I received a reminder from the INDEXA Treasurer that my membership is due for renewal in August. I didn’t renew my annual contribution to NCDXF this last time either. This comes amidst the purge a time where I have decided to let all memberships and subscriptions go as a way of trimming costs in my retirement years. I want to talk about that, but first I have been meaning to chat a bit about DX organizations and the ongoing need to fund them. Do they do good? Well of course they do! The modern DXpedition likely couldn’t exist without their support and funding. But here’s my experience - I donate to both clubs annually, then I work some DXpedition they are supporting and that DXpedition web site tells me that if I send them five dollars directly, I’ll receive a more rapid LoTW response confirming our contact.

So I ask again, respectfully, are these DX organizations still worth supporting?

Another issue is that funds doled out by others may go to things I want to support, or not. It’s all well and good that some offer funds to help offset some college costs for youth, but I’m not convinced DX organizations are the best arbiters of this kind of decision. The rub isn’t the recipients, but that other people decide what to do with my money. Honestly, it seems much cleaner for me to choose to support a particular DXpedition directly, by following the instructions on their web site. In this way, if I prefer to help fund CW only operations versus digital operations (etc.) I can decided how best to donate my money.

There was a time when web sites weren’t ubiquitous and PayPal non-existent. In those days the DX organizations pooled donations and handled all that work, it was really the only way to get this done. But is that still the case in 2025? I have enough doubts that I probably won’t renew my INDEXA support this year. I will continue directly funding certain DX operations that directly request funding, like 3Y0K Bouvet 2026. I assume these will quit offering direct funding options if that isn’t working well for them at which time I can re-visit this decision.

Now about the purge - I had made plans before retiring to add Life Memberships to a few select organizations so I could dispense with the annual outlays while on a fixed income. I’ve been a Life Member of ARRL and AMSAT forever so those were assured. But I also became a Life Member of the Long Island CW Club and the Quarter Century Wireless Association with the notion of letting everything else go. That included several clubs as well as a half-dozen subscriptions. I’ve been a subscriber to The Daily DX since a previous millennium and I hate to let it go, but I believe I have renewed for the final time. It will be nearly impossible to let go of my subscription to SPRAT magazine from the GQRP Club, but it’s set to expire at year-end.

I often remind my wife we’re “retired” now and need to begin acting like it, fiscally. But it’s still hard cheese to let go of some things. If GQRP had a LM option I would have bought one decades ago and would still be reading SPRAT as I exit, stage left…