Dues Letter

[williamcabot]

Hi All,

I am a new Finance Officer for my Squadron.  One of my duties is to send out a letter requesting Squadron dues, renewal, etc.

Does anyone have an example letter that they send out to their members (both cadet and senior) that I can copy?

Thanks for all your help.

SM David Saavedra
San Diego Cadet Squadron 144

[MIKE]

My unit prints up a simple Account Statement similar to what you would get from a bank.  Unfortunately I don't have a template available.

[Eclipse]

One piece of advice - "dues" are not usually tax deductible.

A "voluntary donation" to the Squadron generally is.

[DNall]

dues are deductible. If it were dues for a country club that also did charity events from time to time, that would not be deductible. Fraternity dues for instance are deductible, while a house usage fee is not.

[Eclipse]

Membership dues that merely cover the cost of privileges or benefits received by the "donor" are not deductible. However, "dues" that actually constitute a contribution for which the donor receives little or no privilege or benefit of monetary value in return are deductible.

IANAL, YMMV, CATA, etc...

But that's why I said "may".  Since our dues essentially cover operating expenses, the donor is receiving a direct benefit, and therefore they may not actually be deductible when defined and collected as such.

[SarDragon]

I asked a tax professional who is also a member of CAP, and she said that squadron dues are deductible, much the same as a donation to a charity. Both are 501(c) corporations, and part of any donation ends up going for operating expenses.

[O-Rex]

Did you get Wing Approval to levy Squadron dues??

Gotta have it. . .

[williamcabot]

A little help here, folks.  I'm asking for help in looking at a receiver friendly template, example, form, etc., of a squadron dues request letter.  No where in my inquiry do I ask for amateur tax advice.  Will anyone step up and help a fellow CAP squadron?  Thank you.

SM David Saavedra

[Pylon]

A little help here, folks.  I'm asking for help in looking at a receiver friendly template, example, form, etc., of a squadron dues request letter.  No where in my inquiry do I ask for amateur tax advice.  Will anyone step up and help a fellow CAP squadron?  Thank you.

SM David Saavedra

I don't have a template to offer, since my squadron charges no dues. However I do write quite a few fundraising, campaign and appeal letters and would like to offer a few tips for crafting your letter.

Thank them, first and foremost.  The overall message of your letter should be one of thanks and appreciation for their continued support through sacraficing their time and talent.

Remind them of the reason that the squadron needs dues money.   Make the connection for them to something that matters.  I/e:  Dues money helps upkeep our squadron building or helps keep our aircraft hangared, etc.   Don't give them the impression that their $50 or whatever just gets plunked into a pot of money that the squadron is squirrelling away for a rainy day (even if that is what you're doing).   Tell them that their dues money matters and it makes a difference to their volunteer experience as well as to the quality of services the squadron can, in turn, provide to the public and to its cadets.

For cadets, the letter should probably be directed to the parents.  Where possible, collect the names of each cadet's parents and personalize the letters with a mail merge.  Use Form 60s, glean them from memory or old permission slips, and of course - you do meet with the parents on some regular basis, right?       Nothing is less encouraging than a "Dear Parent/Guardian of Cadet J. Smith..."

Also for cadets, remind them of things that the dues money helps support (subsidizing those field trips, putting gas in the van for trips to activities, or upgrading that color guard gear, etc.). 

Personalize the letter.  Make it from someone.  The squadron commander, the finance officer, or perhaps the deputy commander for cadets for the cadet side of the house.  Use "I" instead of "we" when making the request.  Sign each letter individually.    Even if you have a huge squadron of 70 people, it will only take you 15 minutes to personalize the letter.  You may find you also want to inscribe personal notes onto several letters as you do this, which is a great way to re-engage members who are drifting.  A little "Hey Jane, hope to see you at the upcoming Museum Field Trip in August!" written into the bottom margin will go a long way to making the member feel wanted, feel appreciated, and welcome.

Good luck!

[davedove]

Membership dues that merely cover the cost of privileges or benefits received by the "donor" are not deductible. However, "dues" that actually constitute a contribution for which the donor receives little or no privilege or benefit of monetary value in return are deductible.

IANAL, YMMV, CATA, etc...

But that's why I said "may".  Since our dues essentially cover operating expenses, the donor is receiving a direct benefit, and therefore they may not actually be deductible when defined and collected as such.

You're not quite right in your interpretation.  The unit receives the benefits, not the members.

[jimmydeanno]

Are you looking for a template that says something like...

Dear [Insert Name Here],

Thank you for your support to the Civil Air Patrol over the past year(s)! Your service has proved to be invaluable!

At this time I would like to take the time to remind you that your membership in Civil Air Patrol is about to expire!  As you know, your membership in CAP provides many services to the United States, United States Air Force and local communities.  I would like to encourage you to renew your membership.

