query: becoming a membership organization

[colist-admin at comm-org.utoledo.edu]

[ed:  here is a query about how to become a membership organization that I
think is worth some discussion, so please copy  replies to COMM-ORG.]

From: Julie Davids <jdavids at CritPath.Org>

ACT UP Philadelphia has been an all-volunteer AIDS activist group without
non-profit status for the past 11 years. We have open weekly strategy
meetings of 3-4 hours in duration. We are the largest grassroots AIDS
activist group in the United States, and work on a variety of local, state,
national and, increasingly, international AIDS issues. Our annual budget is
currently around $45,000, largely spent on buses to take people to protests
and food to feed them on the buses.

We are exploring options for becoming a more traditional "membership"
organization -- having a tier of "members" that are not expected to come to
the weekly meetings but who pay $3 a year or so to be members, receive a
newsletter, and invited to quarterly updates, work parties, protests, etc.

This is very new terrain for us, obviously, and without any staff we are
concerned about the administrative burden of such a structure. However, we
are looking for a way to encourage the participation of people who may want
to help without being weekly hardcore strategists...

I would appreciate any ideas of what to consider in making this decisions,
articles or analyses to read, software that helps track membership, etc.

Thanks!

Julie Davids
jdavids at critpath.org





######  Julie Davids         ######
######  ACT UP Philadelphia  ######
######  jdavids at critpath.org ######

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        Lives must become more valuable than drug company profits.
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