Truth be told, many people would rather think about anything else besides when to raise membership dues or how to do it. But with dues revenue more necessary now than ever, is there a way to avoid the awkward, recurrent discussion of how to get it done? In a word: yes.
Susan Avery, CAE, CEO of the International Association of Plastics Distribution, had been with the group for a couple of years and noticed that at every fall board meeting raising dues was on the agenda because her predecessor had added it, and there it remained. Typically, there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to raising the dues—it had more to do if IAPD was in the black or not. And a lot of times when raising dues came up, it was for a big jump, like 5 or 10 percent.
After Avery sat through a couple of those meetings, she thought, “This is insane.” Having to go back and justify to members every couple of years that the dues would increase 5 to 10 percent was a hard conversation and it caused a lot of pushback. In IAPD members’ world, raw material prices, labor, and transportation go up and they adjust their prices. “It’s just a way of life,” Avery said.
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