[Ohio-Talk] Membership dues.

[Richard Payne]

Good afternoon,

I joined a meeting of one of our divisions last night and this topic came up
and I wanted to get the national president's guidance on it please review
below and it makes perfectly good since to me.

	Dear Richard,
 
You have asked about "sponsorship of members" and it suggests sponsorship of
membership dues. While I would say there is no policy prohibiting it, the
idea of sponsorship of members sounds very problematic to me. The exchange
of membership dues helps to distinguish between members and non-members. It
creates a positive contractual agreement. As you know, members must be voted
in and must remain in good standing. Members must also actively participate.
Sponsorship of membership dues works against that. Now, we have all been in
meetings, especially with students, where people did not have the $5
required to pay. In those cases, when someone has expressed an interest and
does not have the money, I have observed someone hand them a $5 so they can
pay dues. I am sure I have done it myself urging the person to pay it
forward in the future. In those cases, the individual is still making the
payment.
 
My concern with a sponsorship is that it can serve as a means to control
votes-I sponsored your membership so you should vote for me. It also takes
away the individual ownership and positive voting system. It will also bring
in ethical questions and transparency regarding who is responsible for
managing the process and the records. I cannot urge any more strongly to
avoid sponsorship of membership dues. If someone wishes to sponsor members,
let me get to know the prospective members and help those in need. It is
also worth noting that donors do not get to direct the use of the funds they
donate so if  person wants to donate the money, determine its purpose, and
who gets it, that will be a potential IRS issue. 
 
Let the person make a contribution to the organization so it can be put to
use. Encourage payment of membership dues by individuals.
 
Sincerely,
Mark  

Richard Payne,  President
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937/829/3368
Rchpay7 at gmail.com <mailto:Rchpay7 at gmail.com> 
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.


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