It’s almost Oct. 1, how is your club collecting members’ dues? Remind members of what their dues get them!  For about $5-8 per month (a few cups of coffee), you get to:

• attend club meetings and give speech projects in a safe place
• learn how to give positive constructive evaluations
• practice your leadership skills in meetings and as a club officer
• network with fellow club members and guests
• build confidence in your capabilities and skills
• serve the club and its members as they practice new skills
• receive the glossy color Toastmaster magazine
• register your educational awards
• attend district conferences
• watch and participate in speech contests!

Here’s more ideas, divided up by the type of club (who pays dues):

Community clubs (individual pays, club usually has a checking account):

1. Member writes a check to the club (requires delivering the check to the treasurer, the treasurer has to deposit the check, maybe wait for it to clear, then make a payment to TI).
2. Member sends money to the club via Paypal from bank account or credit card, detailed instructions on setting this up are here, courtesy District 14 Toastmasters (Paypal keeps 2-3% of dues, but worth it!).
3. Split payment; member  pays TI dues via individual credit card (which the treasurer or other club officer directly enters on the TI web site), and any local dues separately (cash or check).  This works especially well if there are no local dues to collect, or else you have to keep track of both payments.  (The first six payments of each renewal period have to be done as a single transaction though.)
4. Collect a year’s worth of dues at a time instead of six months (the treasurer then pays six months at a time to TI at the appropriate time).  (Be sure you have a clear policy on refunds if someone wants to quit sooner; no refunds is probably the right choice here, but make sure members know that.)
5. If your club bank account has more than a year’s worth of local dues (international dues should be treated as a pass-through, money in equals money out), consider reducing or even waiving local dues temporarily.  (Current members shouldn’t be paying for the benefit of future members.)

Company/organization club (sponsor pays):

1. Start well in advance, a month or two, so the check is processed long before Oct. 1/April 1.
2. TI will send you an invoice for the renewal upon request, if your company needs one.
3. Use a company credit card for direct payment on the TI web site.
4. Use a personal credit card to pay and file an expense report for reimbursement (make sure this is approved in advance by whomever needs to sign off on the expense report!).

Hopefully this gives you some ideas to streamline the twice-a-year process of collecting dues!  Do you have a suggestion?  Post it on the blog comments!