Civil Air Patrol has recently adopted a method of membership renewal for CAP Officers that enables you to renew for more than 1 year!  You are now able to renew for up to 3 years at a time!

In order to produce local funds to help support our local missions, [Insert Squadron Name Here], has implemented a squadron dues program, which totals [Insert Dollar Amount Here] per year.

All CAP dues, whether they are local or national level, are tax deductable, and you can be assured that your contribution is going to a worthy cause.  Thank you again for your continued membership in the Civil Air Patrol.

Please use the attached form and enclosed envelope to process your renewal.

Thank you,

2d Lt Ima SquadComm, CAP
Commander
Somewhere Squadron

Of course you'd add some fluff, and some personalization, but is that the general gist you were going for?

[williamcabot]

A little help here, folks.  I'm asking for help in looking at a receiver friendly template, example, form, etc., of a squadron dues request letter.  No where in my inquiry do I ask for amateur tax advice.  Will anyone step up and help a fellow CAP squadron?  Thank you.

SM David Saavedra

I don't have a template to offer, since my squadron charges no dues. However I do write quite a few fundraising, campaign and appeal letters and would like to offer a few tips for crafting your letter.

Thank them, first and foremost.  The overall message of your letter should be one of thanks and appreciation for their continued support through sacraficing their time and talent.

Remind them of the reason that the squadron needs dues money.   Make the connection for them to something that matters.  I/e:  Dues money helps upkeep our squadron building or helps keep our aircraft hangared, etc.   Don't give them the impression that their $50 or whatever just gets plunked into a pot of money that the squadron is squirrelling away for a rainy day (even if that is what you're doing).   Tell them that their dues money matters and it makes a difference to their volunteer experience as well as to the quality of services the squadron can, in turn, provide to the public and to its cadets.

For cadets, the letter should probably be directed to the parents.  Where possible, collect the names of each cadet's parents and personalize the letters with a mail merge.  Use Form 60s, glean them from memory or old permission slips, and of course - you do meet with the parents on some regular basis, right?       Nothing is less encouraging than a "Dear Parent/Guardian of Cadet J. Smith..."

Also for cadets, remind them of things that the dues money helps support (subsidizing those field trips, putting gas in the van for trips to activities, or upgrading that color guard gear, etc.). 

Personalize the letter.  Make it from someone.  The squadron commander, the finance officer, or perhaps the deputy commander for cadets for the cadet side of the house.  Use "I" instead of "we" when making the request.  Sign each letter individually.    Even if you have a huge squadron of 70 people, it will only take you 15 minutes to personalize the letter.  You may find you also want to inscribe personal notes onto several letters as you do this, which is a great way to re-engage members who are drifting.  A little "Hey Jane, hope to see you at the upcoming Museum Field Trip in August!" written into the bottom margin will go a long way to making the member feel wanted, feel appreciated, and welcome.

Good luck!

Thank you!  Terrific constructive and useful advice.  I appreciate your contribution.
SM David Saavedra

Tags - MIKE

[williamcabot]

Are you looking for a template that says something like...

Dear [Insert Name Here],

Thank you for your support to the Civil Air Patrol over the past year(s)! Your service has proved to be invaluable!

At this time I would like to take the time to remind you that your membership in Civil Air Patrol is about to expire!  As you know, your membership in CAP provides many services to the United States, United States Air Force and local communities.  I would like to encourage you to renew your membership.

Civil Air Patrol has recently adopted a method of membership renewal for CAP Officers that enables you to renew for more than 1 year!  You are now able to renew for up to 3 years at a time!

In order to produce local funds to help support our local missions, [Insert Squadron Name Here], has implimented a squadron dues program, which totals [Insert Dollar Amount Here] per year.

All CAP dues, whether they are local or national level, are tax deductable, and you can be assured that your contribution is going to a worth cause.  Thank you again for your continued membership in the Civil Air Patrol.

Please use the attached form and enclosed envelope to process your renewal.

Thank you,

2d Lt Ima SquadComm, CAP
Commander
Somewhere Squadron

Of course you'd add some fluff, and some personalization, but is that the general jist you were going for?

Yes!  Thank you.  I can modify your example for my Squadron.
SM David Saavedra

[SarDragon]

Make sure you run it through a spell check first! It's got a couple of boo-boos.

[jimmydeanno]

Make sure you run it through a spell check first! It's got a couple of boo-boos.

I'm so embarrassed...

[SARMedTech]

Wait a minute...Dont we pay dues to have the right to spend more money on gear and travel so we can volunteer to perform "Missions for America?"   

