On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 6:09 AM, James Hare <messedrocker@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello all,
The last meeting ended with agreement that membership dues would be
set at $10, with the fine details on how membership works to be
decided at a later time. I have determined that we can use the mailing
list to debate these details in a way that is congruous with our
bylaws. Here is how. We will debate the details on this mailing list,
with no action being taken (as action can only be taken at meetings
held in the meatspace). As a result of the debate, someone will
prepare a motion that will be introduced before the Board at the next
meeting. Debate will certainly be allowed on it, but the idea is that
since much of the debate will have already taken place on the mailing
list, we won't be at square one. As this is a member organization I
believe the actual membership structure should be in place as soon as
possible, and by debating it on the mailing list we won't have to
delay that debate until the next meeting.
Here are the current issues:
1. It was agreed that membership is to be on an annual basis; i.e.,
each member pays $10 per year. But how will that work out? Can someone
sign up at any time and then there will be rolling renewal? Or will
all registrations and renewal take effect at the beginning of the new
fiscal year on October 1? I personally recommend the rolling renewal
system, since those who will want to take part will be able to do so
right away. Someone who is interested in March may lose their
enthusiasm by the time September comes along. Furthermore, a system to
keep track of registration dates should honestly not be that difficult
to make or maintain (I could create a tool on the toolserver that
sends reminders).
If we go with a fixed period, I would actually suggest offsetting it by a month from the fiscal year, so as to have memberships expire at the beginning of September (i.e. before the annual meeting) rather than at the end of it. Since the main attraction of membership is indeed the ability to vote at the annual meeting, it would make sense to provide that as a more immediate incentive to people considering renewal.
On the other hand, I'm not particularly opposed to a rolling membership scheme, although it will require a more precise definition of "registration date". Would we use the date an application is submitted? The date membership is approved? The date dues are paid?
(On a tangentially related point, it may be useful to create a membership committee to approve applications without requiring a board meeting to review them, particularly if the delay between application and approval is going to have any substantive meaning.)
2. If we agree to adopt the plan where registrations and renewals can
only take effect at October 1, what should be done for registrations
in the interim period between now and the next meeting? Should there
be discounted registration, or perhaps free registration which expires
September 30? (In other words, you would be able to register for free
for the four month interim period, but to be a member through the next
fiscal year would cost $10.)
If we do decide waive the costs until September, I would suggest we do it by offering to cover 17 months (now to September, plus one year after) for $10, rather than by not requiring payment of dues until October. Otherwise, we run the risk of people signing up as members merely to get a free vote at the annual meeting in September, with no intention of actually following through and paying dues afterwards.
Any other issues regarding membership? (If anyone is unsure about
payment, I as the treasurer am willing to collect dues via cash, check
made out to Wiki Society of Washington, DC, Inc., or possibly PayPal.)
Having a PayPal option available would be a good idea. While it's certainly not ideal, it will allow us to (a) collect credit card payments and (b) more easily collect payments from members who are outside the US.
(We will, in any case, need a PayPal account set up to receive small donations in the future; so we might as well get that out of the way).
Kirill