Membership Review
Discussion Paper regarding the future of the Richmond Shakespeare Society
In recent months the General Committee and a specially appointed working group have been considering our membership structure-there are presently 8 separate Membership classes; there is an increasing blur between "Full" and "Audience" Membership; how do our subscription levels stand up to need and comparison to other groups and how can we simplify the administration of the system.
The Committee has come up with a number of different ideas and now seeks any views on them prior to formalising initial proposals for the General Meeting.
Our thinking can be broken down along into areas as outlined below. These are not by any means cut and dried and, whilst inter-related to do not all have to be followed through either now or in the future :
1) Membership Year. At present Members join at any time during the year - with renewal twelve months later. The Committee believe that in future annual Membership should be in line with the Financial Year ie 1 July to 30 June. In this way, the bulk of the subscription renewal administration is all done at the same time which also happens to coincide with the quiet time in the Theatre. There would obviously be a onetime task sorting out existing memberships but in future, during the year only new subscriptions need be administered. This would also help obviate those awkward situations where at present Members who have "forgotten" to renew still attend functions - and not least assist with the administration of our gift aid recharges .Clearly a pro-rated subscription would be needed for a year in which a new member first joined. This change could be effective from 1 July 2011.
2) Multi- year subscriptions. Many organisations provide for eg 5 year subscriptions to be paid in advance at current rates. Members get the benefit of current subscription levels. The Theatre only has to administer the subscription once and has the earlier use of the money. We might also consider "Life" Membership for say 20 x the annual subscription
3) Membership Classes Currently we have 8 classes;
Amount No of Members Total Subscriptions
Full £30 91 £2,730
Joint Full £25 62 £1,550
Senior £20 91 £1,820
N.U.S./U.B.40 £15 11 £165
Junior £15 38 £570
Junior at Family Rate £10 5 £50
Sub-total £23.10avg 298 £6,885
Audience £10 363 £3,630
Audience + Rumour £15 100 1,500
There is increasing desire and pressure to allow Audience Members to assist in Front of House, Bar , Box Office, Stuffing+Leafletting. The distinction between what Audience and Full Members can do is becoming less apparent and indeed, with the exception of actually being involved in a show, many Audience Members participate as fully as Full Members(and we welcome them!) Equally, many who work for the theatre (selling probgrammes and coffees for instance) effectively pay for the privilege as they do not appear in shows but pay the higher rate of subscription.
The Committee is therefore considering scrapping the distinction altogether and proposing one class of Membership at one level of subscription - perhaps £15 per annum for everyone. Clearly we would not however deter those happy to continue paying at higher levels if they so wish. The Gift Aid declaration will of course continue to be available on written forms and on the website.
Those who are currently Audience Members would gain several entitlements:
a) They would receive our magazine, 'Rumour';
b) They would be entitled to attend and vote at the A.G.M., and to stand for office;
c) They would be welcomed at the theatre bar whenever it is open, such as weekend lunchtimes;
d) They would receive invitations to all R.S.S. social events.
4) Acting Membership. Participating in a production is generally considered the real reason for joining a Theatre Group like ours. For many actors that is in fact the only involvement they have with the Group and they do not participate in FOH,backstage, serving coffees etc!.Your Committee feel that a performance fee for actors in a production might be a fair way of balancing these issues perhaps £10/£15 per production?. Many other AmDram companies do this. The Audition slip would incorporate a reference to this.
5) Box Office The reason we have audience Membership is because the Theatre is a Club and does not have a licence to sell tickets to the General Public. At present Box Office handles Ticket purchases from the general Public by requiring purchasers to take out £10 Audience membership. It is suggested some form of temporary audience Membership Fee( £1 per ticket or £5 for 1 month?) might be neededif the increase from £10 to £15 was a deterrent.
6) Gift Aid impact There seems no major reason why the changes envisaged should substantially affect our ability to claim tax refunds on at least an element of each qualifying subscription.
7) Rumour,Leaflets etc. With a potential increase in Members receiving Rumour etc, the Committee feels the time has come to consider a emailed Newsletter as an option for Members, It would assist in reducing our printing,postage and "stuffing" load. If you have the experience to help in this field please contact a member of the Committee who wish to create a small sub-committee to make this happen.
We would be delighted to hear any of your thoughts on this - do please let us know your ideas by using the Contact Us button on this web-site, or writing to the theatre.
This is a totally open area for discussion for both now, and some while to come.
Posted 5th July 2010
(between 10 am and 7 pm only please)
“Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine, his honour and greatness of his name shall be”Henry VIII, Act v, Sc.4