SPONSORS: Matthew Andrews, Fundraising and Finance Committee VETTING COMMITTEES: Fundraising and Finance Committee; Membership Diversity and Volunteer Recruitment Committee FLOOR MANAGER: Matthew Andrews SHEPHERD: Matthew Andrews SUMMARY: Update the 2018 Membership Dues policy to improve implementation and reach our financial goals. BACKGROUND: The Membership Dues policy for 2018 and 2019 has not been implemented beyond our core membership, most of whom already donate to the GRP. Consequently, the dues policy has failed to raise significant new money and our budget for 2020 faces a $6,000 deficit. Each member who is able to pay ought to take some responsibility for the financial health of the party. In order to expand our dues program, it must be integrated into the work and culture of our party at every level. TEXT OF PROPOSAL: As of January 2021 the dues scale shall be updated to $50/year Supporter, $35/year General, $20/year Student, $10/year Low Income. The waiver option for hardship or the legally restricted shall remain in effect. Chapters shall be responsible for making the current Annual Dues form available at all events where we are legally allowed to collect money, and asking people to pay dues as part of the enrollment of new members. Chapters should entrust their local Secretary and/or Treasurer with collecting this money, recording it, and passing it along to the GRP Treasurer. Efforts to collect dues and their results should be included in quarterly chapter reports to StateCom. The Treasurer shall include dues collection in his or her quarterly report to StateCom. The report shall include the total number of dues paying members over the past year, and other trends such as whether collection is going up or down. The Secretary and Treasurer should collaborate to ensure that dues are recorded in our membership database and that an automated renewal reminder email is sent after a year. The Fundraising and Finance Committee shall set a goal for the number of dues paying members and the amount of money to be raised by dues, along with a compelling explanation of why it is necessary, and a breakdown of where they expect the dues to be collected. This plan will be submitted to AdCom for final approval and relevant parts sent to chapters and working committees for implementation. The Membership Diversity and Volunteer Recruitment Committee will establish a protocol and message for soliciting dues at chapter meetings or other in person events. This plan will be submitted to AdCom for final approval and sent to chapters for implementation. IMPLEMENTATION: As outlined in the text of the proposal, this policy will require participation from the Secretary, Treasurer, chapters, AdCom, Fundraising and Finance Committee, and the Membership Diversity and Volunteer Recruitment Committee. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The additional expenses will be minimal. This proposal is about including a dues collection message in the work that we already do. If we can get 100 people to pay $25 on average, that will raise $2,500.