[Usittne] USITT new england dues structure

[Clyde Tyndale]

Sounds to me like Ron's got it covered.

I'd go with his suggestions

Clyde Tyndale

Falmouth Academy
Stagecraft Teacher
Technical director
Performance Space Manager
ctyndale at cape.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <ron.dallas at teradyne.com>
To: <tiala at mindspring.com>; "USITT New England Section Mail List" 
<usittne at mit.edu>
Sent: 04/10/2006 9:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Usittne] USITT new england dues structure


> Crystal,
> As mentioned in the letter, this has come up almost annually at the 
> USITTmeeting. I knowit came up when I attended a Chairs meeting and that 
> was a very long timeago.  It would beinteresting to know if this is coming 
> from the National office or from oneor more sections. If itis from a 
> section, what problems to they currently have that would besolved by this?
> As to the proposals-#1 is the current state of things.  We (USITT-NE) do 
> not have a problemwith our currentsystem which works well with the small 
> size of the section. I have amultipage EXCELspreadsheet that contains the 
> member info, the bank account ledger, and afinancial report.There are some 
> cross checks and summary generation built into the sheet andit would 
> beeasy to transfer to a new person.
> #2 and #3 may require sections to be non-profit organizations. While 
> thisis not a problemfor USITT-NE since we are already a non-profit, it may 
> be for othersections.  The topic ofnon-profit status and whether sections 
> come under the umbrella of theNational non-profit status has come up at 
> prior Section Chairs meetings.  A keyrequirement of umbrellacoverage is 
> financial accountability and financial control by the parentover the 
> child.  Ifeither of these two proposals are seriously considered, the idea 
> ofumbrella coverageshould also be considered.
> Some sections may not want, or have the resources, to become 
> non-profits.If they dobecome non-profits, they need to have resources to 
> handle the variousannual reportsnecessary.  It seems that we are trading 
> membership management for legalreportingmanagement, at least for groups 
> that are not currently non-profitorganizations.
> Proposal #2 allows sections to have members that are NOT National 
> members.Somesections prefer this and I think this is an important feature 
> of sections.Proposal #3 doesnot allow for section only memberships.
> How would "membership" funds be assigned to sections in proposal #3? 
> Noadditionalmoney is collected and members can select multiple sections. 
> Do the basicdues haveto go up to support this.
> My vote on these 3 proposals is that only #1 is viable. The others seem 
> torequiresection non-profit status and I would not want to force that on a 
> section.Proposal #3 isparticularly bad in that there can not be 
> independent section members.
> I propose an additional option.  The National office provides software 
> tothe sectionsfor membership and account management.  This has the benefit 
> of a standardsystemfor these functions that has support when the section 
> officers change.  Bytailoring thesoftware to USITT needs and functions, it 
> can generate annual sectionreports andfacilitate the exchange of 
> information between the sections and thenational organization.Sections 
> would still have to do their own data entry and cash management,but 
> thenational office could provide training and help as needed to the 
> section,especiallywhen officers change.  With good communications between 
> the section andnationaloffice software, it is possible that the national 
> office could handlemailing of renewalnotices for the sections.
> ---------------------------Ron DallasDesign Technology Group, Teradyne, 
> Inc.ph: 617-422-2585e-mail: ron.dallas at teradyne.com
> usittne-bounces at mit.edu wrote on 04/09/2006 10:50:59 AM:
>> Hi all,> Below is information regarding potentional changes in our 
>> methods> of collecting regional dues that was proposed at the Chairs> 
>> meeting in Louisville.  I would like your input.  Please read the> info 
>> below and tell me if you feel one option would benefit or> hinder us more 
>> than another.  thanks,> Crystal>> Dues Structure proposal>> Rational for 
>> proposals> The sections enjoy their autonomy.  Historically it has been> 
>> important to the sections that they are able to do their own> planning, 
>> to keep track of their own members and finances, and to> leave it up to 
>> their members whether or not to hold national> memberships in addition to 
>> the section memberships.>> There are difficulties though, and not all the 
>> sections have been> equally successful in dealing with those 
>> difficulties.  Some> sections have no problems maintaining an accurate 
>> and useful> database of their membership.  Other sections spend a great 
>> deal> of time and effort on their membership tracking, or have> 
>> difficulty transferring information when section officers change> or have 
>> difficulty finding officers willing to do the work of> maintaining the 
>> membership lists.  Generating and/or sending out> renewal notices can be 
>> an additional burden in this area, which> can mean that some sections are 
>> “carrying” members who haven’t> actually renewed for some time. (Not all 
>> sections mind that.)>> Whenever these issues are discussed, (usually once 
>> a year at the> Annual Conference) the question arises about whether the 
>> National> office could handle all memberships.  I have tried to 
>> summarize> the advantages and disadvantages of the current system, and 
>> the> two other systems that are most typically discussed in the Dues> 
>> Structure Proposal Summation.  The rest of this document explains> those 
>> three systems as 3 possible proposals.>>> Proposal 1 – leave things as 
>> they currently are.> No changes.>> To support this:> The VP Members, 
>> Sections & Chapters would need to find resources> (program 
>> recommendations, training, etc) to help those sections> that want or need 
>> it to handle their database issues more effectively.>>> Proposal 2 – Have 
>> the National office maintain one master database.> Membership 
>> applications would provide space for national and each> of the regional 
>> sections.  Anyone wishing to apply for membership> in any of the 
>> organizations would fill out one form, checking> boxes for which 
>> memberships they wished to have.  After adding up> all the membership 
>> fees, one check would be written.  It would be> possible to apply for 
>> national alone, a regional section alone, or> any combination of national 
>> and regional sections.  Renewal> notices would go out from the USITT 
>> office. Sections would receive> their dues from the national office on a 
>> regular basis.>> To obtain a list of members, officers of a regional 
>> section would> request either a set of mailing labels by mail, or a 
>> comma> delineated list by email or regular mail.>> All sections would, 
>> most likely, have to become official not-for-> profit organizations if 
>> they are not already.>> To support this:> The USITT Board would need to 
>> find additional resources to handle> the additional staff workload.> A 
>> process for distribution of section membership monies in an> efficient, 
>> timely manner would need to be developed.>>> Proposal 3 – Have section 
>> membership be automatic with a nationalmembership> When filling out a 
>> membership application for national membership,> a member could check 
>> whatever regional sections they wished to be> affiliated with at no 
>> additional cost.  National membership> renewal would automatically renew 
>> the regional affiliations> desired as well.  It would not be possible to 
>> be a member of a> regional section only.>> To obtain a list of members, 
>> officers of a regional section would> request either a set of mailing 
>> labels by mail, or a comma> delineated list by email or regular mail.>> 
>> All sections would, most likely, have to become official nor-for-> profit 
>> organizations if they are not already.>>[Section showing comparison table 
>> deleted - rfd]>> Crystal Tiala> tiala at mindspring.com> EarthLink Revolves 
>> Around You.>  _______________________________________________> USITTNE 
>> mailing list> USITTNE at mit.edu> 
>> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/usittne
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