There are other
tangible benefits that ISSCA is constantly striving to
improve for chartered clubs. A few examples:
·
The national
event this year and in the future includes Chartered Club
team competition with significant monetary benefit
to the individual Chartered Club’s winning teams
·
Up to $1
million “umbrella” liability insurance coverage, at little
or no cost, for all Chartered Clubs, during organized Club
activities and local events, regardless of whether the
minimum of 10 members or 100% of local club members are
also ISSCA members
·
Access to
additional insurance coverage for local club driving
events at very reasonable cost, typically required for
autocross / road course, and recommended for road
rally/poker run type activities
·
Free club
web hosting via the ISSCA server
·
Affiliation
with vendors who offer special pricing or values when
doing business with them, such as Avis Rent-A-Car, Jet-Hot
Coatings, and Tire Rack, with more in the works
·
Use of the
ISSCA magazine and web site as well as linkage to the
Impala SS Forum to promote local club activities and
events, free of charge
Among future
plans, ISSCA hopes to establish an automotive technical
school scholarship for graduating high school students who
are children of ISSCA members.
There are many
more initiatives like this to be explored, and the flow of
ideas from ISSCA members, and from the local and regional
clubs is constant. Our goal is to improve on what has
been achieved so far in the short life of this growing
national organization. This cannot be done alone or in a
vacuum—the input from every source, whether a Chartered
Club or not, is valuable and important to the effort to
keep the last “Muscle SSedan” of the 20th
Century viable as we proceed into the New Millennium.
Please let ISSCA know what you want from a relationship
with the club!
The Club motto for
ISSCA is simply….
“By the members,
For the members!”
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Sunday, July 31, 2005 10:44 AM
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