Alumni Dues and Receptions

[Jennifer Duane]

Hello – ’tis me again!
Another hot topic in my program right now is how to handle our annual alumni reception at AAOS and alumni dues. Historically, we have not required dues payment to attend the reception but it was generally accepted that people attending the reception had paid their dues. Now that it’s fairly easy from the technical point of view to run a credit card at the door (and fewer people send checks) there are strong opinions about whether or not we should require dues payment in order to attend. There are different opinions about this in our leadership – some say it’s totally normal to collect at the door and others think it is too off-putting and unwelcoming. It would be a big help to me to understand how other programs handle their alumni receptions/dues.

Questions for those who hold alumni receptions:
Is your alumni reception part of your program’s budget or is it paid through a separate alumni fund?

If your program has Alumni Dues, do you require dues payment in order to attend your alumni reception?

Do you collect or enforce this requirement at the door to the reception?

Are current faculty (who didn’t graduated from your program) expected to pay dues?

Are your Alumni Dues tax-deductible?

[Anonymous]

Hey Jen,
We do not have ‘dues’ as such, but alumni are asked to donate to our foundation. This is not a requirement in order to attend our reception, but they know they will be asked to make a pledge. Most of our attendees do so. The foundation is a 501(c)3 so pledges are tax deductible.

The reception is paid for by our foundation. We tried industry sponsorship but it was such a pain they dropped it.

Most of our faculty donates to the foundation, and many are alumni. They are all welcome to attend the reception if they are at the AAOS meeting whether they donate or not.

[Courtney Matlach]

Hi Jen,

Another great discussion to start!

– The reception is paid through a separate alumni fund.
– We do not require dues payment to attend.
– I sit in the front of the room at a check in table where people must stop and get their name tag and I have a sign reminding people they can pay their dues with me. I have an iPad and credit card swiper available to take payment. I find if one person has their credit card out usually the next person to approach the table will get their card out and ask if they owe. I try not to be too aggressive, but sometimes I will ask “did you want to pay your dues today” and I’ve never been told no. (Just ask Dr. Raskin, I’ve gotten from him each year!)
-This past year we decided to start asking non-alumni faculty to pay dues.
-It’s tax deductible, but very rarely does anyone ask for a letter. Our dues are only $175 so I assume that’s why.

Looking forward to hearing what everyone else does!

[Author]

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