I've written about my old country club before. 

For a number of years now, the leadership has managed to make one mistake after another running and marketing the club. Despite offers of help by many people who actually have experience in sales and marketing, the board of directors continues to believe they know what they're doing. (Full disclosure: we are no longer members.)

Now, to their credit, the club is still open, and the golf course is in pretty good shape. However, it's no longer a private golf course. In order to keep the doors open, they have opened play to the public. They sincerely believe they will eventually turn things around and go back to being private, but I don't see it.

One of their great ideas for generating cash is to hold a fund-raising auction next month. Think about that…a "fund-raiser" for a business. They're appealing to the local community to support the auction because the club is "…not just an asset to our Twin Lakes neighborhood, but to our entire community of Federal Way and surrounding cities.  This Auction should be a fun night out with a great dinner, games, raffles, silent auction as well as an interactive LIVE auction serving 2 purposes:  1) to have a great time out and, 2) make some money for the club. Bottom line:  The auction is in support of the club, which in turn is a support to our community."

I asked a neighbor what he thought of the auction and he said, "Why should I give money to people who can afford to be members of a club?"

In addition to this head-scratching idea, take a look at the home page for the club. Click the screenshot below to expand the image and read the copy. I would be very interested in getting your opinion on this. After reading their "marketing" copy, do me a favor and Comment below to these questions:

  • What do YOU think about their website and auction idea?
  • If YOU were on the board of directors, what would you do to bring the club back to solvency?

I'm, obviously, too close to this situation and may be way off base. I am keenly interested in reading your comments!

Twinlakes