Dues Increase

The board of directors @ TI have just released a dues increase effective 1 October 2011. Here is an excerpt from the announcement:

"Dear Toastmaster member,

As directed by policy, the Board of Directors periodically reviews membership dues to ensure that the organization can satisfy member needs while continuously enhancing their experience and the services and programs provided. After a review of the organization's five-year financial forecast of activities compared with forecasted revenue,the Board has voted to increase membership dues.

As a result, on October 1, 2011 Toastmasters' annual membership dues will increase from $54 (U.S. dollars) to $72 (U.S. dollars), payable in increments of $36 (U.S. dollars) every six months.

Several factors drive this increase:

1. Member needs are greater than ever.
2. Since 1995, membership has grown nearly 55%, from 169,330 members in 1995 to 262,000 in 2010. In this same period, annual dues increased only once in 2005 from $36 (U.S. dollars) to $54 (U.S. dollars).
3. Toastmasters has passed the economy of scale established a decade ago; its support services must expand in order to better serve its ever-expanding member base.

The increased funding will be used to enhance member support and services, and enable the implementation of the five-year Strategic Plan that was developed by the Board of Directors in 2010."

If you have questions the link to the FAQ's is here. If you have further questions please email duesincrease@toastmasters.org. Please pass this on to your treasurer. If you decide to raise your individual club dues you will need to change your club's by-laws and it will take a two-thirds vote of your clubs active membership to make the change. Remember Dues notifications go out August 15th!