Message-ID: <36793BEC.927A517C@direct.ca> Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 09:14:20 -0800 From: cbelshaw <mailto:cbelshaw@DIRECT.CA> Subject: Re: How are dues handled in international organizations? To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
--------------3830D7AC2F5C0AC1D62981B5 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bitYou are absolutely right. First, you might look at a copy of Current Anthropology in your library. It was the first scholarly journal to adopt a procedure to handle the issues you mention, since the 'sixties. In the 'seventies its scale was largely followed by the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences.
The CA method divides countries into three categories for personal and institutional subscribers. A pay the full fare. B pay a severely reduced fare. C are let off anything. Countries which could not convert into dollars used to establish accounts in local currencies within their countries, which the Editor could use for local expenses, e.g. help someone process an article or pay the expense of a CA staff member visiting the country. Such accounts, even in the Soviet Union, never amounted to much.
Your organisation is presumably a member of anothe initernational organiation such as the ISSC, ICSU or whatever affiliated with UNESCO. If so, contact the headquarters of that umbrella organisation for details about how its members handle the issue you raise. ICSU has the easiest job because of its huge membership base, and because governments support its members. But the ISSC has some members which simply do nothing about the problems out of amour propre and others which are vitally concerned and take ;interesting initiatives.
It is not only a question of currency fluctuatins, but also of loss of funds through hideous bank transmission charges which can take 75% or more of the transaction away.
Cyril Belshaw
Jerome Katz wrote:
> Forgive the cross-postings.
>
> Since many of you are members of professional organizations that have an
> international membership, I am curious how your organizations handle the
> problem of currency fluctuations in assessing dues.
>
> I am an officer of one organization with 1800 members, only 400 of which are
> in the USA. The organization, however, started in the US, and dues are
> stated in US dollars. At times, this puts some members at severe
> disadvantages, such as when a currency gets devalued. We are concerned that
> the cost of membership could become prohibitive, because of the currency
> fluctuations.
>
> I am hoping some of the organizations you belong to (or have served as an
> officer for) have considered such problems. Any experiences, best practices,
> suggestions or additional issues you think should be considered would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Our goal is to fairly assess our members their dues, deal with the
> volatility of currencies, and of course, keep adequate revenue coming into
> the organization for it to continue its mission. Personally, I see the three
> issues above as given in order, starting with the MOST important.
>
> Please reply to me via email (mailto:katzja@slu.edu). I will summarize and reply to
> the lists.
>
> Jerome (Jerry) Katz, Murray Endowed Professor, Saint Louis University, 3674
> Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108 USA, mailto:katzja@slu.edu, 314-977-3864w,
> 314-275-8721h, 314-275-7513fax, www.slu.edu/eweb
--------------3830D7AC2F5C0AC1D62981B5 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> You are absolutely right. First, you might look at a copy of Current Anthropology in your library. It was the first scholarly journal to adopt a procedure to handle the issues you mention, since the 'sixties. In the 'seventies its scale was largely followed by the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences.
The CA method divides countries into three categories for personal and institutional subscribers. A pay the full fare. B pay a severely reduced fare. C are let off anything. Countries which could not convert into dollars used to establish accounts in local currencies within their countries, which the Editor could use for local expenses, e.g. help someone process an article or pay the expense of a CA staff member visiting the country. Such accounts, even in the Soviet Union, never amounted to much.
Your organisation is presumably a member of anothe initernational organiation such as the ISSC, ICSU or whatever affiliated with UNESCO. If so, contact the headquarters of that umbrella organisation for details about how its members handle the issue you raise. ICSU has the easiest job because of its huge membership base, and because governments support its members. But the ISSC has some members which simply do nothing about the problems out of amour propre and others which are vitally concerned and take ;interesting initiatives.
It is not only a question of currency fluctuatins, but also of loss of funds through hideous bank transmission charges which can take 75% or more of the transaction away.
Cyril Belshaw
Jerome Katz wrote:
Forgive the cross-postings.Since many of you are members of professional organizations that have an
international membership, I am curious how your organizations handle the
problem of currency fluctuations in assessing dues.I am an officer of one organization with 1800 members, only 400 of which are
in the USA. The organization, however, started in the US, and dues are
stated in US dollars. At times, this puts some members at severe
disadvantages, such as when a currency gets devalued. We are concerned that
the cost of membership could become prohibitive, because of the currency
fluctuations.I am hoping some of the organizations you belong to (or have served as an
officer for) have considered such problems. Any experiences, best practices,
suggestions or additional issues you think should be considered would be
greatly appreciated.Our goal is to fairly assess our members their dues, deal with the
volatility of currencies, and of course, keep adequate revenue coming into
the organization for it to continue its mission. Personally, I see the three
issues above as given in order, starting with the MOST important.Please reply to me via email (mailto:katzja@slu.edu). I will summarize and reply to
the lists.Jerome (Jerry) Katz, Murray Endowed Professor, Saint Louis University, 3674
Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108 USA, mailto:katzja@slu.edu, 314-977-3864w,
314-275-8721h, 314-275-7513fax, www.slu.edu/eweb--------------3830D7AC2F5C0AC1D62981B5--