ABATE OF FLORIDA, INC.
MEMBERSHIP GUIDELINES – REVISED 6/11/2016
1. The membership update report is a monthly financial report. The state provides a form for you to submit this report. If your chapter is currently using a database that can print the needed information, you can get permission to use your form instead of the state form. Please contact the Membership Trustee for approval of your form. Whether you use the state provided form or have permission to use your chapter-generated form, this report needs to be submitted every month. It is due at the beginning of each month; June’s report needs to be sent at the beginning of July and needs to be postmarked no later than the 5th of the month. If the report is not postmarked by the 5th of the month, the report will be considered late and your chapter will lose a vote at the next state meeting. If your chapter has no membership activity for the month, a report still has to be submitted. Please mark the report to show zero activity and once again make sure it is postmarked by the 5th. You may submit more than one update report per month. A copy of all membership forms that your chapter may need on a month-to-month basis is downloadable from abateflorida.com/forms or you may request copies from the Membership Trustee. When removing a chapter member, according toby-laws Chapter or State, you need to send to the State office a copy of the meeting minutes of the vote to remove this chapter member and a copy of thecertified letter sent to the member.
2. Complete the information at the top of the update form. This information is crucial in keeping accurate records that can easily be researched. There is a place for the person submitting the report, also a place for the chapter president to sign. Requiring the president’s signature is just another tool in helping the chapter president stay abreast of his or her chapter’s monthly membership activity.
3. If you have no membership activity for the month, a negative report is required. A negative report is the report that you normally submit to the state with “NO ACTIVITY OR ZERO” written on it. Sending in the negative report will ensure your Chapter does not lose a vote at a state meeting. Please remember to fill out the information at the top of the form.
4. Membership dues in ABATE OF FLORIDA, INC. as of September 1990 is $20.00 yearly, $10.00 of which is payable to the State Treasury and $10.00 which is retained by the Chapter. If the Chapter does not submit the required portion of the membership fee with the report, the State will not recognize the member as a member in ABATE OF FLORIDA, INC. Chapters may have a State Board of Directors approved membership drive, for a specific period of time, may collect a reduced fee, not to be less than the amount normally due to the State Treasury for membership.
5. It is important that the State Office keep current and correct information on your Chapter Officers. You will need to complete a Chapter Officer Update Form and send it to the State Office when any changes are made. The State Office will then relay this information to all of the State Board of Directors. The State Board of Directors uses these updates for their phone calls and correspondence with your Chapter.
6. Membership in ABATE OF FLORIDA, INC. is yearly, with the exception of a Life membership. Membership expires the last day of the month that the member originally joins.
7. A member must renew before his/her expiration date in order to be a member in good standing. . If a member does not renew by his expiration date he or she will be a delinquent member for a period not to exceed 30 days. If a delinquent member does renew within a 30 day delinquent period he will be reinstated with his or her original expire date. A delinquent member has no membership privileges and if the delinquent member does not renew within the 30-day delinquency period he or she will be deleted as a member. If a delinquent member renews after the 30-day delinquent period, he or she will not be reinstated as a renewal but will be considered a new member with his or her expiration date being one year from the date of the new application for membership.
8. When you take a member’s application, it is very important to get as much information as possible for identification and record accuracy. Information requested includes full name, nickname if applicable, address, city, state, zip code plus four, phone number (if available), voter status, Florida House, Florida Senate and Congressional districts, date joined, expiration date, and if a member of more than one Chapter, home chapter desired. The Corporation requires that an application be completed with a legal name not just a nickname. If an application is received with just a nickname, it will not be processed until the legal name is submitted. If the member is renewing, please use the same name he or she used when they originally joined in as (ex Joe or Joseph). If the member does not provide the zip code plus four to you then please research and complete the member’s zip code plus 4 on your update form. The State Membership Trustee will not research this information for you. Your member will not receive anything that is mailed with our non-profit bulk mail permit without the zip code four. There are web sites that you can research what voting districts the member belongs to. If you need further information completing these requirements, please contact the State Membership Trustee for help. Reports that are consistently submitted without the required information or those that are illegible will be returned to the chapter for correction.
9. If you use the State provided membership report for your submission of membership information, please fill out the form legibly and neatly. Retain a copy for your records. If the information is not easily readable then errors will result.
10. Submit your membership report to the Membership Trustee postmarked by the 5th of the month. This does not mean that you cannot send more than one update a month to me. You can send in your membership as you receive membership, you do not have to “fill up a page” in order for the update to be complete. Getting this update to me in a timely manner will guarantee that the members will receive proper credit for the membership that they have paid for.
11. It is not necessary to submit a complete list of your Chapter’s members monthly. You need only submit that month’s membership activity. That will consist of new members, renewals, transfers and information changes.
