I've been having a look at membership numbers. Generally speaking, we have had a high proportion of 'current' members in grace since I took up this post i.e. people seem to chose to leave it quite a while before getting round to renewal.

I asked for clarification on why historically we chose to have a six month grace period - Mike suggested that it came from the model document for the Articles from the charity commission, namely article 4.3: [Membership is terminated if:] any sum due from the member to the charity is not paid in full within six months of it falling due. (See our articles)

In addition to this I'm aware that other groups (certainly UK political parties) have a six month grace period, and that the general idea is to enable as many as possible to be eligible to vote at a given EGM or AGM.

So - I'm not advocating FOR a reduction in limiting the grace period to a shorter time span (say, three months) but rather seeking your thoughts on whether that would be a good or a bad idea and why, much like I did when asking about verifying the identity of members applying for membership. Candid responses welcome.

For the record, I don't think reducing the grace period will mean we have more members, I just think that in terms of keeping people engaged allowing the long lapse mightn't be helpful. You'll be glad to know the next membership newsletter email will indicate the status of the recipients membership as current or grace and include a link to the renewals page :)

Katherine Bavage

Fundraising Manager

Wikimedia UK

+44 20 7065 0949

Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).

Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.