CIBA is a bicycle club that functions because of our member volunteers.  Full stop. Whether it’s an hour here and there at Pedal and Park or you spend the many hours it takes to host a weekend ride, or you are a board member  - or you are a volunteer at Pedal and Park and you host a weekend ride and you serve as a board member and and and and….the list goes on - all roles play a critical function in the operations of the club.

CIBA has reached our tipping point, friends, and we need your help. I don’t know the exact percentages but if we had to guess roughly 20% of our membership is volunteering to do 80% of the work needed to make the club function.  

We need more members to step up and into roles ranging from the board to leading rides to supporting events to simply putting a couple of hours in at events like Pedal and Park.

You would be hard pressed to identify volunteers not doing multiple things for the club while also dealing with life outside of CIBA including work, family obligations and more. The very real consequence of that is burnout.  I see the same dedicated people volunteering at our events year in and year out. When people get burned out, it usually results in an inevitable complete withdrawal from volunteering rather than scaling back.   

My presidency has been marked with a record number of key roles within the club that need to be filled.   Perhaps that says something about me. Most of these individuals tried to step away/give warning in advance and replacements were not successfully recruited. I don’t note that to deflect blame but rather to note how dedicated people who had been serving in roles for 5, 6, and 7 years finally had to walk away. Others have life and work changes that interfere with the ability to dedicate time to volunteer activities. People move away, people move on, circumstances change. This is life. No matter who is sitting in the board leadership roles, CIBA must do a better job of nurturing new volunteers.   

Are you sitting there scratching your head saying but wait! What do I pay my member dues if I am going to be asked to do things and volunteer?  

All members pay dues - incredibly reasonable dues for what is provided. Those dues go towards the operations of the club. CIBA’s financial reports are always made available during the Annual Meeting that takes place each year and you can see the breakdown of how those funds are used. The key takeaway for the purposes of this communication is CIBA has no paid staff. The member dues go towards a long list of things but the big ones are:

1.       Insurance

2.       Costs to put rides on/reimburse ride leaders - all those Fig Newtons and cans of spray paint aren’t donated

3.       Other member benefits like the newsletter and incentives

We all have a role in making CIBA what we want it to be. CIBA is not about what the board wants or dictates. The board does not meet monthly to advance personal agendas. We meet to try and sustain and realize fulfillment of the mission of the club.  Everyone has a voice in what you want YOUR club to be. Do you love weekend rides? Host one. Don’t want to host one? Volunteer to help another ride leader out to lessen the burden.  Have opinions about the direction of the club? Run for the board. Care about the fiscal stability of CIBA? Volunteer for Pedal and Park or the Hilly Hundred.

CIBA’s mission is important. And CIBA has long been a place where many of us have found lifelong friends, a love of cycling and a sense of community.

The board had a long discussion during our September meeting, and it was agreed I should pen a note to our membership. While my words, this ask represents the current board putting a call to action out to our entire membership.

CIBA has reached a critical point where if we don’t bring new volunteers in, we are going to cease to be able to provide the kinds of activities that are why we all belong to CIBA in the first place. All the member dues in the world don’t matter if we don’t have ride leaders, board members and folks to fill key positions within pillars and committees to name just a few.  

We have several areas of critical need which include director for the N.I.T.E Ride, board officers, board members and ride leaders.  Our board is a working board. We don’t just meet to talk for 90 minutes once a month. We could also use some individuals to consistently volunteer their time supporting key functions within the committee/pillar structure specifically in the ride pillar and fiscal responsibility pillar though any area would welcome volunteers whether community engagement, technology, PR – the list goes on.  These do not require board commitments – just an interest in helping. 

I realize some of the items above are big commitments. Not all volunteer positions require that. The above are the most pressing positions that we are on short timelines to fill.   The board asks this: Consider volunteering your time now and in 2020 to CIBA. It can be a few hours here and there or interest in filling a more prominent and ongoing role as noted above.

I encourage you to reach out to me at president@cibaride.org or anyone on the board for more information on the positions we are hoping to fill  - all of our information is located in the newsletter and on the website.

The board thanks you all for considering this ask from us.

Katie Feltman

president@cibaride.org