Report from the Grand Council: Quarter 1, 2008

A. COMMITTEE ACTIVITY

The Council received an assigned topic via its BoD Ombudsman – to investigate the issue of membership dues, specifically with respect to "pay to play", "pay to participate", "pay to fight", or "pay to...?" The Council was further directed to address “potential problems and pitfalls, the positives and what the council perceives as the general feeling of the Society toward such a model.”

In addition, the Council was directed to consider the possibilities of a tiered membership format.

Initial discussion revealed a need for further clarification of the topic, specifically as regards the goals of the Board in considering changes to the current model and what was meant by the term “tiered membership.” The Council was subsequently informed that the Board was looking at this in the context of larger issues of membership, what it means to be a member of the SCA, and loyalty to local branches, Kingdoms, and the Society.

The Board is also interested in how the different levels of “pay to play” already in place in various Kingdoms impacted these loyalties, as well as whether they should be consistent across the Organization?

Tiered membership was described as including such things as a membership level for students or for people who want to come and watch, as well as levels for those that want to participate at certain levels. What should come with these tiers?

No formal motions emerged from the subsequent discussions. However, a number of points of general consensus were reached, as well as a number of funding models and approaches suggested. These are summarized below, with more information provided in section E. Discussion.

Increased “Pay to Play” requirements were widely seen as a bad idea, particularly with regards to a blanket members-only policy for event attendance. Chief concerns were the dampening effect on local recruitment, as well as the potential Kingdom-level fall-out which might result from the Society imposing any particular set of such requirements on Kingdoms with widely varying culturally-ingrained approaches to membership. It is widely believed by the Council that these decisions are best dealt with at the Kingdom level.

Similarly, the idea of tiered membership wherein there would be various levels of membership that allowed the member to participate in various levels or types of activities was seen very negatively. However, tiered membership when interpreted as a standard membership with discounts for certain categories (such as senior citizens or students) and “premium” membership levels that included additional tokens of appreciation such as a pewter mug or decorative scroll was viewed as a positive addition to the current membership model.

The Corporate office budget, in particular expenses associated with membership processing and newsletter subscriptions, was also examined. Unfortunately, a lack of sufficiently detailed information prevented any specific conclusions from being reached.

A number of alternative funding models were also discussed, as presented in Section E. .

B. COMMITTEE STATUS AND COMMENDATIONS

Resignations:

Cairistona inghean Raghnaill, Kingdom Representative, Lochac

Armand Dragonetti, Kingdom Representative, Ansteorra

Additions:

Gabriel “Thanatos” Kalethetos, Kingdom Representative, Lochac

Caelin on Andrede, Kingdom Representative, Ansteorra

Johannes von Narrenstein, at-large, Midrealm

Chiara Francesca Arianna d'Onofrio, at-large, Ansteorra

Mistress Rebecca with the Greyhound, at-large, Gleann Abhann

Jason Griffiths of ShadowHyrst, at-large, Caid

Madog Maelgwn Llewellyn. at-large, Middle

Bianca the Inquisitive, at-large, Atlantia (moved to Meridies mid-Quarter)

Galleron de Cressy, at-large, east

C. PUBLISHABLE SUMMARY

The Grand Council examined a number of topics related to membership, loyalty, and funding of the Corporate-level functions of the SCA. While it was obvious to most Council members that some changes would be necessary to the current funding model in order to maintain future operations, no true consensus was reached as to exactly what changes might be necessary or preferable.

A number of potential additions and/or changes to the current membership types were discussed. In addition, the NMS was revisited, as was electronic publishing of Society and Kingdom level publications. A number of potential alternative funding models were examined, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages over the current model.

D. CONFIDENTIAL

Nothing to report

 

E. DISCUSSIONS

Pay to Play/Fight/etc.

After much discussion, there emerged a consensus that the “pay to ______” approach has, in all likelihood, been extended about as far as is practical at this time. Currently, some Kingdoms have Pay to fight provisions, pay to receive awards, or both. While those Kingdoms appear quite happy with what they have, other Kingdoms do not appear amenable to joining them. It is the general feeling of the Council that these differences among Kingdoms have become, or possibly result from, deep-rooted differences in Kingdom cultures, and it would be extremely disruptive to the Kingdoms and the SCA as a Society to attempt to apply a uniform standard in this regard. As one Councilor described it, “That horse left the barn long ago, and the barn has since been burned. There is no going back.”

