[Ansteorra] Non-Member Surcharge

[Rose]

Hmm... I really wasn't trying to insinuate that only chivalric fighters
are fighters, or that equestrians don't count. As I explained, I picked fighters randomly. It could have been Laurels, or scribes, or any other group of participants. :) I am not a
fighter or even a spectator, except the occasional glimpses I get
while water-bearing, so I apologize for messing up the terminology, and if anyone's feathers were ruffled by my words.

Back to the discussion... Is the prime purpose of the NMS to convince people to purchase memberships? It seems like SCA, Inc. wants people to purchase memberships to raise funds. So, really, the purpose of the NMS is to raise funds. So let's think of long-term ways to raise funds, if that's what SCA, Inc. needs.

Of course, my recurring thought to all of this is that I'm tired of hearing what SCA, Inc. wants and needs, and only being able to consider solutions that would work for the entire Society. I want to know what *Ansteorra* needs. Do Ansteorrans pay enough money to keep Ansteorra running? Do we pay enough to SCA, Inc. (minus the NMS feels) to keep Ansteorra running without SCA, Inc., as a Texan or an Oklahoman non-profit? If so, what the heck are we waiting for?

Am I the only one who wants to get rid of the NMS and bring back the waterbearers? Is it even feasible to do?

*sigh*


-R the O

Wonder is the cause of delight because it carries the hope of discovery.     -Thomas Aquinas

--- On Fri, 2/19/10, Jay Rudin <rudin at peoplepc.com> wrote:

From: Jay Rudin <rudin at peoplepc.com>
Subject: [Ansteorra]  Non-Member Surcharge
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA,Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Date: Friday, February 19, 2010, 12:02 PM

Rose wrote:

> I wonder, though, why we have the surcharge WHERE we have it.

Because a prime purpose of the NMS is to convince people to buy corporate memberships.  So it has to be a tax on all non-members taking part, and the only place to do that is where they enter the event.

> Corporate REALLY wants us to have newcomers.
> Corporate REALLY wants/needs more money.

> It seems like the NMS fee for non-members is a battle between the two. 

Yup.  I suspect that the NMS reduces the number of new people taking part, while getting the others to pay a fee to the corporation.  If so, establishing it produces an immediate influx of income (which it did), followed by a long slow reduction in our membership (which is unprovable, even if it happened).  It's clearly bad for the re-creation game.  In the long term, I think it's also bad for the corporation, but eliminating it would represent an immediate loss of income for them, and won't happen.

> Is there not a different place altogether where we can
> put a surcharge? Maybe $1 per entry, per tournament, for fighters? *ducks and runs*

Don't duck and run.  Instead, stop and think.  

The goal is to convince people to buy memberships, and to get some money out of those who don't.  So it must be charged to all non-members who attend events.

(It goes back to the silly idea that people who make costumes and armor, teach classes, clean up after events, pay site fees to pay for sites, volunteer at demos, etc., are somehow not doing their fair share if they don't also buy a newsletter from a California corporation.)

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin

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