2020 Fee Increase

2020 Fee Increase

Before you read this latest announcement from CSPA, we encourage you to read the article What’s in it for me? so you have a full bearing on what CSPA does for you.

Effective December 1, 2020, CSPA affiliation fees for skydivers will increase to $105 per year. This decision was made PRIOR to COVID-19; however, the pandemic just reinforced the greater need for this difficult decision to be implemented.

How did we get here?

As it was reported at our AGM in March, and also has been for the past few AGMs, CSPA has faced multiple headwinds that have affected our financial situation.  The first is a major decline of our skydiver membership.  Many have chosen to not renew their affiliation due to economic concerns and bad weather additionally saw a loss in new skydivers.  Unfortunately, the trifecta of the situation is now COVID-19.  With fewer skydivers it means that the cost that each skydiver must bear, is greater.

Another headwind is increased costs.  Unfortunately, one of the largest essential single-line expenses our association has (short of staff wages) is our insurance premium. This is the $3M policy we talked about in the last article, that protects you worldwide, and is pretty-much mandatory at any dropzone across the world. The aviation industry is seeing massive hikes (30-40%) in insurance premiums across the globe, and although we seek out yearly alternatives, we are essentially along for the ride. This year, we got lucky and came in lower than the industry standard, but we are already planning for that 30%+ jump in fees for next season.

What are we doing?

Along with the Board of Directors, we are looking at all options to streamline our operations to minimize future increases.  We are considering moving any meetings to a virtual format where possible, as we have for the past couple years. The new database which will be implemented soon will help save on office expenditures and allow us to move more into an electronic platform, including trying to bring CanPara into an electronic format for those who don’t want a hardcopy.

CSPA as an association has qualified for a couple of the COVID-19 Federal government initiatives and we are still working on promoting the sport and increase our skydiving membership. In case you missed our latest partnership with Skydive Vibes, which is a marketing option for dropzones that may not have the tools or resources to do their own marketing and promotions.

What can you do?

Simply put, one of the most effective ways to minimize future increases is to ensure that we have a healthy membership.  Encourage more skydivers to take up and retain a CSPA affiliation.

Reach out to the Board and staff of any suggestions you may have to streamline operations.

If we all work together, we will get through this.

 

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