In this piece of the pie I have lumped together several categories of expenses covered by your dues. The largest lump is the Central Office contract but also includes equipment, outside labor, repairs, and telephone. This is your primary membership service category. The work this piece of the pie represents to you is reflected in the production of Dressage Letters, membership tracking, new member packets, renewal notices, updates, check deposits, performance tracking, show recognition, scheduling, video library and quite an endless list of membership services. After these two sections, all the portions of the pie get smaller.
Education programs reflect the next portion of the pie.
The education section reflects moneys spent on seminars, symposiums, annual meetings and clinics. A monthly update is sent with the check to inform USDF how many new members we have and their addresses. This figure ranges from 50 to 100 members per month depending on the time of year. There are always many more new members in the spring and early summer as they are eager to start out their show seasons with all their memberships in hand. After we print all of that wonderful information, we have to pay to mail it to you.