I'm bit of a hobby jumper and have been involved in R/C aviation, surfing, skydiving, politics, and auto racing and I've found nearly every one of the largest governing bodies of each hobby ask the same question - How do we get younger people involved?

Well, the answer is simple - young people are less inclined to participate in club type organizations than previous generations. We are generally uninterested in club meetings, contests, hierarchical power structures and membership dues. Robert Putnam, in his book "Bowling Alone," observed that "More Americans are bowling than ever before, but they are not bowling in leagues." My generation is interested in showing up when it is convenient, doing what we want immediately upon arrival, and leaving when we're done - and will pay a premium to do so.

When I present this argument to the stereotypical "old guys," they call my generation spoiled and not interested in doing the work necessary to keep the club afloat. My response is, "well, I'm glad you understand your market so well - now what are you going to do about it?" Nearly every time, they insist that there isn't a way to accommodate such self absorbed behavior and that changing the entire structure of the organization is not possible and that all that needs to be done is to educate the young generation in the way things need to be done.

They ask me what they need to do, I tell them, and they tell me they aren't willing to do it. Frustrated R/C pilots are not alone. This scenario has occurred in everyone of the above mentioned hobbies. They all have entrenched nonprofit organizations scrambling to figure out how to make people do what they want them to do and refuse to react to the market.

I also tell the story, as told by James Surowiecki in his book "The Wisdom of Crowds," of the exploding popularity of bowling during the 50s and how it became so popular. At one time, bowling was not very convenient because in order to go bowling, you needed pin setters - actual people sitting behind the lanes setting the pins up by hand. Then along came Gottfried Schmidt and his frustration with the fact that if he wanted to bowl a few frames after work, there was no one around to set pins for him. When the "pin boys" were around, bowlers and pinboys had disdain for each other because the pin boys felt the bowler "Just wanted to bowl" and should have to set pins every now and then too - after all, pin boys wanted to bowl too, ya know! The only time he could get a pin boy was on the weekends, when everyone else decided they wanted to bowl. So he sat around and waited for a lane and didn't actually bowl that much.

Low and behold, Gottfried found a way to make participating in his favorite hobby more convenient by putting a team of engineers together with the American Machine and Foundry (AMF) and creating an automatic pinsetting machine! Participating in bowling became faster and more pleasurable. The booming middle class took to bowling, as alleys trumpeted the sport as ideal for the whole family" (Surowiecki 242). People could bowl anytime they wanted because by 1960, there were 12,000 alleys, with a total of 110,000 lanes with dozens of billboards around town telling people where they could get involved! Bowling leagues, teams and clubs flourished. Nearly everyone in the 60s who bowled was part of a league or team.

Fast forward nearly 50 years and go to any bowling alley on any night and it's likely to be just as packed as it was in the 60s - but you'll be lucky to find someone who is part of a league, team or club. My generation is just not as inclined to be part of a club - period. Most of us don't want to be president, we don't want to be treasurer, or secretary. Most of us don't read the free association publications. Most of us don't want to participate in contests. And most importantly, most of us don't want to feel inferior because we "just want to fly." Most of us choose not to spend all our time and money on a hobby. Most of us need to see the value in being a member above and beyond a discount at Avis. We just want to spend a couple hours every week or so doing something we enjoy - when it's convenient for us.

Call it selfish, call it what you will - but it is the fact of the matter and all large nonprofit sanctioning bodies are facing the same problem.

Now, my undergraduate work is in nonprofit management and public administration. I currently work in the amateur motorsports industry and am in the middle of witnessing an overtaking of the largest amateur motorsports sanctioning body by a small group of enthusiastic young people who were fed up with the way things were done. They started their own sanctioning body as a private corporation and are providing convenient venues for people to participate in amateur motorsports. They are bringing in more new people to the sport per year than the old guys ever did. They are selling a service to people who want it.

Frankly, this is my third stab at this hobby and I've stayed in it about a year each time. The first time, I was 12. The second time I was 26. This time I'm 32. The reason I didn't stick with it each time before? When the renewal for my AMA membership came up, I asked myself, "Do I really want to pay my local club and AMA $100 just to fly my plane once a month? That's $8 an outing and that doesn't include the money I'll spend fixing and upgrading my plane. Then I think about how the flying field is a 40 minute drive and I have to sit and wait until I can fly. I think about how it's an all day thing. I think about all the money I'll spend and realize it costs me about $20 per outing and convince myself it simply isn't worth it. Every year I made my decision not to fly anymore with my AMA membership in my hand.

I'm not an AMA member, but I'm about to reluctantly sign up right after I hit "OK" on this post. The only reason I'm going to become a member is because I want the insurance coverage for when I fly Aerobird Xtreme at the park near my house. I don't want to be part of a club. I don't want to compete. I don't want or need any of the programs they offer. I don't want to get involved. I just want to fly my plane without fear of losing everything I have each time I fly my plane at the local park - and that should be the only message AMA sends to every single person who purchases a remote controlled airplane - "Flying your plane is dangerous, be safe with AMA."