Hi, Glen --

Over the years I've been a member of dozens of organizations (Friends of ... as well as professional organizations) and I don't recall any of them offering refunds of membership dues.  Then again, I never asked for a refund, I simply didn't renew next time around.

There could be some special circumstances under which a refund might be requested and honored -- the death of the member, a military callup or extreme financial hardship,  Assuming any of these events took place early in the membership year, it might be good PR to make such a refund - or, at least, avoid some bad PR if the former member wants to make an issue about a refusal.  

If this is something that you think is likely to come up often, it would be a good idea to draft a policy where you could establish a charge for processing a refund.  Another approach would be to prorate the refund  based on the amount of time that has passed since the member last renewed. 

If a policy is overkill, why not note on the membership form that the fee is non-refundable?  Besides the loss of membership income, staff time should be spent on more productive work than processing refunds.

You need to check with your museum's legal advisor for applicable local tax regulations and consumer protection laws. It's possible that if the museum does not inform the prospective member that membership dues are  non-refundable, you're under obligation to return at least part of the amount paid. 

Judy Turner
Whitefish Bay, WI

 
--- On Mon, 1/5/09, Glen Moore <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Glen Moore <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Membership Cancellation Policies?
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Monday, January 5, 2009, 10:36 AM
> Seeking the wisdom of the list ;-)
> 
> What policy does your museum have in place if a member
> requests a membership refund? A full refund seems
> unreasonable.


      

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