Could use objectivity. Would you send this email out?

[NanceXToo]

NOTE: Update in Post No. 34. I have taken the majority advice and significantly shortened my message, so no further need to specifically comment on my original post, which I am now removing. Thanks for all of the input, I appreciate it! :)

Edited April 15, 2011 by NanceXToo

[ThatCyndiGirl]

I would shorten it. The middle part about 'not wanting to be the bad guy and you really don't like this part'. I feel your pain, but it is overkill and will make them think that they can furthur manipulate you with either their silence or non-payment.

 

I know that that sounds weird, but I think it just may fuel their fire. :glare:

(that glance of contempt was toward the non-payers, not you!)

 

You have my sympathies. This is very thankless work. :grouphug:

[Jean in Newcastle]

I would send it as it is.

[Mrs Mungo]

I think it's overkill, a lot of overkill.

 

I would just send a note that said "Friendly reminder from X Group, if dues are not paid by 4/30 your membership will be rendered inactive."

 

Some people will not remember to pay until their membership is cut off. Some people will be thinking they don't want to bother for the summer and will wait until the beginning of the next school year. Don't take it personally. :)

[jec3113]

If anything you are being too kind. Being a group leader is like running a business. You have to be tough. If people have already been warned then don't bother to send it just delete them and move on.

[mommybee]

I would shorten it. The middle part about 'not wanting to be the bad guy and you really don't like this part'. I feel your pain, but it is overkill and will make them think that they can furthur manipulate you with either their silence or non-payment.

 

:iagree:

[SquirrellyMama]

I wouldn't send it. I think you are explaining too much. I would just send out an email stating that money is still due and they have 2 more weeks or they will be taken off the list. At the end of the 2 weeks maybe you can call each family personally and let them know they are out of the group.

 

Kelly

[Parrothead]

It is too wordy - too much of an explanation.

 

I'd just send out a friendly reminder to the 10 remaining families. Something like:

 

Just to let you know the one month extension for dues payment is almost up. You can send payment to me at the below address or drop it by such-and-such place. I hope to hear from you very soon.

[Crissy]

I think it's overkill, a lot of overkill.

 

I would just send a note that said "Friendly reminder from X Group, if dues are not paid by 4/30 your membership will be rendered inactive."

 

Some people will not remember to pay until their membership is cut off. Some people will be thinking they don't want to bother for the summer and will wait until the beginning of the next school year. Don't take it personally. :)

 

:iagree:

 

Adults shouldn't require much in the way of explanation about payment due dates.

[bry's-gal]

I think it's overkill, a lot of overkill.

 

I would just send a note that said "Friendly reminder from X Group, if dues are not paid by 4/30 your membership will be rendered inactive."

 

Some people will not remember to pay until their membership is cut off. Some people will be thinking they don't want to bother for the summer and will wait until the beginning of the next school year. Don't take it personally. :)

 

:iagree:

[houseofkids&pets]

:iagree:I agree with Mrs. Mungo. Send out a general email as a final notice and then follow through with consequences by the due date. Good luck!

Michelle

[Kipling]

---

 

If you are receiving this email, it's because your dues have still not been received. They were originally due by 4/1 and quite a few reminder emails had gone out to that effect. That cutoff came and went and many members had still not paid their dues. I made a point of getting in touch with everyone individually and giving a one month extension on the dues when I took over the group because I did not want to have to remove anybody from the group. That is not the kind of organizer I want to be.

 

 

 

However, we are now halfway through the one month extension and so far dues have only been paid by 14 families total. There are still 10 families I am awaiting payment from (three of whom I never got any sort of response from at all and expect to be simply removing from the group very shortly).

 

 

 

The rest of you (with the exception of one person who is still unsure and will let me know by the end of the month) have indicated a desire to stay with the group but still haven't gotten those dues out. I really hate to have to keep sending out these types of emails. It's time-consuming, and it makes me feel like I'm going around nagging and micro-managing everyone, which really isn't fun for me at all. But I just don't know what else to do. I am doing everything in my power to not have be the "bad guy" who starts removing interested members from the group. But if I have to, I will, because 1) the dues are needed to pay meetup costs and should be treated like any other financial commitment or bill you take on, and 2) it's not fair to the members who DID pay their dues to have a bunch of other members allowed to stay in the group indefinitely WITHOUT paying them.

