X-Message-Number: 13862 Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 12:02:20 -0600 From: Mathew Sullivan <> Subject: Membership Growth First of all I would like to say Hi to everyone since I've never posted on CryoNet before. I've been an employee of Alcor since the end of 1996, and started subscribing to CryoNet shortly thereafter. The following is a rough draft article that will appear in the 3rd quarter of Cryonics Magazine, not the 2nd quarter that is due to go out this month. MEMBERSHIP GROWTH Slow & Steady By Mathew Sullivan Facility Operations Manager I've noticed in recent conversations and through various media that most people are a little confused about membership growth, and growth rates. 1) Having a high growth rate is relatively easy when you don't have many members to begin with. 2) The definition of "membership" is often abused. Alcor's is "all arrangements for cryonic suspension in place." This figure does not include patients in suspension, associate members, magazine subscribers, etc. *** "Alcor Members" graph omitted *** To illustrate point 1), the best way to look at our long-term growth is to imagine an empty swimming pool that is being filed by a hose. Initially, the percentage of growth is very high. Liquid levels double in a matter of seconds, but then doubling quickly stretches out from seconds to hours. *** "Accumulative Average Growth Rate Since 1984" graph omitted *** *** "Yearly Membership Growth Rate" graph omitted *** Looking at the details, 1985 was a banner year in Alcor's membership with a growth rate of 61.4%, a net increase of 27 new members, which was largely due to the absorption of Cryonics Society of South Florida. But if we were to add 27 new members to Alcor's current membership of 483 (as of May), that would be equal to a growth rate of 5.6%. Alcor's growth rate in 1999 was 8.2% 1991 was also an important year with a net increase of 90 members, which was an increase of 45%. Many have argued however, that high growth in the late 80's and through the early 90's was a combination of the publicity from the Dora Kent crisis and that Alcor raised its suspension minimums. There was a burst of new members who wanted to be grandfathered into the previous pricing structure. *** "Net Member Increase" graph omitted *** Between the early and mid 90's there was a dramatic drop in our growth rate, climaxing in 1994 with a net loss of 14 members. This was primarily due to the split that led to the formation of CryoCare, the year that Alcor moved to Arizona. By March 1995, according to Joe Hovey's notes, Alcor had a total of 89 ex-members since ~1990. 52 members had switched to CryoCare, 17 were cancelled for non-payment of dues, and 20 for miscellaneous reasons or unknown. Alcor's average growth rate per year since the split has been 6.3%, or a net growth of 25.6 new members per year. Not nearly as high as we would like, but we are steadily growing. With the recent influx of Ex-CryoCare members you might expect to see a spike in membership growth. In fact, net growth in the 1st half of 2000 has dropped slightly due to the fact that Linda Chamberlain, Diane Huper, and Karla Steen have performed an exhaustive overhaul of our membership files and have found a number of members whose financial arrangements were inadequate. Many of these situations are being resolved, but a number of others have resulted in cancellation of membership. *** "Applicants In The Signup Process" graph omitted *** Although secure funding is important for Alcor's long term viability (see article by Linda Chamberlain in 2nd quarter Cryonics) it is always a serious matter to see a membership cancelled and it does have a long term affect on the growth rate. In spite of this housekeeping and general strengthening of Alcor's long-term viability, if you hear someone preaching that the sky is falling, that our movement is dying, ignore them because the evidence clearly states otherwise. End of Article Since the graphs were omitted, I'll include the following information: Year/Members/Added/% Increase 1984/33/11/33.3 1985/44/27/61.4 1986/71/14/19.7 1987/85/15/17.6 1988/100/14/14.0 1989/114/36/31.6 1990/150/50/33.3 1991/200/90/45.0 1992/290/59/20.3 1993/349/25/7.2 1994/374/-14/-3.7 1995/360/16/4.4 1996/376/25/6.6 1997/401/28/7.0 1998/429/22/5.1 1999/451/37/8.2 2000/488 Mathew Sullivan () Facility Operations Manager Alcor Life Extension Foundation Non-profit cryonic suspension services since 1972. 7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260-6916 Membership Information: (877) GO-ALCOR (462-5267) Phone (480) 905-1906 FAX (480) 922-9027 for general requests http://www.alcor.org Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=13862