At KENDRA’s Autumn General Meeting on Tuesday 24th October, a motion to move membership subscriptions online was overwhelmingly approved.
Geoff James, the Committee’s Planning Officer, has been researching the various options to streamline and improve the Association’s membership and enrolment system. He told members that the current spreadsheet method had become cumbersome, inaccurate and increasingly time consuming for the Membership Secretary, John Davenport.
The recruitment and retention of Road Stewards has added to the problems. Areas without a Road Steward have to be covered by volunteers or may go uncovered. Several Road Stewards reported difficulties in collecting cash subscriptions owing to the move toward a ‘cashless’ society.
In a detailed report to the Committee in August, Geoff identified MemberMojo, a British based online membership application, as offering the most cost effective and suitable system.
Members at the meeting were keen to know if the system was secure and if members who do not have internet access could continue to pay by cash or cheque. Geoff said the system was as ‘secure as any’ online payment system, and KENDRA would continue to support ‘offline’ subscriptions, although these did involve extra work for the Membership Secretary and Road Stewards.
There were concerns about the loss of contact between Road Stewards and members if subscriptions go online. The Committee hope that Road Stewards will continue to be a ‘conduit’ for members and would still have contact when delivering magazines. Any awkwardness about collecting money could now be avoided.
Following the vote to proceed, Geoff told members that the new system was ready to go and members will be able to pay their subscriptions for 2024 shortly.
Members will have to register just once online via a short form, and pay their subscriptions using PayPal, or by debit or credit card. Multi-year payments are possible using a drop-down option. An email confirming payment and membership status will be sent automatically. A reminder will be sent out when the next subscription is due. No payment information is stored.
Members can access their membership details and make changes when required. There are no passwords to remember. Access to a members’ personal page is via a secure email link, requested by the member, and sent to the their nominated email address.
Members will be able to choose to receive KENDRA’s Weekly eMail Newsletter and other information emails. There will be an option to receive an online version of the KENDRA magazine if preferred.
Details of the switch to online membership will be covered extensively in our next Winter Edition KENDRA magazine.