 

 

Therefore, please note that I absolutely MUST receive your dues by 4/30 to keep your membership active. That gives you two more weeks to get them to me. Anyone whose dues are not received by 4/30 will be removed from the group with no further notice and will not be allowed to rejoin until after their dues have been received.

 

 

Thanks,

Nancy

 

 

---

That is a frustrating situation to be involved in. As for your email, personally, I think it's a little long and over-kill. Your irritation (which is totally understandable) shows through. I think it would be better to shorten the overall email.

I would keep the parts that I have put in bold. The unbolded stuff is either information that they already know (eg. previous emails were sent out to them), or that they don't need to know (how many you're still waiting for), or expresses your frustration (the part about micromanaging)

 

That's my opinion, for whatever it's worth.:)

[Danestress]

already, I think this email is unnecessary. I would wait until 5 days before the payment is due (end of extension) and send out an emailing say, "Reminder, all families who have paid by noon on X date will be unenrolled. If after that time, you change your mind about enrolling, you will have to be a at the end of the waiting list. Unfortunately, we can not make any exceptions to this rule."

[regentrude]

Too wordy. You don't have to explain, you don't have to minimize your role. you simply need to remind them that they have dues overdue which they need to pay by xxx if they wish to remain part of the group.

That should suffice.

[Gracily]

I agree it's too wordy. I would simply state dues were due by April 1st. Any family that hasn't paid their dues by April 30th will be removed from the group. Please contact me if you have any questions/concerns.... Short and to the point.

[MotherMayI]

I think it's overkill, a lot of overkill.

 

I would just send a note that said "Friendly reminder from X Group, if dues are not paid by 4/30 your membership will be rendered inactive."

 

Some people will not remember to pay until their membership is cut off. Some people will be thinking they don't want to bother for the summer and will wait until the beginning of the next school year. Don't take it personally. :)

:iagree: Short and sweet.

[Murphy101]

I would shorten it. The middle part about 'not wanting to be the bad guy and you really don't like this part'. I feel your pain, but it is overkill and will make them think that they can furthur manipulate you with either their silence or non-payment.

 

I know that that sounds weird, but I think it just may fuel their fire. :glare:

(that glance of contempt was toward the non-payers, not you!)

 

You have my sympathies. This is very thankless work. :grouphug:

 

:iagree:

Keep it professional. Short and to the point. Pay dues by x date or else be cut off.

 

Some people will not remember to pay until their membership is cut off. Some people will be thinking they don't want to bother for the summer and will wait until the beginning of the next school year. Don't take it personally. :)

 

 

This too. It is APRIL! The next school year doesn't start until August/September. I'm busy planning and finishing things up. Next year's dues on not on my top 10 list of things to do. Are you still trying to get 2010/11 dues? Or are these 2011/12 dues? If the first, write them off and be done with it already bc it is well past time enough for them to be done dithering over it. If it is next year, then an April deadline seems rather premature to me?

[NanceXToo]

Thanks everyone. Taking the majority advice here and keeping it short and sweet. Glad I asked first. I do tend to ramble too much and I'm a little too close to the matter, I guess!

 

:)

[Carol in Cal.]

I think it's perfect, as is.

Send it out, enforce it, move on. No more exceptions.

 

Great job!

[Pax]

I would simply state dues were due by April 1st. Any family that hasn't paid their dues by April 30th will be removed from the group. Please contact me if you have any questions/concerns.... Short and to the point.

 

:iagree:

[LidiyaDawn]

One thing that you might want to consider (our group does this) is to add a note something to the effect of "If you are currently facing serious financial hardship and are unable to afford the group fees, please speak to the leaders about alternative arrangements."

 

Our group doesn't want to keep anyone out for financial reasons, so we always add that… sometimes it's not that people just haven't gotten around to it - sometimes they just haven't had the money.

 

In our case, "alternative arrangements" means basically that the group will cover your registration fee from group funds or whatever… but it could mean whatever the group chooses… covering from a general fund, making split payment arrangements over a few months, volunteering instead of paying, etc etc etc. :)

[In2why]

If you already gave them an extension, then dues are not due yet. A week before the 30th I would contact the familes that still haven't paid and give them a final notice and wish them well if they are leaving the group. They might not consider it due, since they have until the 30th.

