Chamber Moves to Semi-Annual Billing Cycles
OPRF Chamber of Commerce
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Feb 10, 2015 12:00 AM
The Board of Directors of the Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce elected to move member dues billing cycles from monthly to semi-annually effective January, 2015. This means that annual membership dues will be due either January 1 or July 1. Members can elect which payment date best serves their needs. The new system will be in place by 2016.
2015 will be a transition year, with members billed pro-rated dues amounts in order to move towards either the January or July cycle. Staff will automatically migrate all January, February, March and April, October, November and December renewals to a January date. This means that in 2015 those members will receive bills for 12, 11, 10, 9, 15, 14 or 13 months of dues, as appropriate.
Members currently on May, June, July, August and September renewal cycles automatically will receive bills in 2015 for 14, 13, 12, 11 or 10 months of dues, respectively.
If a member is automatically migrated to January but prefers July, or vice-versa, a call to the office can fix the issue. New members will have the option to renew in January or July and will be billed for a partial year upon acceptance into the Chamber association.
The Board made the change to alleviate the back office work that was causing operational challenges for staff. "A monthly renewal option means that we are spending a good deal of time each month on both invoicing and collections," said Cathy Yen, Executive Director. "Right now we are replicating this process 12 times a year. Our operations will improve measurably by invoicing only twice a year, even though the batches will be larger. It is a true "economies of scale" savings that will free up our time to focus on member services."
This change does not impact members currently paying through the monthly bank withdrawal (ACH) program.
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2015 will be a transition year, with members billed pro-rated dues amounts in order to move towards either the January or July cycle. Staff will automatically migrate all January, February, March and April, October, November and December renewals to a January date. This means that in 2015 those members will receive bills for 12, 11, 10, 9, 15, 14 or 13 months of dues, as appropriate.
Members currently on May, June, July, August and September renewal cycles automatically will receive bills in 2015 for 14, 13, 12, 11 or 10 months of dues, respectively.
If a member is automatically migrated to January but prefers July, or vice-versa, a call to the office can fix the issue. New members will have the option to renew in January or July and will be billed for a partial year upon acceptance into the Chamber association.
The Board made the change to alleviate the back office work that was causing operational challenges for staff. "A monthly renewal option means that we are spending a good deal of time each month on both invoicing and collections," said Cathy Yen, Executive Director. "Right now we are replicating this process 12 times a year. Our operations will improve measurably by invoicing only twice a year, even though the batches will be larger. It is a true "economies of scale" savings that will free up our time to focus on member services."
This change does not impact members currently paying through the monthly bank withdrawal (ACH) program.
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