Club Costs?
 

Future villager here, trying to learn as much as we can before we make the move. Noticed that a lot (most?) clubs require a yearly fee? Just wondering what it's for and how it all works.

Executive golf courses (9 holes) are free (included in your amenity fee), championship courses (18 holes) have a fee. I have never used one of these so I do not know the fees. All of the courses have a golf cart fee, we pay by the year around $140 as I recall.
I will leave it to others to provide more details. My reply assumed you were asking about golf courses, if you were asking about the Rec centers located at the golf courses, these are free until you order a drink or food.

:confused: Rec. centers offer drink and food?

:shrug: May or may not want to get your (correct) info on the Villages web site. :undecided:

What do you mean “clubs”?

Fees are very reasonable and are only designed for the clubs to break even, covering basic operating costs like maintaining a web site. At first the dues were $5 per year for the Villages Deep Sea Fishing Club, and they felt bad when they had to increase the annual fee to $10. Basically, club fees are a non issue.

Depends on which club you are interested in. Fees vary.

Think your talking about social clubs and dues are about $ 10 pp per year. Some more and some less. Additional charges to cover food and entertainment at meetings.

We have joined quite a few clubs so guess we pay about $ 200 per year in dues

Don’t think he is asking about golf.

It is a bit confusing when new. I know we were escorted by a sales rep years ago who showed us the highlights going through several rec centers and pointing out the art, pottery, dance , exercise, etc. FREE classes, and telling us how there is virtually no craft or hobby or activity that does not offer one or more classes and or meetings. Of course it did not occur to us WHO employs all those instructors and how all those club expenses are met .... I suppose somewhere in the "back" (?) of our minds we assumed that's what the "activity" fee covered (and included executive golf), but the only emphasis we got from the rep was "there are NO HOA fees here" (music to our ears and probably to others !). But logically, how could 2500-3000 or more clubs and classes be conducted on "activity" fees. We (and probably others ?) only liked what we saw and never really questioned anything in depth. Once we settled in, we learned all these classes and activities depend on the generosity of the residents, the wonderful and talented people who SHARE their leadership and knowledge of everything from ballet dancing to oil painting, ceramics to quilting, and scrap booking to writing and publishing. With out your neighbors here, your activities would be limited to golf, tennis, soft ball, and many others, but not the mind boggling array that exists here. Now, the "fees" part, once you realize it's not possible to expect your neighbor(s) who teach your class or activity, to absorb all the club expenses (which include but not limited to, snacks at meetings and sessions, paper plates and napkins, coffee and cups, mailings, ink costs for home printers used to print instructions for various hobbies and techniques, stamps and envelopes for a postal mailing, you get the idea, and one major expense is PROTECTION for those volunteering to teach all these activities and classes, setting up a bank account (if they purchase group materials, such as clay for pottery, or collecting for a trips for a travel club) and bonding the club's officers (if a club of course) who may be collecting money for an event or materials for the entire group to share. Hope that gives you a little better understanding of how such a mind boggling array of activities can be offered here ! It does take awhile. It took us several months after moving in understand why people with no gate cards would just have the gate open for them with no conversation or identification ! We didn't know, when your rep took us around he always used a gate pass and waited for the gate... how were we to know you don't even need one ? LOL ! Yes, it takes awhile, but little by little it will all make sense..hopefully !

Don't be afraid of cost of most clubs. Most are free or charge for supplies. Like the sailing club charges $10 for the year. Come on down and have a great life in The Villages.

all country clubs require a membership fee to use their golf courses ( championship courses...18 holes) and their pools. Using their restaurants and bars is open to the public, anyone can go use them. I am assuming that you are talking about country clubs, and not regular clubs that meet at rec centers

Keep the club running.

A lot of the clubs have and annual fee but it is minimum $5 to $10 a year. Some also charge for a meeting when entertainment or food is offered. This can be $5 to $15 depending on cost. My line dance club does not charge nor my fitness club or card clubs but the social club and fishing club have a small annual charge.