[J-rap]

"I would just send a note that said "Friendly reminder from X Group, if dues are not paid by 4/30 your membership will be rendered inactive."

 

I agree with the above. (I don't know how to put quotes in the gray boxes!)

 

I was once the homeschool treasurer, and I found it to be the worst group as far as meeting deadlines that I'd ever worked with!

[NanceXToo]

This too. It is APRIL! The next school year doesn't start until August/September. I'm busy planning and finishing things up. Next year's dues on not on my top 10 list of things to do. Are you still trying to get 2010/11 dues? Or are these 2011/12 dues? If the first, write them off and be done with it already bc it is well past time enough for them to be done dithering over it. If it is next year, then an April deadline seems rather premature to me?

 

This isn't an academic co-op group, it's a social, field trip, educational tour, play date, craft day, seasonal party etc etc type of group. We plan tons of activities for fun over the summer months, too.

 

The dues are based on when meetup costs are due- everyone pays by 4/1 of every year for that upcoming year (as the meetup fees were getting paid toward the end of April and the remaining/excess dues were getting put in a bank account to be paid when they came due again- meetup fees are due every six months; member dues are only charged yearly. And they're only $12 a year).

 

But anyway yeah you guys are right, it was overkill. Thanks for pointing that out. (seriously). :)

[bugs]

My first response to this e-mail was to say "Yah! Send it that way." But that is how I sometimes operate. However, other posters are correct - short and sweet would probably be better. I vote for Mrs. Mungo's version.

[KnitWit]

You already sent several reminders?

 

Now you will know why my kids say I need a t-shirt that says "Warning: Does Not Play Well With Others". I hate babysitting homeschool parents. I wouldn't send anything else and come 4/30 they'd be off the list.

 

Seriously, do you think you won't have to do this again next year if you keep it up this year?

 

I feel your pain. I've btdt, which is why I'm kind of hard line about it now.

:grouphug:

[NanceXToo]

One thing that you might want to consider (our group does this) is to add a note something to the effect of "If you are currently facing serious financial hardship and are unable to afford the group fees, please speak to the leaders about alternative arrangements."

 

Our group doesn't want to keep anyone out for financial reasons, so we always add that… sometimes it's not that people just haven't gotten around to it - sometimes they just haven't had the money.

 

In our case, "alternative arrangements" means basically that the group will cover your registration fee from group funds or whatever… but it could mean whatever the group chooses… covering from a general fund, making split payment arrangements over a few months, volunteering instead of paying, etc etc etc. :)

 

I do appreciate this thought. At the time I got in touch with everyone individually to tell them I was giving the extension, I did tell everyone that if they were having any sort of financial hardship that was preventing them from paying to just communicate with me and I'd work with them, that I didn't want to kick anyone out etc. One person did say she had a lot going on financially that month and appreciated the one month extension. The rest were just sort of "oh, yes, we're interested, we've just been so busy, we'll get it out to you"- but nothing yet.

 

Some of you are right though that their extension time isn't up yet so maybe it shouldn't even be an issue yet at all. But I just really do hate to think that I'm going to have to go remove them if they continue to not get around to it, and my inclination is to try to prevent that. It's not a fun part of the "job."

[Mrs Mungo]

It's not a fun part of the "job."

 

That's the thing about leadership positions. You take on good and bad guy roles. It's not always fun. I know how you feel.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I would reword it so that it didn't sound like a complaint against a class of people, but as a specific not to one recipient. Don't refer to how many people have not paid, but just that the recipient has not paid.

 

Send it either in individual emails or using BCC so that others do not know who has not sent in payment.

 

I would also not go into all the details of who has and has not paid. You granted a one month extension. At the end of the month, remove those who didn't pay. You can let them know that payment of past due fees will allow them to rejoin.

 

If you want to send a reminder, keep it short and sweet. Something like:

 

Just a reminder that the one month grace period for payment of past due group fees ends on April 30. Please have your dues submitted no later than that date. You can send checks to ...

 

Non payment of dues by April 30 will result in removal from the group. If you are no longer interested in being part of the group, just let me know and I can take you off of the group roster.

 

If you have people who have not responded to emails, are you certain that they have gotten the emails? You might need to call.

