collect dues

Collecting dues, particularly fraternity dues, is among the hardest and most frustrating tasks for organization leaders. Small and intimate organizations do not lend themselves to efficient business practices. Yet your organization depends on properly collecting dues. This guide provides some best practices, but your best weapon will always be tact.

Collectively set your budget. Every paying member of your organization has the right to know where those monies are going. Moreover, by understanding their benefit from the budget, they will be more likely to pay.

Set your budget early. Give everyone enough notice to either earn or raise the cost of dues. This will anticipate and prevent excuses like, “if I had only known, I wouldn’t have gone to Vegas.”

Mandate payment early. For fraternities and other college organizations, collect within the first week of classes, when everyone is still flush with summer cash. Make it clear that your organization is a financial priority.

Schedule your overhead costs first. Insurance policies, dues to your national, rent on your house, and other costs should come first. This is good business, because in the real world, creditors are not shy about getting the law involved. This (often terrifying) reality will also motivate your members to pay quickly.

Collect as much as you can quickly as possible. Set payment plans for everyone who doesn’t pay in full. Everyone must pay something; everyone must have a plan for paying in full.

If there are members who refuse to make any payment at all, begin appropriate measures (see below notes for examples).

If your measures fail, consider either a collection agency or disbarring the member. Make no mistake, farming out your dues collection can range from awkward to hurtful in a small organization. Worse, losing a member because he or she refuses to pay dues is very, very stupid reason. Both your organization and the member should be able to compromise. But if you cannot, the health of your organization and your ability to collect future dues depends on your acting firmly.

~ by joygrace on October 28, 2008.