On 7 February 2013 17:01, Katherine Bavage <katherine.bavage(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: I'm thinking you should nag us more. *cough* I suspect I am one of said members. Where do I go to give you my money again?

I'm with David and Andrew. The chapter should send out an email when membership expires and perhaps send a couple of reminders at given intervals. I don't know if this is done now. I know a notification was experimented with a few months ago, but before then there was no easy way to know if your membership has expired or not. Similarly, I don't if t's done now, but there didn't used to be an acknowledgement of a membership application. If it's not done already, the chapter should certainly send out a "thank you for your £5, your membership is awaiting approval" and then a "your membership has been approved" email. Harry Mitchell http://enwp.org/User:HJ Phone: 024 7698 0977 Skype: harry_j_mitchell ------------------------------ *From:* Andrew Gray <andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk> *To:* UK Wikimedia mailing list <wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> *Sent:* Thursday, 7 February 2013, 17:40 *Subject:* Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Membership grace period On 7 February 2013 17:22, David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> wrote: a on Yeah, I'm with David - active members in grace are mostly just forgetful :-). As there are virtually no things for which being a member is essential other than voting, it's very easy to not get around to it... Is it possible to set up recurring membership dues as a direct debit? -- - Andrew Gray andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.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 wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org

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 membership(a)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, membership(a)wikimedia.org.uk Thanks for the quick and helpful responses all :) Kat On 8 February 2013 14:12, Doug Weller &lt;dougweller(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: -- *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 wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org

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.

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 &lt;thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: On 8 February 2013 14:38, Katherine Bavage &lt;katherine.bavage(a)wikimedia.org.uk&gt; wrote: 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?

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.peel(a)wikimedia.org.uk&gt; wrote: _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org

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.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk&gt; wrote: _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Interval_arithmetic<http://en.wikipedia.o… YMMV, Gordo ______________________________**_________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l<http://mail.w… WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org

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.