 

I would keep it short and businesslike. Nothing personal. No pleading. Just a statement that dues must be paid or the family will be taken off of the list.

[LidiyaDawn]

I do appreciate this thought. At the time I got in touch with everyone individually to tell them I was giving the extension, I did tell everyone that if they were having any sort of financial hardship that was preventing them from paying to just communicate with me and I'd work with them, that I didn't want to kick anyone out etc. One person did say she had a lot going on financially that month and appreciated the one month extension. The rest were just sort of "oh, yes, we're interested, we've just been so busy, we'll get it out to you"- but nothing yet.

 

 

 

Ahhh. Glad to know the offer was extended :D - you're certainly right though that if someone was having difficulty, THEN was the time to say.

[Hedgehog]

I think you need to shorten it. Too much explanation, and you sound apologetic. Don't apologise for anything; it's not your fault, or problem, that these families haven't paid up. If you need them to pay, or you have decided that to pay in advance is the way the group will be, that's totally okay. Your back yard; they should respect that.

 

How about:

 

"Dear [Mickey-Taking Family],

 

Your payment for [Homeschool Group X] has not yet been received. Monies must be paid to [me in person/into Bank Account Y] by the end of the month, 4.30.11, at the latest, otherwise we regret to inform you that your membership will be terminated without further notice.

 

Thank you for your co-operation in this matter, and we look forward to seeing you at [Location Z].

 

Very sincerely,

 

Nancy

For and on behalf of [Homeschool Group X]"

Edited April 15, 2011 by Hedgehog

[angela in ohio]

Should I just let the two weeks go by and remove whoever didn't pay...

 

This.

 

Homeschool parents need to learn to meet deadlines sometimes. ;) :D

[Hedgehog]

One thing that you might want to consider (our group does this) is to add a note something to the effect of "If you are currently facing serious financial hardship and are unable to afford the group fees, please speak to the leaders about alternative arrangements."

 

:iagree: Good point.

[NanceXToo]

I would reword it so that it didn't sound like a complaint against a class of people, but as a specific not to one recipient. Don't refer to how many people have not paid, but just that the recipient has not paid.

 

Send it either in individual emails or using BCC so that others do not know who has not sent in payment.

 

I would also not go into all the details of who has and has not paid. You granted a one month extension. At the end of the month, remove those who didn't pay. You can let them know that payment of past due fees will allow them to rejoin.

 

If you want to send a reminder, keep it short and sweet. Something like:

 

Just a reminder that the one month grace period for payment of past due group fees ends on April 30. Please have your dues submitted no later than that date. You can send checks to ...

 

Non payment of dues by April 30 will result in removal from the group. If you are no longer interested in being part of the group, just let me know and I can take you off of the group roster.

 

If you have people who have not responded to emails, are you certain that they have gotten the emails? You might need to call.

 

I would keep it short and businesslike. Nothing personal. No pleading. Just a statement that dues must be paid or the family will be taken off of the list.

 

Oh, I like that. Okay, I've just reworded it to:

 

Two Week Notice

 

Just a final reminder that the one month grace period for past due group fees ends on 4/30/11.

 

 

Non-receipt of dues by April 30 will result in removal from the group with no further notice. If you are no longer interested in being part of the group, just let me know and I can take you off our group roster. If you are still interested, please be sure to get the dues in by 4/30.

 

 

In the event you are removed from the group due to non-payment, please know that you will be welcome to rejoin at any time, but will not be reapproved until after dues are received.

 

 

 

Thanks,

Nancy

 

---

 

To answer your question, I did make an attempt to contact the few people who didn't respond to emails by phone just in case they were having email or computer issues. In two of those cases, I realized the people had never left us a contact number despite having been asked to. In another case, I left a voicemail message and didn't get a call. Everyone else I do know for a fact received the email/s, so, now the ball is in their court.

 

Thanks for your help, all!

[DesertDweller]

I think it's too wordy. I've been in similar situations and find it best to be direct. A reminder that final payment must be received by X date or membership will be dropped is good enough. These are adults who should be able to meet their obligations or expect the consequences. It's not being mean. It just is the way it is. They can pay by the deadline or not. You shouldn't have to explain anything beyond that.

 

 

ETA: Just saw your new email. I think it sounds great. I would send that one.