12. The expiration date is very important. It is carried over yearly. When a member joins initially, that month becomes his anniversary/expiration date. Do not carry a renewal over to the next year and advance the month. If a member joins in April 2004, for instance, his expiration date will be April 2005 and that month will be used on the update, his membership card, in your Chapter records and the State records. If a member renews late, outside his/her anniversary month, his/her join date then becomes his/her new anniversary date (month/year) and he/she starts all over again. The biggest problem identified by the State office with the Chapter records is trying to agree on when a member joined and what his expiration date is. This is one good reason for maintaining accurate records. Keeping the original membership application on file in your Chapter will help you keep your records straight, and will help you when you need to research member’s information, like the original join date and expiration date. The State will use the renewal date that is currently on file for each member. If your report reflects a different date than the State records the date the State originally has will be considered the correct date. Each month a chapter will receive two membership reports from the Membership Trustee. One will be a list of all of the chapter’s current members with all the information the state has on these members. The chapter will also receive a list of delinquent members. This report is to notify the chapter that these members will be deleted unless they renew during the 30-day delinquency period. Chapter membership officers are HIGHLY ENCOURAGED to go over the reports issued from the Membership Trustee to try to catch any errors or omissions in the state records. If any error is detected, please submit the correction on your next report. Submit any proof needed for the changes. IE: A date of a previous membership report that the member was listed on or the original application to verify expiration dates. Your chapter may also receive a notice of credit or debit or a letter requesting further information from the State Membership Trustee. This may be because of an addition error or caused by a member joining or renewing directly with the State Office. There will be requests of action contained with these notices. Please follow and complete these requests.
13. Use the membership update report to correct and change any information that has changed, for instance, member’s name, voter status, zip code, telephone number or address change
14. Life membership in ABATE OF FLORIDA, INC. as of June 11, 2016 is $600.00. $400.00 is due to the State with the update, the Chapter retains $200.00. On your membership update, try to help me by highlighting a member that joins or renews as a Life member. Please remember that a life card must have the member’s legal name. When the Life member fee is paid and the information is submitted to the Membership Trustee, a Life card will be printed for your member. By a past State meeting vote, the Life cards are handed out at a State meeting and your State Rep will sign for it and it is the responsibility of the State Rep to return life cards to the chapter Membership Trustee. Since the State Reps are required to sign for the Life cards, records of receipt are kept to ensure your member received his/her Life card. Replacement Life cards are $11.75 each (which is printing costs) plus taxes and can be requested from the State Products Trustee. By a motion voted upon at a State meeting, your member will also receive a Life Member patch and Life Member plastic holder for the Life card. Please make sure your State Reps know it is their responsibility to get this card to the Chapter Membership Trustee. The date on the Life card will be the date the member joins/renews as a Life member. Life Cards are ordered to be received by the State Meetings. So you will only receive them every other month and remember membership is behind so (Example: June State Meeting you will receive the Life Cards from March and April reports) Please remember to mark that the member is either a new or renewal along with being a life.
15. Life Cards are to be given to the Chapter Membership Trustee by the Chapter State Rep (Delegate) at the Chapters next Board Meeting after the State Meeting or before if possible. The Chapter Membership Trustee is then responsible for handing out the Life Cards to the members at there next Chapter meeting (It is a good idea to get the member to sign for their life cards.) If the member is not present at the chapter meeting the Chapter Membership Trustee is then responsible for mailing the Life cards out to the members by Certified Mail Signature Requested.
16. The membership of any member shall automatically terminate upon a member’s written resignation delivered to your Chapter or to the State Office, the death of a member (except a Life member, Life memberships are valid with the Life of the organization, not the life of a member), or provisions set by the By-Laws of the State. Membership, including Life membership is not transferable to another member or family member upon the death of that member.
17. Membership cards for your Chapter are obtained by ordering them through the Membership Trustee. By agreement, all Chapters will order through the State in order that our membership cards will be uniform through all the Chapters statewide. Due to price changes please call your state membership person for current pricing. Upon receipt of a check made out to “ABATE of Florida, Inc.” received by the State, the cards will then be ordered. Please do not wait to run out to order cards, request them before you need them. They can be shipped to you, with the shipping charges paid by the chapter, or can be picked up at the state meeting.
18. An annual member can transfer in from other States as long as they can prove they are a current member with their former State organization. The State and your Chapter will recognize the term remaining on their membership. A new card should be issued to the member from your Chapter for the term remaining. The same information should be provided to the Membership Trustee and submitted on a Transfer form. Your Chapter is responsible for notifying another State organization of that member’s transfer, not the Membership Trustee. You should submit a transfer form and a membership update (don’t forget to mark it as a transfer and where the member is transferring from) to the Membership Trustee.
19. A member can transfer from Chapter to Chapter within the ABATE OF FLORIDA, INC. organization if he/she desires (at no charge). Preferably, transfers should only be done if a member moves and changes residence, not just because the member wants to transfer. Again, when a member transfers, fill out the transfer form, send the original to the State, a copy to the exiting Chapter, keep a copy for your records and give a copy to the member. If you receive a transfer into your Chapter, issue the member your Chapter membership card for the term remaining (please get the old membership card from the member). Your Chapter is responsible for notifying the member’s former Chapter that he/she transferred, not the State. This is done at no charge. The member turns in his old membership card and you send it in with the original to the State to show the member is current. The transfer goes on the update form as other membership info.