Membership is dropping like a rock, yet AMA CEO Rob Dingman (pictured) was given a $65,000 bonus in 2008.
It’s no big secret that AMA membership has been in a freefall since reaching a peak of 300,000 in 2007. The latest number the AMA claims is 231,874. So since CEO Rob Dingman has taken the reins the AMA has lost at least 23 percent of its members. On the subject of membership, I challenge the AMA to release the names and addresses of every AMA member and allow independent auditors to verify the membership numbers.
I have heard from inside sources that due to falling membership AMA employees were under pay freezes and even suffered pay cuts. That actually makes sense. If revenues are falling it’s only prudent that employees make sacrifices to keep the AMA financially viable. I asked the AMA to verify these pay freezes and or cuts, but apparently I’ve written critically of the association’s leadership in the past making me unworthy of receiving a response.
If it is true that pay freezes and cuts have been implemented the excellent follow-up reporting by Dean Adams at Superbikeplanet.com, has revealed exactly what the AMA has been doing with those savings.
In 2008 the board members of the AMA decided to bestow CEO Rob Dingman with a bonus of $65,000 – this on top of his $168,072 base salary. In addition to his 65K bonus, he was given 45,212 in “Other Compensation” and $23,455 in “Non-Taxable benefits for a total of $301,739.
So while the hard-working employees purportedly have been asked to sacrifice for the good of the association, Dingman didn’t feel the need to share in that sacrifice, and in spite of dwindling membership he accepted a $65,000 bonus!
How does Dingman’s salary compare to past AMA leaders? In 1937 AMA Secretary Manager E.C. Smith was reportedly paid $4800. That’s equivalent to about $73,000 in today’s dollars (barely more than Dingman’s 2008 bonus). In 1966 Executive Secretary Lin Kuchler received $15,000 annually, equating to $100,000 today – and that was after eight years of excellent service. Incidentally, the AMA board once denied a pay increase request by Kuchler due to the still shaky financial ground from which the AMA was recovering. Kuchler’s replacement William Berry was hired at today’s equivalent of $90,000.
While the person running the AMA should be properly compensated, how is it that the CEO’s total pay today is worth over double what it was historically, especially in a time of decline?
I gave Dingman the chance to defend his 2008 compensation package, in lieu of the sacrifices employees are making and in the face of shrinking membership, but again there was deafening silence from Pickerington.
Card-carrying members of the AMA should demand the board give Mr. Dingman a new compensation package in 2011 – it’s called severance.
Rider Files 
Larry, Thanks for this very important information. It’s not fun to be the bearer of bad news, but guys like me are glad that you have the fortitude to keep us informed. Good news or bad. John L.
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Thanks for the support John. I hate to bring these types of things up. I’d much rather report good news, but when you see something this glaringly wrong I feel I have to let people know.
I gave the AMA the opportunity to respond, but they did not. I think that says a lot right there.
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Really like your website Larry but there is no secret about your bias with the current AMA staff. Off course the reduction of membership would have nothing to do with the economy that has hit nearly every aspect of the motorcycle industry would it?
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Scott,
Yes there’s no doubt the recession has caused membership to take a hit. I’m not denying that. I will say membership has dropped percentage-wise more than it did historically in past recessions, but putting that aside for a moment – do you think it’s right for a CEO to earn major bonuses in a time of dwindling membership and when employees of the AMA were asked to accept pay freezes?
At the very least the CEO should share in keeping the association financially viable, by not accepting these types of raises under these circumstances.
And yes I have long-standing differences with the current leadership, but I can assure you if they were making the right moves right now I would credit them. Read the May 21, 2010 article I did on hiring Jack Penton as an example.
Larry
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Larry,
For many the truth does hurt. I respect your journalistic integrity and open mind regarding these matters that effect the sport that we all love.
Calling out injustices from Corporate mongers should be made public. This group,AMA, is a non profit. It needs to be held to high standards and accountability to its membership.
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Jeff
Agreed. Thanks for the kind words.
I think the AMA is worth fighting for. I’ve seen the good the association can do. You’re exactly right though when you say the leadership should be held to the highest standards. I’m not saying that everything Rob Dingman has done is bad. There are people I respect who have faith in him, but when what appears to be raw greed comes into play I have to call it out. This is not holding yourself to the highest standards.
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Getting a huge spike in hits on the website today. I wonder who is clicking in?
