November 3, 2024

Idaho Writers Guild Membership:

Thank you to all our members for supporting the Idaho Writers Guild through the years. We, the Idaho Writers Guild board, appreciate your support, membership, and attendance at events. We also appreciate the many volunteers who have helped with our mission to educate and support fellow writers in the business and craft of writing. Without you, many of those events would not have succeeded.

Last week, the Idaho Writers Guild board met to discuss the future of our organization and the 2025 Idaho Writers Guild Conference.

At this time, the Idaho Writers Guild lacks a significant number of essential board members. Without those board positions filled, the organization cannot operate.

Because of fewer board members and fewer consistent volunteers, we reduced the number of events the Idaho Writers Guild hosts. We’ve had to stop offering many programs that were previously well-attended as there has been no one to chair those events. The in-person events we scheduled over the past two years were poorly attended.

There was an amazing slate of presenters at the 2024 Idaho Writers Conference, but again, the reduced board and conference committee was stretched thin, pulling it all together. The draw of new individuals to attend the Conference was impacted by budget constraints on marketing efforts and the lack of volunteers to make up the difference in the months ahead of the conference. So, despite our amazing presenters, attendance was low. 

Historically, the drop in conference attendance began in 2018 and revived in 2019. Then, we were forced to take a two-year break because of the pandemic. Attendance numbers decreased again in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Due to dropping attendance and conference losses in 2018, 2022, and 2023, the Idaho Writers Guild no longer has a nest egg from which to pay the upfront costs to host an in-person Conference. The next conference, if organized, will need to take a new direction and build its structure on a new platform.

We believe that without an infusion of new energy and new ideas from new volunteers, the Idaho Writers Guild is at the end of its life cycle. 

To continue, the Idaho Writers Guild needs several members to step up and take active roles on the board to revitalize the organization. Past board members are willing to mentor new volunteers. If you wish to step up and take one of these roles, please contact: [email protected] before December 1, 2024.

After December 1, 2024, the organization will dissolve if not enough individuals have stepped forward to fill the board positions. If it is dissolved, any balance left in the Idaho Writers Guild accounts will be donated to nonprofit organizations that share our mission of education and support for the writing community.

The Idaho Writers Guild Board

Want to view this letter as a PDF? You can find it here: https://idahowritersguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IWG-Member-Letter-Nov-24-2.pdf