The
Ohio State University Alumni ClubThe
Ohio State University Alumni Club
New members join our group almost every month, so naturally there are always questions about membership dues. Typical questions are:
The largest category of club expense is the printing and mailing of the materials that we send to the club membership. We do mailings to the entire club (~850+) only once or twice per year in order to keep club administrative costs to a minimum.
The copying and postage amount to $600-$850 per mailing even with volunteers doing all the labels, stuffing, flap licking, and stamp sticking. Our usual mailings are for:
None of our club officers and volunteers are paid, or receive mileage allowances. Most absorb any incidental expense they incur for the club. We have no rent, website, phone, or office expenses. We do reimburse what are clearly club expenses to those who pay them only because the club Treasurer wasn't around to write the check.
For 2007, the total of these expenses was 11 per cent of the dues and donations collected. The other 89 percent will be sent to the club's Scholarship Fund (#646980) at The Ohio State University.
How do you keep track of my payments ?
For each member, we keep track of dues paid and member's expiration by month. A dues payment always extends your expiration date by 12 months (maybe more). So if you were to join up in October, your expiration date is October of next year.
If next year, you actually pay your dues in August, your membership expiration is extended to October of the following year - 12 months from your current expiration date.
If next year you pay your dues late, say in December, we extend your expiration to December of the following year, as though you were joining anew.
Am I paying for This Year, or Next Year ?
Good question. We have established August as the beginning of Next Year. If you pay dues in August or later, you are actually paying for Next Year. Conversely, if you pay dues in January through July, you are paying for This Year - unless, of course, you had previously paid for This Year - in which case, your Jan-July payment will be recorded as paying for Next Year. You get the picture.
Every mailing label you receive will have the expiration month yyyy/mm and the Dues Year YY that you are paid for. If you want to forget about all this and simply want to ask someone about the status of your dues, contact Jeff Linkinhoker 776-5023 or Sam Huffman 370-3842
Can I pay for more than one year?
Yes. Annual dues are $20 per household. If you want to pay for additional years, dues are $15 per household per additional year - up to four additional years. Example - if you want to pay for three years, the total amount would be $20 + $15 + $15 = $50.
1 year
$20
2 years $35
3 years $50
4 years $65
5 years $80
Is some portion of my dues payment tax deductible?
Yes. Our club annually files all of the required financial and administrative reports with The Ohio State University Alumni Association. Doing so makes a portion of your dues payment tax deductible within the tax laws applicable to your situation. Our club operating costs are $5 per member per year. Any annual payment over $5 is tax deductible. If you pay $20 for one year, $15 of it is considered a deductible donation. If you pay $50 for three years (the example above), the first $15 is for club administrative costs for the three years, and the remaining $35 is a donation.
Why not send an expiration notice?
Good idea.... except that over the course of a year, sending everyone an expiration notice adds the fuss, bother, and expense of another complete membership mailing. Instead of that, we print your expiration date on the mailing label of everything we send to you..... and we do a complete canvass of the membership each fall including, for your convenience, a return window envelope and a membership card so that we have your most current information on file.
We also maintain a club e-list of email addresses for those members who share them with us. We use this list to disseminate information on upcoming club activities, gatherings, cancellations, changes, etc that simply are too close-in and too expensive to do by postal mailings. The e-list has proven to be an very effective method for keeping the club informed about things with minimal effort and cost. Please consider signing up.
To get on the e-list, send your name to Jeff Linkinhoker. (If you also include your postal address, we'll send you a blank membership card and return envelope). The e-list is used ONLY for club business, announcements, and notifications - PERIOD. We also hide the list from all e-list recipients so that no one can see who else is on the e-list.
We don't let anyone else use the e-list, nor do we send messages to the e-list on their behalf. If you are selling OSU T-Shirts (whatever) and want us to tell our members about it, don't ask -- the answer's NO. If you have a commercial OSU related web site and feel our membership should know about it, don't ask, the answer's NO.
If we feel some of these Buckeye offerings may be of interest to our club membership, we place a link to them on this web site that members can then CHOOSE to use. But we do not propagate any spam to your mailbox - directly or indirectly. You get the picture.
... I don't pay dues? Well, we really need for you to help us financially if you can, but if you can't, or if you feel you don't do enough with the club to justify the $20 per year, that's OK. We still consider you a member of the Middle Tennessee Ohio State Family and of the local club, and we still want you to be informed of Ohio State University activities in our area.
Dues paying OSU Club members enjoy these advantages: