"we moved to requiring annual membership in the group to participate ($12 a year for most; $2 annual for Under age 30) and then making the dances donation only with a suggested range of $3 - $20"
That's a really interesting model! I would be worried that this would dissuade newcomers who felt like they needed to buy a membership in an organization that they were just trying out? Is that something you run into? Jeff On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 12:13 AM Mary Jean Regoli via Organizers < [email protected]> wrote: > Agreed – good discussion! We mostly use PayPal for our electronic > payments, but want to look into Venmo as well. When we started this, Venmo > Business wasn’t a thing, but now it’s possible for us as an org to have an > account. We have used PayPal for years to allow people to make annual > membership payments, and annual “Subscription” payments for the dance. This > was something we initiated where people pay a reduced rate if they pay for > the whole year in advance. Then they didn’t need to worry about having $5 > in cash on hand each week, and likely would feel better stopping by for a > few dances even if they couldn’t stay the whole night. So it also > encouraged better attendance 😊 We’re a small dance group, so this is > important to us. > > > > With the pandemic and our weekly Zoom dances, we started accepting > donations for the dance each week through PayPal. When we returned to > in-person dances, we kept the PayPal donation option, displaying QR codes > at the check-in table for both membership and dance donation, as well as a > jar for cash or checks. One good thing about PayPal is people can set up a > weekly or monthly recurring payment. You can create separate buttons for > various initiatives like Membership or Weekly Dance, so those payments are > labeled as such and can have customized options. > > > > When we returned to in-person dances, we moved to requiring annual > membership in the group to participate ($12 a year for most; $2 annual for > Under age 30) and then making the dances donation only with a suggested > range of $3 - $20. This has worked out very well for us, and we feel we can > be more inclusive and welcoming to people who don’t have cash on hand on > any given night. And while we still need volunteers to check people in, > they don’t have to monitor cash payments. Requiring membership seems to > have helped us create a more invested community. > > > > We pay per performer up to a max of 3 for each band, plus travel when > performers are from out of town. Most performers are fine with being paid > by PayPal, and this is easiest for me to track payments. I pay callers and > each band member individually through PayPal unless they request otherwise. > I do ask bands if they are OK with PayPal payment, and I will give mostly > checks and occasionally cash to performers if they prefer. Before the > pandemic, the previous treasurer always paid in cash. We rarely take in > enough to cover our expenses each week (performer stipends + hall rental), > so this meant as a treasurer you had to go to the bank and get cash each > week. PayPal is much more efficient and transparent. We make up the > difference through income from our annual weekend dance. Paying performers > via PayPal also means I don’t have to make arrangements to have someone > else pay them in person if I can’t attend a dance one week. I just have to > verify that all of the scheduled performers showed up. > > > > We have encountered times/venues where cell signals were weak and/or wifi > was unavailable where people could not make an e-payment on site. However, > folks are good about following through later if they say they will make a > payment for membership or dance donation. > > > > Mary Jean Regoli > > Bloomington Old Time Music and Dance Group > > > > > > > > Sent from Mail <https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for > Windows > > > > *From: *Mary Collins via Organizers <[email protected]> > *Sent: *Monday, August 29, 2022 11:39 AM > *To: *Tepfer, Seth <[email protected]> > *Cc: *organizers shared weight <[email protected]> > *Subject: *[Organizers] Re: [External] Re: Electronic admission payments > > > > Good thread. We have been asked as well, particularily about memberships. > A donor sents us 2 android phones to keep with dance admin stuff so we can > start. This way no one person is tied to the process. We are looking at > square, which as a bookkeeper is pretty straightforward to track and > account for. Fees are pretty nominal. > > > > The negative for me as a caller is will there be cash to get paid with. I > was recently surprised by a check payment. I normally do ALL cash > transaction as much as possible so was wanting that cash for gas to get the > 70+ miles home. We (our group) always pays in cash and most of our > performers prefer it. So that IMHO is a consideration when taking > electronic payments in any form > > > > Mary Collins > > > > On Mon, Aug 29, 2022, 11:31 AM Tepfer, Seth via Organizers < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Great question and discussion point. > > > > > > At the dance 8/5, upon entering the gym, attendees were greeted at the > front desk with signs showing multiple payment options: > > · QR code for Venmo > > · QR code for PayPal > > · QR code for Cash App > > · A jar for stuffing cash in > > · Instructions on how to use ApplePay > > I would estimate we had around 60 people dancing. A generous smattering of > new dancers and dancers under forty years old. Payments received: > > · 3: Venmo (plus the fiddler paid via venmo) > > · 2: Cash App > > · 1: ApplePay > > · 0: PayPal > > · 54: jar with cash and checks (approximately) > > > > The dance was sliding scale admission - people were told they could pay > what they wished, and donation requested was $20. > > > > In the future we will replace the PayPal QR code with Zelle QR code. > > > > > > We are discussion a big change to our accounting practices: create a > separate account just for handling the finances of the local dance. It will > have just enough money in it to pay the talent (band, sound, caller) > electronically. The treasurer or scheduler will find out prior to the dance > if the talent wants to be paid electronically or in cash. > > > > Seth > > > > Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his) > > Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center > > *From:* Jeff Kaufman via Organizers <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Monday, August 29, 2022 11:20 AM > *To:* organizers shared weight <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [External] [Organizers] Re: Electronic admission payments > > > > We started accepting Venmo with our most recent dance (we're "BIDA-dance" > on Venmo). There's a fee, so we don't advertise this prominently, but we > do have it for people who ask. About 10% of our income was Venmo on > Saturday night. > > > > Previously we'd do this ad-hoc, where someone would send money to me (or > someone else) and I'd put cash from my wallet into the till, but that's not > great. > > > > One risk would be that if we took in enough of the money electronically we > wouldn't have enough cash to pay the performers. We're not close to that > currently, but if it did happen we'd need to get set up for writing checks > at dances. > > > > Jeff > > > > (Patrick, I think list etiquette here is to respond on list; not sure why > you don't want us replying to the list? If you're not interested in this > thread you should be able to "mute" it in your mail client.) > > > > On Mon, Aug 29, 2022 at 9:50 AM John Sweeney via Organizers < > [email protected]> wrote: > > We very successfully use a Zettle Card Reader linked to a Smartphone. > > The only customer data we get on their reports is the last four digits of > their card number. So, in case we have to follow up on any errors, we log > everyone's name and the last four digits of their card. > > We only have one person on the door, so they use their phone. If you have > multiple personnel then that could be more challenging. > > The more expensive version, Zettle Terminal, doesn't need a phone. > > Happy dancing, > John > > John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 & 07802 > 940 574 > http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html > <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcontrafusion.co.uk%2FKentCeilidhs.html&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7Ce40214c4950b4e2f2f1a08da89d21137%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C637973832572718494%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=myJQZx4mkzC0VJ6C8Gl8ETTzcNWNig4BwAgMMmmWku4%3D&reserved=0> > for Live Music Ceilidhs > > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk > <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.contrafusion.co.uk%2F&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7Ce40214c4950b4e2f2f1a08da89d21137%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C637973832572718494%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LOd%2BhxOBLDbAJ2aBB4uHqat5mblbWAGb9mHrLhYWQoM%3D&reserved=0> > for Dancing in Kent > http://www.modernjive.com > <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.modernjive.com%2F&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7Ce40214c4950b4e2f2f1a08da89d21137%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C637973832572718494%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=O%2BES2OO5hU5emAz8uWQPYmnSb7FPvH2RQYNUcV078bs%3D&reserved=0> > for Modern Jive DVDs > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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