Lol, at least you're honest about repeated reminders necessary (I'm the same myself)
Thanks for the feedback - I'll do my best to balance time limitations I have for membership stuff and reminding people frequently - I need to make sure I'm making the most of automation and templates. Don;t worry - the 'newsletter' reminder will be in the email that links through to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself - and people do get an independent auto-reminder email, but I think you (and others in this discussion) are right - there needs to be two of these. I'll keep thinking/tinkering and write up the process on wiki as I go. Please all keep feeding back on here, on the UK Wiki or by emailing membership@ as I'm finding the insight is useful :) Kat On 8 February 2013 15:43, Lodewijk <lodew...@effeietsanders.org> wrote: > Hi Kat, > > sounds all great! However, if I may suggest, including it in the > newsletter is unlikely to be a very helpful reminder. I myself at least > ignore at least 75% of every newsletter I actually open, and this includes > everything that looks too structured (such as these fields). If you want > these people to remain active, I suggest to send at least two reminders (as > seperate emails) which look very different from regular WMUK mail (from a > special email address, without usual tags in the topic, etc) to avoid that > they get cought in automated email filters that put WMUK news letters in > the WMUK-never-to-look-at-folder (yeah, people do that - so horrible!). > Having the status in the newsletter besides that might be helpful though - > because it gives positive confirmation that everything is all right. > > Best, > Lodewijk (notorious for forgetting to pay on first notice) > > > 2013/2/8 Katherine Bavage <katherine.bav...@wikimedia.org.uk> > >> Hello all, >> >> Well all I shall happily say in reply is '*be careful what you wish for*'.... >> I shall consider myself to have been given a mandate To Nag (nicely, of >> course) and (as far I can tell) there's no appetite to reduce the grace >> period. >> >> To come back on specific points: >> >> - Now we have a separate bank account for membership fees its >> certainly possible to set up a standing order for the fee - I'll look into >> direct debits too and update you all with some 'How-to' instructions on >> wiki next week. We've previously been cautious in setting this up because >> we have had a problem in the past with standing orders with no useful >> reference number against them, and therefore not being to identify who the >> money came from and for what when it was all going into the same account. >> - Yes, you can pay for x number of years in advance - we can record >> longer terms on the database, and append notes to the contact record >> explaining why. >> - No, if someone's term ended due to, say resignation or expulsion, >> but they paid for a longer period than that n advance, I don't' think we >> could prudently refund the money (money laundering regs - yes I know, a >> bit >> of an OTT application in this context, but still). So, people would have >> to >> accept that in paying, say £10 for a two-year membership term that if they >> resigned etc then the additional sum would be taken to be a donation. >> - *At the moment* everyone who is approaching expiry will get an >> automated email - however, as we've all identified, one isn't enough. It's >> my intention now that each monthly newsletter email contain a field >> indicating if the recipient's membership is current or grace and the date >> of their term end. I'm hoping that improvements in our database hosting >> may >> mean that members can check this online in the future - however, I need to >> investigate the challenges this may present too, so I can't promise >> anything just yet (but I'm aware it would be a good feature to offer) >> - If you want to know if you membership is current, email >> members...@wikimedia.org.uk and I can check for you! Or check your >> most recent newsletter from this month on... >> - Gift aid - yes, membership fees are eligible. I'm acutely aware the >> online gift aid form is currently on the fritz and have requested this be >> fixed - when it is, again, we can include mention in the newsletter that >> members should make a declaration if they want their fees to attract this >> tax relief. In the meantime, any keen bean who wants a paper form to fill >> in, again, members...@wikimedia.org.uk >> >> Thanks for the quick and helpful responses all :) >> >> Kat >> >> On 8 February 2013 14:12, Doug Weller <dougwel...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> How do we check our membership? >>> Doug >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 2:00 PM, Lodewijk <lodew...@effeietsanders.org>wrote: >>> >>>> I think this is already possible :) I actually paid for two years at >>>> once, because that was the amount of pounds I happened to have left over - >>>> not sure if people will get mad at me now if I make their lives more >>>> complicated, but asking nicely brings you a long way! :) >>>> >>>> Lodewijk >>>> >>>> >>>> 2013/2/7 Tom Morris <t...@tommorris.org> >>>> >>>>> One suggestion: allow members to sign up for multiple years in >>>>> advance. I'm perfectly happy to pay for two or three years of membership >>>>> in >>>>> one go. >>>>> >>>>> There may be some practical issues, such as whether or not if one were >>>>> to, say, sign up for a three year membership but resign after a year, the >>>>> remainder would be refunded as unused. >>>>> >>>>> If it were offered, I'd certainly be happy to pay for a few years in >>>>> advance so that I don't have the mildly irritating situation of wanting to >>>>> run some kind of outreach event and not being able to apply for a >>>>> microgrant because my membership has lapsed. >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Tom Morris >>>>> <http://tommorris.org/> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Wikimedia UK mailing list >>>>> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >>>>> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >>>>> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia UK mailing list >>>> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >>>> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >>>> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Doug Weller >>> http://www.ramtops.co.uk >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia UK mailing list >>> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >>> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >>> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> *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.* >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia UK mailing list >> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > > -- *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.*
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