In addition to concerns about a backlash from many Kingdoms if additional Pay to Play provisions were to be imposed at the Society level, even Councilors from Kingdoms which currently have membership requirements for heavy combat and/or receiving awards felt that a true “Pay to Play” system that allowed only members to attend events would be disastrous. The most commonly mentioned objection was the belief that such a system would cripple local groups’ ability to recruit new members. It was also believed that this would be especially burdensome for groups in areas with relatively low SCA populations, many European groups (due to the differences in standard of living and exchange rates), and smaller branches, all of which tend to have smaller events and could not afford to lose non-member participants at those events.

In addition, this discussion of “pay to ____”, as have previous discussions, evoked memories of Tony Provine and the Mandamus action, a spectre which lingers still. In addition to the economic arguments that increased membership requirements for participation may well result in a loss of NMS income that outweighs any increase in membership revenue, particularly if many of the lower frequency attendees simply elect to no longer play SCA, most Council members appear to agree that the emotional costs of any such move would be substantial.

However, there was also recognition that in some jurisdictions – Australia was mentioned in particular, although this also applies in some European countries and possibly in other parts of the world – pure pay to play might become not only desirable but required due to the local legal or cultural environment. This was widely seen as another reason for continuing to allow individual Kingdoms a great deal of leeway to respond to local conditions in this regard.

Tiered Membership

The tiered membership discussion quickly revealed two fundamental differences in opinion as to what “tiered membership” meant. Some discussed it in terms of establishing discounted categories (ie student or senior memberships) and special “higher” categories that paid more and received various “tokens of appreciation,” such as a pewter token, a mug, preferred parking at the inter-Kingdom war of your choice, etc. This idea was generally seen as a positive thing, and was frequently referred to as PBS-style fundraising.

The other interpretation of tiered membership was that it referred to having a base membership with additional fees applied in order to fight, participate in A&S competitions, hold office, engage in live weapons, participate in equestrian activities, etc. This approach was quickly rejected by most Council members as being far too punitive of those who engage in a wide array of SCA activities, as well as once again being a major obstacle to recruitment since it made it very difficult for newcomers to sample various aspects of the SCA. Many Councilors, as well as on-members of the Council, pointed out that their long-term enjoyment of the SCA owed much to the wide variety of activities they were exposed to, and that they might well no longer be participating in the SCA if there had been an extra fee to pay or membership class to buy every time they wanted to try something new.

Loyalty to the SCA, Inc.

Many members of the Council found this entire topic puzzling. To them, the purpose of the Board of Directors and Corporate Officers, and to a lesser extent the Society Officers, was to minimize contact between the populace of the various Kingdoms and the Corporate structure of the SCA and its modern-world requirements. The populace may appreciate the work the Board and Corporate Office do to enable the game to function, but there is no reason for this appreciation to become loyalty. As one commenter said, “The BOD should be like a fence, protecting those of us playing the game from that which is outside the game. There should be appreciation for the fence but loyalty in this game should be to your household, group, Principality, or Kingdom. ‘

Others compared it to loyalty in the military, wherein loyalty comes from the bottom up: a soldier is loyal first to the men in his fire team or squad, then to his platoon, and so on. For many, it was a simple question of psychological distance – SCAers are loyal to the other SCAers they interact with, while many may never even meet a member of the Board in person, much less become friends with one.

Many also felt the division between the game and the business aspects was critically important when addressing loyalty. It was widely felt that true loyalty was a function exclusively of the game side. Some even went so far as to equate loyalty with both friendship and fealty. Within this context, many believed most SCAers already express loyalty to the SCA as a whole. They do so every time they tell someone “I’m in the SCA” instead of saying “I’m in the Barony of Whatever.” Many felt that by this measure there might not be a great deal of loyalty to the Board of Directors, or the Corporate Office, but there is indeed a great deal of loyalty to the Society – that all-encompassing game side umbrella that encompasses all nineteen Kingdoms.

Benefits provided by SCA, Inc. and/or Society-level Offices

A number of benefits were identified as currently being provided to SCA members by SCA, Inc. and/or its system of Society-level Offices. These included:

Limited Liability – as a function of being incorporated, not insurance

Insurance Coverage – General Liability and E&O

Consistency of the Game – awards, heraldry, titles, local offices, basic rules of the list, etc.

