Monday 22 August 2011

Membership Fees

The club's management committee met recently to review the club's membership charges. This year we've made a number of changes to the way membership works and these are effective as of 15th August 2011.

We hope that the changes below will encourage greater membership of the club and help us cover our increased running costs.

> You can join or renew here

Overview

  • Membership now valid a full 12 months
  • New volunteer discounts
  • Hardship discretion retained
  • Unemployed & Student rate just £25
  • Trial period for new players retained and amended to encourage membership sooner.
  • Men's Pay-As-You Go - £60 + £10 subs
  • Loyalty rewarded for people with standing orders - no increase for those who've not cancelled, but now closed to new members.
  • New Men's 12 month inclusive Membership & Subs option £260 - now payable in 8 instalments of £32.50 per month paid in Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar & Apr.
  • Venus Membership £40 + £7.50 per game subs.
  • Social Membership & Parent Membership £25
  • Youth membership £15 + £3 per game subs
  • Life membership frozen at £1000

And in more detail....

Now Valid a full 12 Months
  • For all memberships we've decided to move to a rolling 12-month membership term instead of the AGM-to-AGM season based approach we've had to date. This will provide better value for members joining mid-season and encourage people to join year-round.
  • Memberships will generally start from the date of payment or will start from the date of the first game you play this season, whichever is earlier. We trust continuing members will choose to rejoin promptly.
  • In future years, for continuing members, membership will start from the date the previous membership expired unless the member gave formal notice of leaving the club prior to leaving (eg going overseas etc).  This will ensure continuous membership and no advantage is gained from delaying payment. 

New Players' Trial Period (applies to Men, Women & Youth)
  • The first game for new playing members will continue to be completely free of charge.  
  • Match subs are payable for the second game 
  • Players must be fully paid-up as a playing member to be selected for and play in their third game.
  • When new players decide to join, the first day of their membership will be backdated to their first game with the club - in this way players can enjoy the chance to try-before-they-buy, but gain no advantage from delaying payment.

Hardship Discretion Retained
  • At Millwall we pride ourselves in being 100% inclusive. As in previous years, members unable to pay membership for genuine reasons may make their case in confidence in writing/email to the treasurer who will come to an arrangement for membership and/or match day subs.


Men's Pay-As-You-Go Full Playing Membership
  • Increased to £60 but now valid a full 12 months. This is the first increase in 4 years and with a new Director of Rugby in place and weekly coaching, still represents excellent value for money. 
  • Match Day subs remain at £10 per game irrespective of time on the pitch and payable by everyone (including substitutes and drivers). Subs correct at time of writing but may be subject to increase if the club needs to do so.
  • Arrangements are already in place to reimburse people asked by an official to drive (£5 within M25 and £10 outside M25).
  • After 1st October in the (exceptional) event that a non-member is selected to play, casual player subs of £20 per game will be payable for each game until membership is paid - this is to encourage people to join the club as a full playing member.

Loyalty Rewarded for people paying by Standing Order
  • As in previous years, to say thank-you, we've decided to allow members with current standing order arrangements to continue paying as they do right now with no increase so long as they do not cease or amend the arrangement.

New Men's Regular Player Scheme - Valid 1 year but paid over 8 playing months.
  • To provide value and convenience for people playing more than 20 games per year, we have retained a discounted "membership and subs-inclusive" option but this is now payable over the 8 playing months of the year to ensure that all the payments are collected in full before the playing season ends.
  • This option is not available after 30th September. 
  • Membership is valid 12 months starting from the first payment date in September each year and will now form a contractual commitment to pay the club £260 over the year. This is paid in 8 instalments of £32.50 in September, October, November, December, January, February, March and April.
  • Members will be expected to make all 8 payments and if not, may not be allowed to play/renew membership in subsequent years without making up the shortfall. 

Venus Playing Membership
  • Increased to £40 per year but now valid a full 12 months. With a new Director of Rugby in place overseeing development of Venus and access to weekly training sessions (and a low coach-player ratio) this still represents excellent value for money. 
  • Match Day subs increase to £7.50 per game, irrespective of time on the pitch and payable by everyone (including substitutes and drivers). Subs correct at time of writing but may be subject to increase if the club needs to do so.
  • Arrangements are already in place to reimburse people asked by an official to drive (£5 within M25 and £10 outside M25). 

Students & Concessions
  • Membership £25 and match day subs £2.50 per game, irrespective of time on the pitch and payable by everyone (including substitutes and drivers). Subs correct at time of writing but may be subject to increase if the club needs to do so.

Youth Pay-As-You-Go
  • Increased to £15 but now valid a full 12 months. With a new Director of Rugby in place overseeing development of Youth, and regular training sessions, this still represents excellent value for money.
  • Match Day subs increase to £3.00 per game, irrespective of time on the pitch and payable by everyone (including substitutes and by players with parents driving). This small increase recognises the increasing costs of providing rugby but still keeps the charges affordable for all.

Social Membership
  • Increased to £25 but now valid a full 12 months. We expect this will entitle members to a discount off certain social events throughout the year as well as local discounts that may be arranged by our members for our members.

    Volunteer Discount
    • In order to encourage volunteering, it was decided to reward people who make a significant contribution of their time to the club. They will be entitled to claim 50% off their membership fees and any match day subs due. This discount will apply to all categories and methods of paying membership except life membership. In this day and age, with time an ever precious commodity, we believe this is one of the fairest ways of rewarding people who give up their time to make the club work. This replaces the previous volunteer hours scheme which was difficult to manage.
    • The discount will apply to all club management committee roles and all other elected positions automatically.
    • The discount will also be available to all other club (sub)committee members and volunteers, including unpaid coaches and unpaid referees upon application to the respective management committee chair and subsequent approval by CMC. A volunteer may need to pay the full amount and receive a rebate later following CMC approval.
    • The discount is not expected to apply to bar staff who are rewarded for their work in clubhouse credits, unless of course, they contribute significantly over and above that.
    • The discount on subs shall apply as long as the committee member/volunteer continues to serve as such. A discounted membership shall remain valid as long as the committee member/volunteer continues to serve.  
    • For more detail on this, please ask the Secretary.

    Life Membership
    • This is frozen at £1000 lump-sum and covers your membership and match day subs for life.  If you want to pay over 12 instalments, the price is £1200 (12 x £100).

    Membership Cards
    • To keep costs and administration to a minimum, members will no longer be provided with electronic door-access cards as a matter of routine, but will still be able to request one if they would like one.  The card will gives access to the clubhouse during normal opening hours.
    • Instead, members will receive a simple laminated card bearing a photo and expiry date to make it easier for coaches, team managers and bar staff to see whether membership is valid.
    • This will also help us reduce the costs associated with our door access system and should help us issue membership cards more promptly than we've been able in the past.

    Memberships bought at the Bar
    • Memberships bought at the bar will now be valid from the day after they are purchased and must be supported by the signature of another currently paid up member.
    • This simple measure aims to provide added protection to the club and its members by preventing passers-by gaining instant access to the bar without being invited and signed-in by members.
    • Nevertheless, we are looking at ways to provide temporary membership cards to people immediately so that people who join can get a card instantly.
    Renew now online
    You can pay your membership here

    No comments:

    Post a Comment