Dues modification proposals (1 Viewer)

[4Runner>CandLuiser]

At last night’s meeting I made a proposal to deal with prorating dues for new members who join after the beginning of the year. I promised to post it for discussion on the message board before we have a final discussion and vote at the February meeting. After we decided to stop paying the national United Four Wheel Drive Association dues, I realized that we should discount the local dues at a faster rate, so this proposal is slightly modified.

Proposal 1
New members may join during any month of the year by paying the following dues based on the month they join:

____________________________________
Month . . Local . . State . . Total
----- . . ----- . . ----- . . -----
Jan . . . $40 . . . . $10 . . . $50
Feb . . . $40 . . . . $10 . . . $50
Mar . . . $36 . . . . $10 . . . $46
Apr . . . $32 . . . . $10 . . . $42
May . . . $28 . . . . $10 . . . $38
Jun . . . $24 . . . . $10 . . . $34
Jul . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $20
Aug . . . $16 . . . . . . . . . $16
Sept . . .$12 . . . . . . . . . $12
Oct . . . .$8 . . . . . . . . . .$8
Nov . . . .$4 . . . . . . . . . .$4
Dec . . . .$0 . . . . . . . . . .$0
====================================

Current and past members are not eligible for this discount. We want to encourage new members to sign up, even if they arrive late in the year. We don’t want to encourage existing members to pay their dues late!


Proposal 2
I would also like to propose that dues for current and past members be due by Jan 31 of each year and allow until Feb 28/29 as a grace period. After that, there would be a late payment fee, raising the dues as follows:

________________________________________________
Month . . Local . . Late Fee . . State . . Total
----- . . ------ . .--------- . .-------- .-----
Jan . . . $40 . . . . .$0 . . . . . $10 . . $50
Feb . . . $40 . . . . .$0 . . . . . $10 . . $50
Mar . . . $40 . . . . .$5 . . . . . $10 . . $55
Apr . . . $40 . . . . .$5 . . . . . $10 . . $55
May . . . $40 . . . . $10 . . . . . $10 . . $60
Jun . . . $40 . . . . $10 . . . . . $10 . . $60
Jul . . . $40 . . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $60
Aug . . . $40 . . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $60
Sept . . .$40 . . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $60
Oct . . . $40 . . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $60
Nov . . . $40 . . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $60
Dec . . . $40 . . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $60
================================================

So what do you all think?

 

[PabloCruise]

Bruce,

I think incentivizing folks to come at any time is great. Of course, I am less excited about late fees for members...

 

[FJ40zen]

I joined in June at full price and I divvied up last week for 2008 and do not mind a bit about doing it that way.

 

[4Runner>CandLuiser]

We can consider your extra 2007 dues as a donation . But I promised Sam a credit for the extra he paid by joining in August last year. You can have a refund too, but its up to you.

 

[Uncle Ben]

I don't think late fees are a good idea. What will happen is folks won't renew at all if the price climbs. How about an anniversary date system instead so folks who join....lets say today....will be due again next February 5, 2009. Just a thought! RS tried doing a prorate several years ago and that didn't work out either as folks would wait till the wheeling season to join and save money. If dues are January 1 - December 31 then that makes it's own incentive as folks who join in ....lets say April.....still pay the same price as those who paid on time but they got 4 months less value for their money. You can also have member only sections on the forum so those who choose not to pay also are excluded from club discussions. Just thoughts......

 

[4Runner>CandLuiser]

The proposal is to prorate only for NEW members. Yes they can wait until the wheeling season to pay and pay less, but that encourages first time members to join (by giving them a discount the first year). Current and former members would have no such incentive under this proposal--they pay more, not less, if they wait.

Keepng track of eveyone's anniversary date and collecting dues throughout the year is far more complicated, plus the state dues are paid in March, so we need the cash by then.

The late fees are not intended to discourage people from rejoining or to hike the price. Its just to give people some reason to pay on time. Right now there is essentialy no penalty. Excluding anyone who hasn't paid from the online forum might help a little. But do we want to discurage non-members from participating in our discussions? The message board is a recuiting tool too.

What is the big deal about paying dues on time? You did it, why can't everyone else?