Fees for clubs
 

Some clubs may charge supplies;I.e. art clubs, cooking clubs, etc by the instructor because he/she may supply them with thing’s necessary for a class. Usually it’s nominal - a few dollars.

Most history related clubs are free
 

I know the Civil War Study Group and the World War II club are free and raise funds by 50/50 and donated book sales for scholarships and other related expenses. There are
many more similar groups here. Something for everyone; come and enjoy!

A membership is not required to pay the Championship courses you pay a greens fee to play.

I was surprised when one of the pickleball club I joined was charging us a fee for playing on courts that are free to reserve, but found out they use the funds for things like prizes for tournaments. It's $5, so not a big deal.

Yoy can learn a lot by reading the comments on the talk of the villages.
 

Look for transparency in their comments

This is NOT true.

Championship course require a greens fee every time you play, you can pay an annual fee for some benefits.
Executive courses require a trail fee - Or you cna pay an annual fee an not pay trail fee
You can buy a membership to use the country club pools
The clubs vary - there are thousands of the them. Some charge a fee, some do not. If they do, it’s not a lot ($5/$10/$15) and they use the money to pay for stuff (food, prizes, etc).

Executive courses require trail fee….ONLY…..if using a cart.

you do not have to pay a membership fee to use Championship courses. You pay the non-Resident greens fee unless you are a Resident then the greens fees are less. If you pay for
A “discount membership” then your greens fees are less. You have to play several times per week for the priority membership fee to be worth the investment.

You're not required to have a membership to play the Championship courses. Although there are green fees. You can optionally purchase an Enhanced Membership on a 6 month or annual basis. It provided priority reservations and discounted green fees for you and your guests at the Championship courses.

The list of clubs can be found online and there is a phone number or email address for each one so you can reach out to the leader directly to ask about any fees for the ones you might consider joining. I personally belong to four clubs - two charge $20pp per year and two charge $10pp per year. This works out to $1 to $2 per meeting which is really very nominal. I have also taken "Classes" through the enrichment academy in things like Yoga, Ballet, Jewelry and Photography. These were about $60 for 6 or so classes, so about $10 per session which is still way less then you would find a weekly class for elsewhere. There are plenty of non-fee offerings each week too. I suggest that you ask your salesperson to mail you a Thursday Daily Sun newspaper activity supplement and you can see an example of a weekly offering. If there is a "club" meeting listed that week the contact info in usually in the back of that newspaper too and you can contact them to ask about any fees if that is a club that interests you. To answer your original question the fees might go for things like coffee/tea setup at the meetings or a guest speaker. A common thing for new residents is to sign up for too many clubs and then just not be able to do it all and scale back. I hope that is helpful to you.

golf
 

Executive golf free walking $4 if on your golf cart Champion 73-95 - but many courses nearby for 40-60. You have to be a renter here to have access to everything

We probably did sign up for a few more clubs than needed but at $ 20 a year per couple for most clubs no big deal to drop out after some time if you find other activities more of interest

If you are referring to the numerous groups organized for/by residents, some require small fees to cover costs. For example a painting group might ask for $10-$15 to cover the group leader's supplies. If you are referring to the "country clubs" they are open to the public and not actual clubs. Some have facilities that you may have to pay an annual fee to use, such as the pool, but you should inquire directly. This forum is not always the best for accurate info. Best of luck.

I don't know if most of the clubs have an annual dues. I lead one club and belong to several others and do not charge a fee for my club nor do I pay any fees for the others. The clubs are run by volunteer leaders.
When I first moved here it was explained that there were, at that time, almost 2,000 resident activity clubs. I was told that there was a club for almost anything that you're interested in and if there is not one, you can start one. So, I started The Beatlemaniacs of The Villages. I lead the club and do whatever work is necessary as a volunteer. We sometimes have special events and club members volunteer for certain jobs.
We no real expenses but some clubs do. We have a weebly website that a member volunteers to handle. Some clubs need equipment and a website that costs money so they have dues.
We sell tee shirts and make a small profit that is used to offset the cost of the occasional special events that we run and to other small costs that come along.
We also produce and promote events by other artists and raise money for a charity.
All of our musicians are volunteers and participate simply for the joy of learning and playing Beatles music. Many of them are in bands that play in and around The Villages and get paid. The club also provides a way for them to promote their appearances.
Pretty much every club that I've belonged to operates this way. As I said, a few do have some small dues requirement because they have expenses,

