Membership Committee

Function The Membership Committee is responsible for activities that promote membership growth and diversity, and encourage the retention of existing members. 

Leadership and Composition The committee has 10-15 members, and should include the SPNHC Treasurer as coordinator between the Committee Chairperson and Council, allowing the Membership Committee Chairperson to work closely with the SPNHC Treasurer to effectively coordinate Committee activities. Committee members should consist of representatives of the various natural history disciplines. 

Duties Committee activities include 

  1. Maintenance of Membership database including coordination with webmaster (updating automatic messages), membership renewal reminders, membership statistics, and responding to membership enquiries.
  2. Confirming membership status of SPNHC officers and committee members.
  3. Sending invitations to non-member participants of Annual Meetings, to non-member authors in Collection Forum, and other potentially interested individuals.
  4. Coordinating the advertising of SPNHC membership in various publications and at meetings of related organizations.
  5. Coordinating the membership booth at SPNHC and other relevant meetings.
  6. Liaising with annual meeting hosts on promotional opportunities.
  7. Contributing Membership Profile articles to the SPNHC Newsletter.
  8. Assessing and making recommendations on membership rates and rate structure.
  9. Quantitatively evaluating effectiveness of Committee efforts.

Calendar Items

  • January 7: Send a reminder for membership renewals
  • February 1: Report to Newsletter
  • February 8: Send a reminder for membership renewals
  • Winter/spring: Determine summer/fall schedule for booth
  • May 1: Send final reminder for membership renewal when registration for the annual meeting has opened.
  • May/July: Committee meets at the Annual meeting
  • Summer/fall: Determine winter/spring schedule for booth
  • August 1: Report to Newsletter
  • August 31: Submit any corrections or text revisions to the Secretary for the Leadership Manual
  • September: Transfer important records and items of committee business to the Archives Committee
  • October 15: Send out a call for membership renewal to all current year members. Compile a list of current members from the database. Save this original list; it will be the basis from which subsequent reminders can be sent to those who have not yet renewed. 

Reviewed by Linda S. Ford and Laura Abraczinskas, July 2019
Revised by Tiffany Adrain, July 2019
Reviewed by Jean-Marc Gagnon, March 2014
Updated by Tiffany Adrain, March 2014