Results of this spring's Tally Ho and Member Directory Survey of the membership are now available. The Board appreciates receiving the input of so many members on these important member benefits. The results were presented at the Spring Board meeting for consideration by the Board. Follow up with the Tally Ho editor is being undertaken to better understand cost implications of the various recommendations for which there was support from the membership.

The full report is available by a link at the end of this item.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - Tally Ho and Member Director Survey 2023

A survey of the BHCA membership to respond to recommendations made to reduce costs of the
Tally Ho and Member Directory (currently approximately 70% of the annual operating budget)
was distributed to 694 members. 318 responses (45.8% of surveys distributed) were returned.

The survey appears to have been representative of the BHCA membership’s ages.

The majority of members responding Read nearly all of the Tally Ho each issue, and 93% read
at least some of the Tally Ho each issue.

Responses to recommendations about the Tally Ho included:
• Support/strong support for reducing from 6 to 4 issues annually
• Disagreement/strong disagreement with limiting pages of the Tally Ho
• Approximately 21% of the membership would prefer electronic/online access to the Tally
Ho.
• Approximately 33% overall would opt in to online access, although it is not their
preference.
• Overall 22% believe online access would reduce their reading of the Tally Ho.
• Finally, 25% would not opt-in to online access.
• There were some age-related differences in responses, including a stronger preference
for online access among those aged 26-40, but also a lower acceptance in this age group
for reducing the number of issues annually.

Responses to recommendations about the Member Directory included:
• Strong support (42%) from members for developing an online directory.
• Preference for using an online directory was highest (57%) among 26-40 year old
members, but support for developing an online directory was highest among those
between the ages of 41-70+.
Only a relatively low percent of members responding would NOT opt in to access
through a PDF or online directory (overall, 13.6%)., This varied significantly by usage.

Open-ended responses included three broad themes:
• The printed Tally Ho is a very different experience than an online publication, and serves
as both a “connector” for members to the Basset world, and also a tool for outreach and
connecting others with our breed.
• For some members, particularly but not exclusively overseas members, electronic access
is preferable for both individual cost reasons and timeliness.
• Members understand the changing costs of producing these publications, and some feel
it inevitable that “the times are changing”. However, about 18% of respondents
indicated a willingness to pay more to receive printed copies.
• A number of specific suggestions were made for the Board to consider on reducing costs
as listed in the full report

The full report, including analyses and all open-ended comments is available here.