Im new enough to not know how this works and havent heard anything from my Squadron yet, but can individual Squadrons hold fund raisers to accumulate funds which they can hold for use at the Squad. level as long as these are declared somehow to NHQ and do many Squadrons maintain any kind of fund to help either Cadets or SMs who may have trouble affording all of the things that we have to pay for in the course of our involvement? Also, can individual members who may have some extra "discretionary" income donate it to their Squadron and if so is it tax deductible as a 501 (c)(3) charitable donation? The same question would apply to members who donate equipment...

[ELTHunter]

Until June 30th, when the Wing Banker Program goes into effect for our Wing, we have and can raise funds for our own use at the squadron, and have maintained funds in a bank account on our squadron's name.  We track the money for cadets separately from seniors, and cadets use their money to pay for dues, uniform items, encampment fees, basically anything I, as the DCC and the Squadron CC feel is an appropriate CAP expense.

When I say we track the money separately, if 8 cadets and three seniors participate in a fundraising event, the money is divided up 11 ways.  However, each cadet's money is accounted for in and tracked in their own name.  The seniors money is polled in a general fund for the whole unit.  When/if a cadet leaves and still has money in his "account", that money is rolled into a "general" fund for the cadets.

Starting in July, we will be compelled to turn over the entire contents of our bank account to Wing, who will control it after that.  Supposedly, we can continue to spend it as we want, but they will write all of the checks.  We shall see how that works out, I have my doubts.

[jimmydeanno]

The great thing about donations is that the donator can stipulate that their donation is used for a specific cause or it doesn't get donated.  If the corporation accepts that donation under those terms they are obligated to use them for whatever the stipulation was.

For instance, if a corporation donates say 50K to sponsor COS, and they say that 50K is only to be used to fund COS and CAP doesn't hold COS that year, they can't spend the money on something else.

[IceNine]

why send a letter requesting required dues.  once we had them approved by the powers that be we do not allow our cadets to test until they are current on dues, and we collect as they come through the line $15 dollars a year, seniors pitch in on the cost of fuel for the corporate gas hog so we do not have a set dues amount.

[mikeylikey]

^^  Is that legal to deny a Cadet to test, because they don't pay the SQD dues?  If it were me, I would ditch your SQD and find one that does not require dues. 

[IceNine]

ok first of all its 15 dollars... AND if they do not pay national dues on time they are not allowed to test by national regulation so where is the hangup?

[acarlson]

A little help here, folks.  I'm asking for help in looking at a receiver friendly template, example, form, etc., of a squadron dues request letter.  No where in my inquiry do I ask for amateur tax advice.  Will anyone step up and help a fellow CAP squadron?  Thank you.

SM David Saavedra

Here's what I use... simple & to the point...I use just a reminder... as most of us can and do forget the annual renewal...  and this is emailed only to those members who are coming up on renewing... with easy contact and /or links to get them where they need to renew quickly. ... this has saved a whole bunch of paperwork if they renew before they expire... especially pilots' quals etc.  (I also include my contact phone #'s ... which I sure ain't gonna give you CAPtalkers! 

Hello Squadron 907 Cadets and SMs:

Your CAP membership is scheduled to expire on 31-March-2006.
You can renew your membership online or by phone, or by U.S. mail.

ONLINE:  go to CAP e-Services https://www.capnhq.gov/default.aspx
   Login and go to "Membership Renewal"

BY PHONE:  contact Membership Services at 1-877-227-9142

BY MAIL:
   CAP National Headquarters
   Membership Services
   105 S. Hansell St.
   Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6332


Senior Members can also renew for more than one year: 
   Online Membership Multi-Renewal:  2 Nov 2004
   At the March 2005 NB, the headquarters staff was asked to implement the ability to allow members to renew for multiple years. As of Oct 3 2005, senior members can now choose to renew for one, two or three years at a time through the Online Renewals system or by contacting Membership Services at 1-877-227-9142.
   

Thank you,

Lt. Annette Carlson
Public Affairs Officer &
Professional Development Officer
Civil Air Patrol
Doylestown Composite Squadron 907

[acarlson]

Until June 30th, when the Wing Banker Program goes into effect for our Wing,...

Starting in July, we will be compelled to turn over the entire contents of our bank account to Wing, who will control it after that.  Supposedly, we can continue to spend it as we want, but they will write all of the checks.  We shall see how that works out, I have my doubts.

Here in the PA wing... we've been working with the "one wing bank acct" since the end of last summer and it has been working quite well... our squadron has never had a problem and all our bills (paid by wing, at our direction) are paid on time.

It's actually relieved our squadron of a lot of the finance worry.

[Hawk200]

Here in the PA wing... we've been working with the "one wing bank acct" since the end of last summer and it has been working quite well... our squadron has never had a problem and all our bills (paid by wing, at our direction) are paid on time.

It's actually relieved our squadron of a lot of the finance worry.

Is this movement an effort to make the Finance specialty track a wing only type of track? Or will Finance officers still be necessary at the unit? If so, then what would they do at the lower level?