When Do I Get My Membership Card?

Wednesday, 26 January 2011

Members occasionally ask when they can expect to get their new membership cards, and this web page provides some explanation and guidance.  The mailing of the cards is governed by a few procedures which are intended to keep the cost minimized.  An envelope and stamp costs $0.46, so we try to send as few as possible, and to combine mailings where we can.  We also try to organize the activity to make the best use of our volunteer time.

Invoices are usually mailed in the last week of November each year to give members 30 days or so to pay their dues.  According to CRGC's bylaws (Article IV, Section 1) the membership year ends on December 31st each year, and dues should be received by CRGC on the first day U.S. mail is delivered in January.  Dues are payable until the annual meeting or the last day of January, whichever occurs first.  Dues are considered to be late after the annual meeting. After the last day of January, a member's dues are delinquent, and a notice of delinquency is mailed, and a $25 late fee is assessed.  A member's dues may be delinquent until the last day of February, after which date a member may be expelled from the club for non-payment of dues.  This does happen unless other provisions for payment are made by the member.

Dues, or fund raiser ticket purchases by Life members, received prior to the annual meeting are mailed in batches.  The first batch is consists of cards for members who have paid their dues (or Life members who have purchased fund raiser tickets) prior to the mailing of the notice of the annual meeting.  This notice is usually mailed in the second or third week of December, after the nominating committee has created a list of proposed candidates for officers and directors.  Since a notice of the annual meeting is required to be sent to all members, any membership cards ready for mailing are included with the notice.

The second batch of cards mailed consists of those for members who have paid their dues (or Life members who have purchased fund raiser tickets) between the time the notice of annual meeting was mailed and the last day of December.  This batch is mailed on the first day the U.S. Post Office is open in January.

The third batch of cards is mailed on the Monday following the end of the second week of January, and is comprised of all of those payments received after the last day of December.  The fourth batch of cards consists of all payments received from the end of the second week of January through the day of the annual meeting, but prior to the meeting itself, and this batch is mailed on the Monday following the annual meeting.  The reason for this is that we receive mail and hand-delivered payments from members who are either paying their dues or purchasing fund raiser tickets until an hour prior to the meeting, and we need to make sure their cards are ready and their ticket purchases are recorded.

Members who pay their dues at the annual meeting, and Life members who attend the annual meeting, may pick up their cards after the doors open and prior to the start of the meeting itself.

After the annual meeting, but before the last day of January, cards are mailed to those Life members who did not purchase fund raiser tickets and did not attend the annual meeting.  In addition, late payments from members received after the annual meeting, but prior to the last day of January, are also processed and those cards are mailed in a batch once each week.

After the last day of January any dues received which are not postmarked in January, or which are delivered by hand after the end of January, are delinquent.  These dues payments must include the $25 late fee.  Dues payments received during February are processed and mailed as they are received, usually within one to two days after receipt of payment.