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I recall that when Rob Dingman was announced as the new emperor of the AMA, his number one goal was to increase membership. Instead his efforts have caused a sharp decrease in membership. Yet the board still gives him a bonus. Fiscal responsibility has never been a strong point with the AMA board of directors.
Rob’s first moves were brilliant: fire long-term staffers who worked on the AMA magazine and AMA PR people. Now these people write critically about the AMA. Whoa, didn’t see that one coming.
The board will not remove Dingman. They will keep him there for years, no matter what. It’s the Einstein definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
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Tracy
We shouldn’t forget that Mr. Dingman stated in an interview with the American Motorcyclist at the end of 2009, that his goal was to get membership back to 300,000 by the end of 2010. As you say though, there will probably be no consequences for not meeting that goal.
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Larry,
I also agree that $300,000 to run the AMA is too much. Obama only gets $400,000 per year.
Too bad AMA members are not allowed to elect a president directly. Instead the organization’s governance model is based on third-world countries.
Regards,
Tracy Hagen
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Larry I have to agree with Scott, you seem to be going after Dingman. To be “fair and balanced” why don’t you publish what AMA told the IRS about Dingman’s salary that year? I followed Adams links to the 2009 IRS 990 and it says the board of director’s adjusted his salary to “reflect the market rate for similar sized associations” through a lump sum payment, a one time bonus and a base pay adjustment at the end of 2008. Did you check out what CEO’s of similar sized associations are paid? You asked Dingman to defend his salary — why not the board that made the decision? I get it if you don’t like him for whatever reason, but I think he has done some good things at AMA in tough economic times, and so has the board. I don’t see you offering up an alternative.
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Fred
You make a valid point. It’s no doubt easier to stand on the sidelines and point out faults than to be in the middle of trying to actually run things and see them forward. I acknowledge that.
In my defense, if you read past posts on this site I have offered up concepts and ideas of how the AMA might attract new members. I’ve also not been exclusively critical.
However, I happen to believe that if an association is in decline, employees are asked to contribute by the way of pay freezes and cuts, that during this period a board should not offer up, nor should a CEO accept pay increases regardless of the “market rate”.
What ever happened to leading by example?
You say Mr. Dingman has done good things in tough economic times. You have the right to your opinion.
I don’t see it.
I see a CEO who has been in charge during precipitous decline in membership.
I see a CEO who has rejected concepts from manufacturer representatives to dramatically increase members.
I see a CEO has shown a complete lack of creativity in finding ways to make AMA membership attractive, especially to a younger generation of riders.
I see a tremendous knowledge drain from the association brought on by unfortunate personnel decisions of the CEO.
I see a CEO who knew nothing of the history and importance of AMA Pro Racing get rid of perhaps the biggest asset of the association for a pittance, which as of yet I see no evidence of payment to the association.
I see a CEO who names his boss (board chairman Stan Simpson) as Motorcyclist of the Year. Then in a move of sheer lunacy this year names Arnold Schwarzenegger as Motorcyclist of the Year – easily one of the worst decisions in the history of the AMA.
I see a CEO who cultivates a climate of fear and groupthink within the association’s leadership.
I see a CEO who ceaselessly blames the ills of the AMA on its previous leadership and accepts none himself.
I see a CEO who blatantly changed the rules of how people could be elected to the board to protect and consolidate his own power.
Believe me; I would love nothing better than to report I’ve been wrong all along about Mr. Dingman’s leadership. Unfortunately for the AMA every day his leadership goes on he gives us only more evidence that the job is beyond his capability.
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The AMA is a joke. Has been for some time. 300,000 members?
As of 2003, there were (it may be higher or lower now) 5,370,000 motorcycles in the USA that get used REGULARLY,and are registered for road use,
Click to access rtw_transportation_fact_sheet.pdf
and this does not even take into account competition and off road bikes.
So 300,000 members is a sad statement of this organizations effectiveness, acceptance by it’s target audience and validity.
By comparison, there are approximately 80 million gun owners in the USA and the NRA has about 4.5-5 million members.
Maybe it’s time the AMA consulted the National Rifle Association for a business model/plan.
DH
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According to 2003 story by Forbes, the average union leader in the U.S. earned 122 kilo-bucks a year. There were some union leaders that get a Dingman salary or better, an example is the Screen Actors Guild for Hollywood movie stars.
I have no problem with anyone that wants to give their money to Rob Dingman. Free country.
