I agree with those who say to look at the circumstances and timing when
refunding memberships.

Here's an example.  Where I used to work we held a huge art fair
fundraiser, and people who joined the organization when they paid
admission to the fair would get their fair admission fee reduced.
Although the fair is always held "rain or shine", with no refunds, one
year the weather was just miserable--lots of mud making pathways
impassable despite laying down lots of straw, danger from electrical
cords, etc. We had to shut down the fair for about half the weekend
purely for public safety reasons. While our policy stated that we could
not refund peoples' fair admission ticket costs, upon request we did
refund the memberships of those who joined to get the discounted
admission.  They had to be new members, though; renewals weren't
eligible for refunds.  (actually we did end up refunding art fair
admission tickets for those who made a huge stink about it, and they had
to have been members prior to purchasing their ticket in order to get
the refund)

The PR value of membership refunds must always be part of the process
when deciding to refund or not.

Julia Muney Moore
Public Art Administrator
Blackburn Architects, Indianapolis, IN
(317) 875-5500 x219
mobile (317) 460-0596
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Jansonius, Remko (Vizcaya)
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 12:48 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Membership Cancellation Policies?

Glen,
IMHO the refund of a membership fee defeats the very idea behind a
membership program: to support an organization, usually for the period
of one year, in their general operation, programming, or whatever those
funds are applied to.
I realize there may be exceptional circumstances where an organization
would consider a refund. 

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