Online Dues Renewal

 

 

   Q. Explain how the online dues payment will work?

 

   A.  This new enhancement will offer our membership a “convenience” benefit to pay

      their dues with a credit card. Members will log on through our Association

      web site and view a screen displaying the same billing information as the

      secretary/treasurer can view in the Membership Payment/Information area of

     IMPAK. Full payment will be required. Once payment is processed, the IMPAK

      record will update and show paid, just as if you entered the amount manually. 

      The chapter will remain in control of what the chapter charges for dues. An

      Online Dues Report listing all payments received by credit card, will be available

      for chapter secretary/treasurers in the Report section of IMPAK.

 

 

  • I heard that the proposed online dues payment option was going to be
  •    voluntary and that Chapters could decide whether they wanted to participate
  •    and offer this benefit. Is this accurate?
  • The proposed 2008 online dues payment option is absolutely voluntary for our
  •    members. It is simply a “convenience benefit” being offered to the membership.
  •    Each member can decide whether they want to use the online option and pay their
  •    dues by credit card, or pay their dues as they have done in the past. (Starting in
  • 2008, in both the above instances, the membership card will be mailed
  • directly to the member by a more cost effective process established by the Executive Office.) 
  •      A Chapter-by-Chapter implementation of the online dues payment option is not

     effective or efficient from an operational or administrative perspective. It is also

     likely to cause considerable concern and confusion across the membership when

     some members in certain Chapters have access to this benefit and others do not.

    

     The Association’s well tested database and the processes used for the online

     Phoenix Conference registration are supporting the proposed online dues payment

     option. While there undoubtedly will be some wrinkles in the new online dues

     payment process, they should be relatively minor ones. 

  •    Chapter Officer input and feedback regarding whether or not the Association
  •    should offer the convenience of online dues payment to the membership is
  •    important. Chapter Officer feedback received to date reflects that online dues
  •       payment is a benefit that members will likely utilize. These officers also had

      questions about the processes. Their questions and the answers to these

      “frequently asked questions” are shown below. 

 

     IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS, THOUGHTS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW

    OFFERING THIS OPTION WILL IMPACT YOUR CHAPTER…PLEASE

    CONTACT US. 

   

 

 

Credit Card Fees

 

 

    • Will the credit card fees and other administrative costs of the online dues payment option and centralized membership card distribution be charged to the Chapters? Will it require a dues increase?
    • The Executive Office will not assess any fees or charges to the Chapters for the “convenience benefit” of a member paying their dues online. The Chapters should experience some savings in postage and mailing. There will be no dues increase. The Executive Office has budgeted to provide this benefit to members. However, there are merchant credit card fees that will be charged to the Association. These fees are estimated to be $18,000 if half the members use the online convenience option. The Executive Office is recommending a $1.00 convenience fee be paid by the member using the online option, to offset some of the costs.
  • Dues Notification

 

 

    • How will the new “online” payment option impact the annual dues notification process?
    • Notification (invoicing) will continue to be handled at the Chapter level. The amount billed to each member should mirror the amount owed in the Membership Payment/Information area in the IMPAK database.

 

    • My Chapter invoice includes non-dues items. How will these anomalies be collected if the member decides to pay dues online instead of sending a check?
    • Members will only be able to pay their current year’s scheduled dues payment online. Chapters who have, in the past, invoiced and collected additional monies [such as back dues and special events] concurrent with the annual dues will need to make some changes to their notification process beginning in 2008.

 

Online Payments

 

 

  • How will I know when a member makes a payment, if they choose to pay online with a credit card?
  • The member’s payment record in IMPAK will show paid, the same as if it was entered manually by the secretary/treasurer. The National portion of the online payment will not show up in the Chapter Remit. The chapter portion of the online payment will be displayed on a separate report in IMPAK. This report will provide accounting to the chapter affiliate for the payments that are processed and total dollar amounts to be remitted back to the chapter at the end of the quarter. This report will be updated daily and can be accessed by the chapter through IMPAK under Reports.

 

 

Reconciliation of Payments

 

 

  • How will I reconcile payments I have entered into IMPAK versus payments automatically entered through the online option?
  • IMPAK currently provides a variety of reports available under the Report section:
    • Chapter Remit Report – This report details the National portion of the
    •     member’s payment and the amount the Chapter will pay National at the
    •     end of the quarter. This is the same process we now use and will remain
    •     the same.
    • Membership List Report provides the detail on the Chapter portion of the member’s payment. paid directly to the chapter. This report has always been available to assist the secretary/treasurer in reconciling the portion of the dues retained by the chapter.
    • Additional Payment Report provides detail on all other payments entered into the database other than dues. 
    • The Online Report (not officially named at this time) will also be available in the Report section. This report will provide the detail of the chapter payments received online. At the end of each quarter, the National Office will remit, to each chapter, the total amount of chapter dues received.

 

 

 

 

    • How often will my chapter receive the money collected online?
    • At the end of each calendar quarter, the National Office will remit the
  •       total amount of chapter dues received. This quarterly remittance will
  •       include the money collected for the chapter through the online process and
  •       also all dues collected from the New Graduate Session.

 

 

MembershipCard Distribution

 

 

    • Please explain what mechanism will be in place to distribute the membership card to the member. Is there a new process the secretary/treasurers will have to complete to make this happen?

 

  • When a payment is entered into a member record, either manually by the secretary/treasurer or online with a credit card, a flag is automatically set on that record to print a membership card.  At predetermined intervals, the Executive Office will query the IMPAK database for all paid members. The query will include the member’s unique identification number, name and primary mailing information. Once records are queried, the flag will change to “printed” and will not be included in any subsequent queries.
  • This file will be forwarded to our fulfillment center who will print the information directly to the membership card. The center will also handle the posting and mailing process.
  • Beginning in 2008, each member’s unique system ID number will become the member number which will print on the membership card each year. 

 

 Delinquency

 

 

  •    Q.    How will we keep track of members who are tardy in paying? How will
  •         subsequent notices be handled?
  •   Accepting dues payments online is simply activating a mechanism which is
  •       already in place. I want to clarify that we are NOT implementing a new

      database system and we are NOT making any changes to the IMPAK database

      that would change how your chapter currently handles invoicing, entry of

      payments, or processing the Chapter Remit. Reports and labels are available

      in the database, to assist with the necessary monitoring and follow up of these

      delinquent members.

  • Life Members
  • Q.    Our Chapter has a full fledged Life Membership program in place and we

       would like to extend this benefit in the future? Currently, we pay the

       National portion and forgive the Chapter portion. How will this program

       be affected?

 

 

  •  Life Memberships will continue to be handled exactly the same as you have in
  •      the past. The fear that these special members would receive invoicing can be
  •      put to rest, as the Executive Office will not be handling the invoicing of dues.
  •      The Chapter will continue to handle this task. These Life Members will receive
  •      a membership card automatically once the National payment has been entered
  •      into the database.