Rob Dingman promised to increase membership. As far as I can tell, the AMA has not gotten with Facebook, Twitter, or any other form of social networking that has exploded over the last two years. Hello?
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Tracy,
Don’t know about Twitter, but the AMA does have a presence on FB. They seem to remove any negative comments though, with the exception of naming Arnold Schwarzenegger Motorcyclist of the Year. The outcry from that was so intense they couldn’t pretend to ignore it.
By the way, when they did that photo shoot with Arnold for the magazine cover, I bet the photographer was sweating it out. “I hope he doesn’t find out why we’re really naming him Motorcyclist of the Year.”
I can see it now – “That’s great Arnold! Thanks.”
“But you only took one photo.”
“No, no. That’s fine. We got the shot we needed. See ya.”
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My encounters with the AMA always go like this;
“It is not the right way, it is the AMA.” my words.
“It is Us against them.” The AMA talking about racers.
“Take back the AMA” John Ulrich’s words.
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I do not know enough about the inside workings of the current administration to debate either side, what I do know is I canceled my AMA membership (20+yrs) after the Roger Edmondson debacle. (Not to mention AMA/AHRMA and the degradation of AMA racing). What is not debatable is the fact someone needed to clean house in light of poor decision making and the wasteful use of membership dues on legal defenses. I did renew my membership in support of that directive. All I am pointing out is that in light of Larry’s close working relationship with many that were terminated and his public debate of that directive, he might consider stepping away from reporting on an issue where there is a significant bias. But hey, it is his website, I enjoy significantly and maybe should have just passed on the article.
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Larry,
Thanks for telling it like it is. I have several close friends who were long time AMA employees. They were all unceremoniously dumped by Mr. Dingman. The stories they have told me about him are unbelievable. In short, he is a power-hungry, ‘my way or the highway’ type of manager who seems to enjoy wielding his power over his employees and dismissing them. He is not an enthusiast but a self-proclaimed ‘around town rider’, in other words, a POSER! All of the people I have met who Mr. Dingman dumped were dedicated enthusiasts who loved their jobs at the AMA. It’s a shame that the AMA is run by posers rather than dedicated enthusiasts.
I don’t know if his job is above his capability or if he simply does not care as long as he has locked himself into a nice gig for a long time. He has shown that he is capable of getting things done, such as restructuring the way board members are ‘elected’, when it is to his benefit.
I was an AMA member for 23 years and a very strong supporter until last year. I was very much looking forward to becoming a Life Member. I finally decided I could not support the organization any longer as long as Dingman is in charge. I will not re-join the AMA as long as Dingman is in charge……
Joe
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Credibility thru accountability! Thanks to Dingding the organization has become a huge embarrassment to the motorcycle industry, no hope for recovery as long as he’s there!
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I worked at AMA Headquarters for 13 years; just resigned in November 2010 because I just couldn’t justify suporting the current administration. However,I am an advid motorcyclist and AMA supporter; thru and true.
AMA members, please be strong and voice your opionion. Rob Dingman is not God of AMA.
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I have been a member for 19 years and a rider for twice that (yes, I’m old). I’ve regularly paid my dues but rarely used the Organization other than for an ocassional car rental discount or $1.00 off to go to the NY MC Show. I had a friend who worked there and having that connection was a plus, until he was let go. Now, after researching about the declining membership and poor treatment of employees, I have better things to do with my money. I belong to the AAA which I can get all the same discounts, also the BMWMOA for parts discounts, and more importantly the NRA where the membership drives the agenda. Arnold, Cyclist of the Year? Thats like naming Nancy Pelosi 2nd Amendment supporter of the year!
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The Dinger gave staff sh*t when membership hit 300k saying it was a drop in the bucket for what he had planned. He said there were so many motorcyclists out there, that we were only scratching the surface. Yet as the membership is in freefall, he blames the economy?
If his plans were working, membership SHOULD have at least held its own—stayed at 300k—as people would have been joining at the same rate as those dropping (not so much as it turns out). Or, retention SHOULD have held onto at least a forth of those that dropped–the economic numbers show that. Having worked at a dealership, I saw what the numbers were like before, during, and now, as we come out of it.
And yet, AMA membership keeps sinking.
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Unfortunately, most of the comments in this posting indicating that Dingman is in way over his head at AMA are right on the mark. AMA as it exists today cannot continue to survive at this level of membership and he has no idea how to fix it. However numbers will have to go up soon or AMA staff will get hit with more layoffs, salary cuts, etc.
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