Each Fall we ask you to pay your dues, and everyone in the Nokomis thanks you for staying up to date. Dues ensure that the basics of the Club are covered.
Producing and sending the Newsletter – Forty years ago this was printing and postage and was our largest single expense. Now it covers the Website’s hosting and registration. We’re keeping that expense as low as possible by using NO pay-for-use software, and a very inexpensive hosting service.
Banking and Finance – When the Nokomis was born and we were Searching for Spock, the main banking costs were physical checks and a monthly fee since we were a low-volume use organization. Now those costs are gone, but we have new costs in electronic service fees like everyone else. Did you notice we didn’t raise the dues to cover those charges?
Cards, Flowers, and Memorials – We occasionally receive requests to recognize life events. When this happens, the Nokomis may send flowers or a card as appropriate, or make a contribution to a charitable organization if the recipient prefers. Like all costs, these have risen dramatically since 1984. Many years the Dues covers this completely, but not always. We’ve chosen to keep dues the same and supplement from fundraising or donations.
Meeting Locations – Though most of our locations are free, we will rent a site for regular meetings when needed, like the Anniversary Picnic. At the founding we met in people’s homes and yards. We outgrew that and started using public sites like libraries. Sometimes these library rooms charge nominal fees to groups like ours to raise revenue.
ZOOM – Clearly a new expense, Virtual Meetings became a necessity during the Pandemic and now form the basis of our hybrid meetings. Every month we have up to a dozen people attend online. The Nokomis pays for the subscription, and the added hardware and effort to set up are donated.
Individual Dues started at $10 per year in 1984 and has only been raised once, to $15 per year roughly 20 years ago. Would you guess that $10 dues in 1984 would be the equivalent of $29.61 in 2023 according the US Bureau of Labor statistics? Diligent effort on keeping costs low allows us to keep dues at the same level for decades at a time, and there’s no increase planned for the foreseeable future.
In a very real sense, YOU keep the club running with your dues. Thank You!
If you need help with paying your Dues, the Nokomis may be able to help. It’s never our intent to exclude anyone for financial reasons.
