ANST - Society membership

[Pelfrey]

A reoccurring theme to this thread bothers me.  I keep reading what does a
membership get me?  How can we convince people they should join?

First:  You are either paying your own way or riding on the charity of
others.  If you truly deserve charity this is acceptable.  In a society
based on honor, not paying for the cow because you get the milk for free is
not acceptable.  Someone is paying for the cow.

Second:  If you play you get many more benefits than just the Blackstar, TI
and insurance.

1)  Every event you attend you receive an immediate monetary benefit.  As a
non profit organization our costs are less by 25% to 40%  for not paying
taxes.

2) Traveling from one kingdom to another you enjoy the same rank and
privilege earned regardless of geography.  You do not have to start over
from scratch every time you move or take a vacation.

3) WAR.  We have the ability to have wars because of an umbrella
organization that coordinates rules for the society as a whole.  If you
doubt this, try to declare war on Amptgard.

4) We have employees and volunteers who monitor laws that are passed to
insure our ability to continue as a non profit organization.

5) People who file the mountain of paperwork required by the federal
government each and every year.  These people are running a corporation that
in international in scope. (I only wish I had the number to give comparison
to a real company of the same size.)

6) We have positive PR for an international organization respected as a
research group instead of a group of weirdos in Texas.

7) A college of Heraldry maintained on a national level to insure every
member a unique device and name.  This is only possible with a single parent
organization.

None of these are cheap, and I am sure I am only touching the tip of the
iceberg.

Cassandra Palfrey

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