i can only speak of my exp. with a club. we paid 10$, 5$ pp. that includes: access to the activity, & the folks who ran the club provided popcorn & sodas, coffee. it was good for 1 year. one day i put $5 in the donation tub, -it was seen as an act of glory, but to me was no big deal. i had to convince them WHY i gave that much, lol

They can be anywhere from zero to …???

I belong to a leather group, no fees. Yoga class, zero. Gun club is $25 a year membership and you can buy raffle tickets to win a gun or other prizes at each meeting. Glass fusion, you have to take a training class before you join that costs around $90. Wood shop has an initiation fee of $200 and yearly dues of $75 plus a safety class required. Most classes and clubs are organized and run by generous Villagers who volunteer their time and talents but for those that entail supplies or other costs to operate there may be small fees. Best course of action is to go in the Villages app, find classes or clubs that interest you and call or email the contact person to ask.

There is no fee at all to belong to the Track and Field club. The Mini club charges $10/yr. The clubs are resident run so fees, if any, will vary. There would be no fee from The Villages.

For a good overview on golf with a ton of pointers and links to other official pages, go first to:

Golf - The Villages 101

Depends on the club, but any club will only charge a small fee to cover operating costs. For example, Sunday morning indoor basketball is $15 annually.

Yeah that makes sense then. I'd imagine they don't have to pay for villages rec center rooms if they use them, that's probably part of the monthly villages fees? Also wondering if it's acceptable to go to a meeting or two before we join just to make sure it's going to work for us, or is it usually expected to join right away?

The Villages - Florida's Friendliest Active Adult 55+ Retirement Community

Different clubs have different policies but just about all the ones we have paid to join make you pay to go to a meeting.''

Before we go to a meeting have conversation with whoever runs the club and learn enough to decide if we want to invest a trivial sum in a years membership.

It's a good thing you did by clarifying that. Some on here seem very confused about "trail fees", and may get the idea that you must pay a "trail fee" to use any golf cart path, not just the cart paths ON the courses. I have known many people who moved in and thought they had to pay a "trail fee" to use their golf carts on the cart paths just to go to the store or to the squares, even though neither of them were golfers !

Same confusion about "country clubs", it's hard for new people to take it all in correctly, that regardless if you purchase a "priority" membership or not, everyone STILL pays to play on championship courses, it's just a matter of HOW MUCH.

:icon_wink: I think part of the problem is posters using the incorrect term for certain things....... you don't take a cart path to the store. These paths are "Multi-Modal Paths". Cart paths are on golf courses. :ho:

Hundreds if not Thousands of clubs. I wasn't able to find a club for what I like Scale Modeling, so I started one. The cost to me $0. We've been meeting since April of last year and have to pay nothing. We are expanding to two nights a month, again no cost. We do have rules we have to follow from TV, some make sense, some not so much but they get to make the rules... For many other clubs I've run like this back home we would charge dues because we had to pay rent or a fee for the space. If we seek a national affiliation that has fee's and unless someone else is willing to cover that cost, you will have to charge dues. Sometimes you have activities you want to do and need supplies, those cost are either donated, come out of your dues or can be a fee paid.

If a club collects dues, fees or even donations, the club typically needs to have someone tracking the ins and outs of the money and you maybe required to show that to TV. At our clubs back home we had vendors that were part of the club and would bring in a few items for sale. This is frowned upon in TV. You can do a swap meet or cookie exchange, but if there is commerce being conducted in the club TV usually wants a cut.

Just what I've learned since I've been here and started a club...

:wave: I'm sure you realize that you are talking about your "VILLAGES' DISTRICT GOVERNMENT" and not "The Villages". I'm just mentioning it so others will know. :oops: