Hi all,
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<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_Association#Termination_of_…
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 :)
Thanks!
*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.*