A degree of uniformity of culture across Kingdoms

Feeling of belonging to an international organization

Availability of TI as a corporate magazine

Subscription processing for Kingdom newsletters

Society-wide A&S Pamphlet series (Complete Anachronist)

Single point of contact with “outside world” – IRS, court system, etc.

While it was felt by many that many of these benefits could be provided at the Kingdom level, or provided more efficiently by a different organizational structure, or even outsourced completely in the case of Corporate publications, it was widely recognized that they are currently being provided by SCA, Inc. and its system of Society-level officers.

For a more detailed treatment of Society-level and/or Corporate benefits, please see earlier Grand Council reports on this subject. In particular, the October 2006 report discusses membership, as well as reasons for being a member and reasons for non-member participants not being members, at length.

Corporate Office Budget and Expenses

As a primary motivation for addressing this topic at this time is awareness of increasing costs to SCA, Inc. while revenue remains relatively flat, many councilors believed it was appropriate to examine key expense categories. In particular, when addressing increasing membership as a source of increasing revenue, the Council felt it necessary to better understand the costs associated with increasing membership.

Two areas were identified as primary sources of increasing costs if the number of members increased – membership processing and subscription processing. During the course of our deliberations, the Council discovered that there is not sufficient financial information to accurately assign either total or marginal costs to either of these. This is in large part due to both processes sharing the Registry, and therefore the costs associated with maintaining and updating it. This made it difficult to, for example, determine what an appropriate cost would be for a Kingdom Newsletter subscription if these were made available separate from membership (unbundling of Newsletters). Similarly, there is no available data on the overhead associated with processing a subscription to TI if such were made available to non-members.

Many Councilors felt that a key to reducing membership processing costs is increasing the use of automation in membership processing. In particular, the online application should interface directly with the registry so that there is no manual intervention necessary.

Corporate Publications and Kingdom Newsletters

A number of suggestions were made regarding shifting additional portions of this process to Kingdoms, and/or moving to electronic publishing for various publications. As in previous discussions, the general feeling of the Council was that it would be beneficial to offer most, if not all, publications in both electronic and paper formats. It was also felt that electronic subscriptions should be made available at a substantial discount as compared to their paper counterparts, and that subscription to an electronic version of a Kingdom Newsletter should satisfy the “newsletter requirement” for holding office.

Unfortunately, the inability of the Council to accurately determine or assign appropriate overhead expenses to the subscription processing function made it impossible to determine what a reasonable, yet still profitable, rate for an electronic subscription might be, or what savings might be realized at the Corporate level by making such a move.

Many Councilors felt that SCA publications, including Kingdom Newsletters, could be unbundled from membership and made available to non-members as well as members of the SCA. If these publications are currently making a profit, then increasing circulation should provide an additional source of income for the Corporate Office. Unfortunately, the Council does not feel it has sufficient information to determine whether this would create a profit center at this time.

Funding Approaches

A number of alternative funding approaches and/or models were suggested. Some could be seamlessly added to the existing structure, while others would require substantial re-organization of the SCA as an organization. Advantages and disadvantages given are relative to the current system.

1) Sell, process, and track corporate memberships at Kingdom level

Advantages:

Reduces labor costs in the central office

Better leverages loyalty to Kingdoms to sell memberships

Resolution of membership issues closer to the person with a problem

Disadvantages:

Increases the work load on already over worked Kingdom officers

Loss of centralized control and coordination of the membership process

 

2) Per event attendance fee (replaces membership entirely) – Each attendee at every event pays a fee to Corporate as part of the site fee. This can be adjusted to account for multiple-day events.

Advantages:

Everyone pays based on how much they play (also a disadvantage)

Removes dissention over member/non-member

Can leverage the existing collection and reporting procedures used by the NMS

Simplifies registration at events – no member/non-member tracking

Easily combined with other funding models (4 and 5 in particular)

May greatly reduce central office expenses by eliminating membership processing

Disadvantages:

More difficult to predict revenue

Need new metrics for determining branch status

Need new metrics for determining individual eligibility for local or Kingdom pollings

Cost savings largely dependent on eliminating Registry expenses, which may not be possible unless subscription processing is changed as well.

All attendees must sign site waivers

Those who attend the most events pay the most money (also an advantage)

3) Kingdom "affiliation" fees. (Each Kingdom assessed a portion of the total budget, pay your share on some periodic schedule.)

