At our most recent MELD (Membership Engagement & Leadership Development) meeting, participants held a lively discussion about impending changes to the dues payment process for the League of Women Voters. The “Transformation Plan” that was agreed to at the 2022 Convention in Denver is meant to streamline membership dues systems. Traditionally, local leagues have received dues from local members, and then paid a portion of those monies to both the state and national Leagues, making local League members automatically state and national League members as well. Additional donations above the basic dues were kept as donations at the local level.
However, beginning sometime in 2024, LWV members who join or renew will automatically pay the national League a basic dues of $75 (in most cases), and then the national League will pay state and local Leagues each a percentage of this dues. All local and state LWVs will be required to use this new membership system. This new process will be more streamlined, but it may affect many local Leagues in how much money they collect from dues or additional donations. It could also have an impact on the Club Express platform that many local Leagues use for membership management.
The main goal of this MELD meeting was to discuss this “Transformation Plan” and how it will impact us. Many participants felt that the plan will take many Leagues by surprise, and we all need to prepare for the changes by looking at how we collect donations and manage our budgets and membership. Some local Leagues will need to change their by-laws in order to accommodate the new processes.
Also at this meeting, our LWVWA representative, Beth Pellicciotti, was excited to tell us that the LWVWA has applied for a grant for the translated
The State We Are In textbooks to be given to teachers in K-12 dual language classrooms. The state Civic Education Committee will also be contacting local Leagues for short descriptions of their civic education activities to be used for future stories.
Participating at this online meeting were: Karen Raymond (Kittitas), Paul Spencer (Pullman), Bev Herbst (Skagit), Valerie Kelley and Michelle Frye (Snohomish), Beth Pellicciotti (Board Representative), and Jean Alliman, Facilitator.
The next MELD meeting will be on Nov. 9. If you have any questions about MELD or would like to participate, please contact Valerie Kelley or Michelle Frye.