[Ansteorra] Lifetime Membership

[Bree Flowers]

Sorry, when you said "determined by them" I assumed "them" was the
member, not the corporation. So maybe you would pay $300, but what if
Lord Cheapsalot over there thinks that paying for 30 years was good
enough and he wants his lifetime membership for $5? That's why I
thought it was a rubbish idea. If the corporation set the rate it
might work.

Something else to consider... what is included in lifetime membership?
Obviously those things which can be provided at no cost (or
insurance-related cost, which is hard to calculate on an individual
basis), like ability to hold office, ability to fight in Crown
tournaments, and access to electronic newsletters. But what about
something with a quantifiable, recurring cost, like postage for print
newsletters? If someone was born to parents in the SCA who signed them
up for membership as teenagers, it is conceivable that they would
qualify for lifetime before they were 50 years old and play for
another 20 years after that. 20 years of mailings are going to add up.
I know that's the exception, but still...

I suppose the flip-side of the coin would be that this would be adding
"value" to your membership. By keeping up your payments you may one
day qualify for lifetime membership. Which might encourage people to
keep paying instead of lapsing when life gets in the way and they know
they're not going to be attending anything for a while anyway.

~Eve

On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 10:16 PM, Robert G. Ferrell <rgferrell at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 5/16/2012 9:45 PM, Bree Flowers wrote:
>
>> I think that if the organization is in financial trouble right now
>> that this would probably not help.
>
>
> I disagree. Lifetime memberships decrease income somewhat over the long
> term, but provide additional income in the short term, and the short term is
> where we need it most. If I pay you $50 a year, for example, you will get
> $300 from me over a period of six years, presuming I continue to
> participate. Every year that $50 will represent a little less spending
> power, due to cost of living increases. But If I give you $300 right now,
> you'll have $300 worth of spending power at current rates. True, seven years
> from now you'll begin to experience a decrease in annual income because I'll
> no longer be giving you that $50 payment, but of course if I decide to stop
> playing next year, you'll effectively be $200 richer than you would have
> been. This is a gamble, something like insurance, and we'd need to run the
> numbers to see whether or not it would, in fact, be a viable financial move,
> but to state that it could not be of (short term) benefit to the SCA's
> coffers is not a sound assertion.
>
> Cynric
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