Advantages:

Very stable and predictable revenue flow

Flexible system in terms of conforming to kingdom cultures and customs

Leverages loyalty to Kingdoms

Disadvantages:

Kingdoms are responsible for all internal administration, including determining how to raise the money – could cause increased political stress within some Kingdoms.

Inconsistency among Kingdoms – primarily effects those who travel among Kingdoms

Withholding payment could become a weapon used by a Kingdom in conflict with the Society

4) Kingdom level Memberships. Memberships are sold by Kingdoms. Each Kingdom assessed a portion of the corporate budget. A combination of #1 and #3.

Advantages and disadvantages are largely the same as Option 1, except that the terms of membership would be set by the Kingdom.

5) Restructure into affiliated corporations, charge corporate affiliation fees.

Advantages as #3, plus:

Shields assets from law suits in other Kingdoms

Greatest degree of flexibility for Kingdoms

Disadvantages as #3, plus:

Increased administrative load at Kingdom level (Kingdom level registry, insurance, etc.)

More inter-corporation paperwork

May be prohibitively expensive for some Kingdoms

Least amount of standardization/control across kingdoms

6) Local groups are autonomous organizations, which purchase membership in a regional organization, which belongs to a national organization, etc. (This would be the Gem and Mineral Society model.)

Advantages:

Decentralized administration

Local group tracks membership for only a few people

Reduced risk of litigation due to substantially reduced assets per legal entity

Disadvantages:

Increased total incorporation costs

Difficulty of incorporation in some locations

Least centralized control and standardization.

7) PBS style fund raising. Pay X amount for Y type "membership" that gets you whatever promo item.

Advantages:

Adds to any revenue stream (easily added to any other funding model)

Disadvantages:

Have to have promo items people might want and/or the corporation has to be responsive enough for people to want to contribute

Fundraising becomes an ongoing process

8) Combined "head tax" and affiliation fees. Combines #2 with either #3 or #6

Advantages as #2, plus:

 

Easier to predict revenue (than straight head tax model)

Lets Kingdoms determine how to collect their share of corporate budget

Allows for a lower event attendance fee (head tax) than #2

Disadvantages as #3 plus:

 

Kingdoms and/or local branches have to determine how to collect their affiliation fee

9) Tiered membership structure. See discussion above on tiered membership

F. PREVIOUSLY APPROVED DISCUSSION TOPICS, TO BE ADDRESSED AS TIME PERMITS

This is a new item. Therefore there are no such topics at this time.

G. SUGGESTED FUTURE OR ON-GOING DISCUSSION TOPICS

Creating a 10-year plan

Creating a business plan

Recruiting and retention of Society level officers

APPENDIX: LIST OF COUNCIL MEMBERS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DISCUSSIONS

SCA Name	Kingdom Rep/at-large	Kingdom
Annalies Grossmund	At large	Calontir
Ariel of Lindisfarne	Kingdom	Drachenwald
AsaHito	At large	Atlantia
Berengaria de Montfort de Carcasson	At large	An Tir
Brenden ap Llewelyn	At large	An Tir
Caelin on Andrede	Kingdom	Ansteorra
Chiara Francesca Arianna d'Onofrio	At large	Ansteorra
Daniel de Blare	Kingdom	West
Dietrich von Vogelsang	At large	Caid
Elias Gedney	At large	East
Galleron de Cressy	At large	East
Helena Bryenissa Raoulaina	At large	An Tir
Fiskr Hammondson	At large	Northshield
Flanna Dunwalton	At large	West
Fridrikr Tomasson av Knusslig Hamm	Kingdom	Aethelmearc
Kat MacLochlainn	At large	Ansteorra
Katriona ni Chonarain	Kingdom	Northshield
Kevin Eriôl	At large	Meridies
Madog Maelgwn Llewelyn	At large	Middle
Marion “Leyland” O’Lee	At large	Calontir
Megan nic Alister of Thornwood	At large	West
Mitchell MacBain	Kingdom	East
Orla Carey	Kingdom	Atlantia
Roger of Belden Abbey	Kingdom	An Tir
Tegan verch Dwgan	Kingdom	Gleann Abhann
Theodora of Trebizond	At large	Artemisia
Therasia von Tux	At large	Artemisia
TSivia bas Tamara v'Amberview	At large	Ealdormere
Wulfred Hansard of Richmond	At large	Atlantia