NSS WikiNational Space Society Membership Policies and Procedures
Approved by: NSS ExCom Approved date: 03/22/06 Last Revision Date: 03/21/06
Revision History:
Revision # Date Approved by 0 3/6/06 1 3/21/06 NSS ExCom
Membership Issues:
The following list includes membership database maintenance issues that are the basis for and are addressed in the Policies and Procedures section of this document which follows.
• Establish clear membership policies and procedures for: o Receipt of donations above and below membership dues values for lapsed members and non-members • At what, if any, level of donation are donors awarded automatic membership? (Above baseline membership dues rate $20/$39) • Member tax-reporting concerns (membership dues are not tax-deductible) (taken into account). All online membership forms and confirmation replies/emails state “The portion of Membership Dues above $12.50 ($25 outside U.S.) can be considered a donation for tax purposes.” • Should the automatic membership be a complimentary membership (“comp” flag)? Taxes? (No) o Receipt of multiple membership renewals payments Are people members until end of renewal stream – always receiving membership from last expiration date? (covered in policy) Should we solicit member views regarding extended membership or refund? (used data we already have) o What monetary value does membership have? (affecting tax deduction values of donations) (covered in policy) o What is a subscriber, vs. a member? (covered in policy) o What about third party magazine recipients, are they subscribers? (covered in policy) o What about Chapter rebates? (covered in policy) o What is the renewal period vs. the membership period? (covered in policy) o Are membership services extended beyond a one year limit, through the renewal period? (covered in policy) o Is the renewal date reset for a member who renews after the expiration date but within the renewal period? (covered in policy) o Should in-kind donations provide the same automatic membership award as a monetary contribution of the same value? (covered in policy)
• Create a process book with definitions, processes and various metrics, in order to explain the numbers generated in the database report interface, and how members are counted and renewed.
• Establish an annual membership database audit and cleanup procedure.
Membership Policies and Procedures
Definitions:
Current member: • anyone who has paid membership dues during the membership period, or • anyone who has received a gift membership during the membership period, or • anyone who has been awarded a complimentary membership during the membership period, or • anyone who has made a qualifying contribution to the NSS during the membership period • anyone who is a life member
Membership dues: • Determined by the NSS Board of Directors; refer to current policy
Membership period: • A period to include 1 year plus the post-renewal period
Post-renewal period: • A three month period following the expiration date
Renewal period: • A three month period prior to the expiration date
Expiration date: (using the current name of the field) • One year after the first payment of membership dues, or • One year from the previous expiration date, if membership renewal dues are paid during the membership period, or • One year after the payment of membership dues for a lapsed member, or • One year after a qualifying contribution to the NSS for/by a non-member • One year after a qualifying contribution to the NSS for/by a lapsed member
Lapsed member: • Anyone who has been a current member, and is no longer a current member
New Member: • As a recruitment incentive and for the sole purpose of assigning new member rebates to recruiting Society Chapters, a new member category is defined in accord with Section 13 of the Chapter Rules: • A person who has paid for or received a gift membership and has never before been a member of the NSS, or • A person whose membership has lapsed for more than nine months and has subsequently paid or received a gift membership • Rebates for new members recruited by Chapters shall be made in accordance with Section 13 of the Chapter rules.
Non-member: • Anyone who is neither a current member nor a lapsed member
Qualifying contribution: • A monetary contribution to NSS that is equal to or greater than $20 for a non-member or $45 for a lapsed member (membership dues) • An in-kind contribution to NSS of services and/or goods deemed by NSS to be equal to or greater than $45 (or membership dues)
Donation: • Any monetary contribution that has a value less than a qualifying contribution, or • Any in-kind contribution of services and/or goods deemed by NSS to be less than the value of an in-kind qualifying contribution, or • Any monetary or in-kind contribution made by a current member, or • Any monetary or in-kind contribution above the value of a qualifying contribution, made by a non-member or lapsed member.
Donation acknowledgement: • A mailed letter from the NSS acknowledging the receipt of a donation, in a form appropriate for use by the donor for tax filing purposes, and • Mailed within 60 days of receipt of a donation • Email acknowledgement may also be sent but does not preclude the requirement for a mailed acknowledgement
Life member: • Anyone who received a life membership status in the National Space Society, National Space Institute or L5 Society • No new life memberships will be awarded by the NSS
Gift Membership: • Membership purchased for a designated person, for a designated membership period • A gift membership entitles the member to full voting and participation benefits of membership in the Society.
