[MR] is it the value of membership or values in general?

[Becky McEllistrem]

Whenever we have discussions about money  we always
have those who get angry at mandatory payments (like
me) and then we have the groups that want to say "it's
not that much money, you should be able to pay it" or
"you should have said something when they called for
comment" etc.  And then we get lots of comments about
how BOD members are people too and  the comparisons to
other non profit organizations, like sporting events,
concerts, and professional organizations.  (By the
way, I rarely attended any of these and certainly
haven't in the last year.  I also don't think these
comparisons are comparing apples to apples.  Sporting
events have large ticket prices because they're paying
professional sportsment.  None of our sportsmen get
paid a regular salary.)

I understand that BOD members are people too and I
even count some of them as my friends.  But whenever
there's a decision to be made about money, there
always seems to be a huge confusion in the management
of the decision.  For instance, there was a call for
comment about money in general but not about this
particular change, and there was no discussion of the
comments, whether they were good or bad etc.  As I
understand it, 500 letters or so and nothing I saw
that discussed any results of this effort.

The thing isn't that I'm against the money.  I chose
to afford a membership even though I've been
unemployed for a year and am now trying to start my
own business.  But all the years that I've played, SCA
I was taught that the SCA is an inclusive organization
not an exclusive organization.  The second we demand a
pay scale in any form to non members, we change and
become an exclusive organization.    The second we
encourage the "if you want to play with us you should
be able to send this much to our Corporation", we
encourage an exclusive attitude.

This is why when worries about funds come along you
change existing membership fees.  That way you're only
changing something for people that have already
decided they can afford to pay.



Rebecca

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