Hi Jess, First of Jan is an awkward time of year - people are most likely to get into debt over Xmas so I'd be cautious about trying to harmonise all our renewals at that time of year. If you have a bunch of regular AGM attenders who pay their memberships in cash then it is obviously easiest to get them to pay when they turn up at the AGM, but I doubt that greatly applies to us and I wouldn't recommend 1st Jan for an AGM.
There are many disadvantages to having all renewals on the same date. It means you are always signing up new members on the basis of a part year membership at one price followed hopefully by full year memberships; It concentrates all your membership renewal work in one point of the year; and it means there is a particular point in the year when your membership dips which could be awkward for special AGMs etc. If membership revenue was ever a significant part of our income it would also mean that our cashflow was distorted with a spike in our revenue that didn't coincide with a spike in expenditure. By contrast I'm not aware of any advantage to having them all on the same date. So I'd suggest it is better to have them as evenly spread through the year as possible. WSC On 9 February 2013 22:35, Jessica Taylor <jessica.s.taylo...@gmail.com>wrote: > Richard, thanks for that explanation. I may be barking up the wrong tree > but I'll jump in anyway. > > If memberships became due each 1st of January, fundraising/dues collection > could be easier. I realize that there would be many logistical hurdles > which may moot this suggestion. > > Is it plausible that WMUK could ask members if they'd be willing to pay > both the membership from their next expiration date to the next normal > expiration date PLUS their next year's dues for the year of 2014 with the > understanding that their membership period will thenceforth be from January > to January and will next be due on 1 January 2015. I realize that some > members would say, "No." > > Alternatively, could WMUK ask members if they would voluntarily relinquish > their leftover membership periods at midnight on the 31 December 2013 AND > start their memberships over the next day? Again I realize some members may > say, "No," because of the lost value of X months of membership. > > Final alternative, might WMUK ask members if to anonymously gift part-year > memberships on behalf of other anonymous members from the date the > membership in question expires. For a membership expiring on 5 September > 2013, the donor would pay through 31 December 2013. Then the member > receiving the gifted dues could pre-pay their membership for the year of > 2014 on 5 September when they would have normally paid anyway. If this sort > of thing were agreed to by all, I'd be willing to gift a couple of partial > year memberships. > > Just a thought, > > Jess > > > On Sat, Feb 9, 2013 at 2:43 PM, Richard Symonds < > richard.symo...@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: > >> No Jess - each individual is due to renew at a different time each year, >> depending on when they joined. I joined on 5 December, I think: That means >> that I am due for renewal on 4 December. I will get an email just before >> that date. >> >> Richard Symonds >> Wikimedia UK >> 0207 065 0992 >> >> 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.* >> >> >> On 9 February 2013 20:27, Jessica Taylor <jessica.s.taylo...@gmail.com>wrote: >> >>> I like the idea of updating the pages regarding membership on the WMUK >>> site. >>> >>> Also, I agree multiple reminders are helpful. I think the idea of >>> changing the address so that the renewal isn't automatically fed to an >>> archive folder would be helpful for people like me. >>> >>> Excuse me for not having checked myself, but all membership dues are due >>> at the same time each year, correct? >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> Jess >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 12:09 PM, Michael Peel < >>> michael.p...@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: >>> >>>> I think we need to update the pages on the wiki here. >>>> http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Membership/Help >>>> is rather out of date (and there's plenty of questions being asked here >>>> that could be answered there), >>>> http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Membership/Process >>>> could probably do with expanding, and maybe we even need to revise >>>> http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Membership/Rules >>>> to include things like paying for membership in advance as Tom is >>>> pointing out (maximum number of years, etc.), and some others (e.g. if you >>>> renew part-way through the grace period, do you get 12 months from then, or >>>> 12 months from the anniversary of your joining date - that's currently a >>>> bit ambiguous). >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> Mike >>>> >>>> On 8 Feb 2013, at 18:00, Doug Weller <dougwel...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Isn't a standard order better? You told me I can do that but I'm not >>>> clear how. >>>> Doug >>>> >>>> On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 5:54 PM, Thomas Dalton >>>> <thomas.dal...@gmail.com>wrote: >>>> >>>>> On 8 February 2013 14:38, Katherine Bavage >>>>> <katherine.bav...@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: >>>>> > 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. >>>>> >>>>> How far in advance can we pay? >>>>> If we pay in advance and the fee is increased, will you come after us >>>>> with a baseball bat for the difference? >>>>> Will people paying a long way in advance give you an administrative >>>>> headache, for example from having to make allowance for it in the >>>>> accounts? >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Mike Peel >>>> Secretary, Wikimedia UK >>>> http://mikepeel.net/ - @mike_peel >>>> http://wikimedia.org.uk/ - @wikimediauk >>>> >>>> Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate >>>> Wikipedia, amongst other projects). It is an independent charitable >>>> organization with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for >>>> its contents. >>>> >>>> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England >>>> and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No. 1144513. The >>>> Registered Office is at 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, >>>> London EC2A 4LT, United Kingdom. >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> 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 >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 > >
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