Complimentary member: • Any person to whom the NSS has awarded a one year membership when neither membership dues nor a qualifying contribution have been made • The expiration date shall be set to one year from the date of the award of complimentary membership. • All expiring complimentary members must be approved by the NSS Board of Directors or their designated intermediary, for renewal of a complimentary member. • A complimentary member is not permitted to vote for the Board of Directors election, vote for any By-Law amendments brought before the membership for approval, or run for any electable seat in the Society , but is entitled to all other participation benefits of membership in the Society.
Subscriber: • An institution such as a public or institutional library that has paid membership dues or received a gift membership is a subscriber. • From time to time the Society may engage in promotional activities to provide the society’s magazine to large numbers of people through a third party for a greatly reduced price. The people receiving the magazine in this manner will be deemed to be subscribers. • A subscriber is not permitted to vote for the Board of Directors election, vote for any By-Law amendments brought before the membership for approval, or run for any electable seat in the Society. Nor is the subscriber entitled to any other participation benefits of membership in the Society, other than receipt of the magazine, as arranged.
Policies:
Membership and Subscription:
Membership is awarded to a person who has paid membership dues or made a qualifying contribution, and is awarded for one membership period. Membership is awarded only to a person, not to an organization or other entity. Multiple year memberships are not currently available. Membership in the National Space Society will provide a person with full membership benefits that will include but not necessarily be limited to, receipt of the Ad Astra magazine, member discounts for NSS events including the ISDC, and on-line publications and notices, for the membership period.
Subscriptions to the Ad Astra magazine and other publications, as provided by the NSS, may be purchased by organizations including, but not limited to, libraries, educational institutions, professional organizations, and corporations. Subscriptions are not available to individual persons, except for special promotional purposes (see Subscriber definition above). Subscription prices may be set to prices different from those for membership and may have benefits to subscribing organizations in addition to receipt of the magazine for the subscription period. The subscription period will be set according to the policies covering the membership period, with new and renewing subscriptions handled in the same manner as with memberships. The level of a qualifying contribution for an organization or institution may be set independently from that associated with the award of membership.
Renewal:
A current member who makes a membership dues payment during the membership period shall have membership extended by one membership period from the current expiration date – not from the date of receipt of membership dues, or from the date the renewal submission is processed. A new or lapsed member who makes a membership dues payment shall be accorded membership for one membership period, with an expiration date of one year from receipt of membership dues payment, defined as the date the membership is processed in the database.
Receipt of multiple membership dues payments within a 3-month window for the same current member will be acknowledged by a letter to that member, generated automatically upon entry of a multiple membership dues payment in the database. The letter will inform the member that the extra payment can be refunded at the member’s request (a request to be made within 45 days of the mail date of the acknowledging letter) or will otherwise be recorded as a donation to the NSS. Online membership forms will, as much as possible, detect and prevent multiple membership dues payments before they are submitted for processing.
When a current member becomes a lapsed member, records will be checked (automatically) for a qualifying contribution within the previous membership period. If such a qualifying contribution is found, the lapsed member will be awarded a complimentary membership with an expiration date that is one year from the date of the award.
Donations:
Any person making a donation as defined above shall receive a written acknowledgement within the prescribed time from donation receipt. The acknowledgement will provide appropriate tax-reporting (tax deduction) information to the donor in a form that will serve as an official receipt for the donation.
Procedures:
Membership:
When membership dues or a qualifying contribution are received from a non-member, the expiration date shall be set to one year from the date of receipt of the dues. If the value of a contribution exceeds the value of a qualifying contribution then a donation of the exceeding value shall be recorded as a donation for that new member.
When membership dues or a qualifying contribution are received from a lased member the expiration date shall be set to one year form the date of receipt of the dues. If the value of a contribution exceeds the value of a qualifying contribution then a donation of the exceeding value shall be recorded as a donation for that new member.
Annual Maintenance:
An annual audit and cleanup of the membership database will be conducted prior to the annual financial audit of the National Space Society. The results of the database audit/cleanup will be reported to the NSS Board of Directors or designated party.