American Legion Auxiliary • Department of North Dakota

June 25, 2014

Dear Membership Chairman,

Welcome to the 2015 membership year! Enclosed you will find the roster, membership cards, and several forms. Below are several common questions and things to note.

Membership Year and Submission Dates

The 2015 membership year officially begins January 1, 2015.

  • Renewals for existing members can be submitted to the office beginning July 1, 2014.
  • The first date thatnew members can be submittedfor the 2015 year is September 1, 2014.

Dues Payment Reminders Mailed to Members

Reminders to pay dues are sent by the National office to members twice a year.

  • The first reminder is sent mid-September. The membership data for this reminder is pulled around August 1. Any member who has not paid 2015 dues or had their dues processed by the Department office prior to August 1stwill likely receive a renewal notice.
  • The second notice is sent mid-February. The data for this reminder is pulled around December 1. It is extremely busy in the office during that time.Please allow ample time for the Department office to process your membership submissions.

Rosters

Your unit roster is included with the membership cards. Remember, the information used to create this roster (and the cards) was taken from National records around April 1, 2014. That means the information will be outdated. Please contact the Department office if you would like an updated roster for your Unit.

Category Column on Roster

The Category column on the roster may be blank, orit will contain the following important indications:

  • SLM- State Life Member. These members have a RoYAL (Rest of Your Auxiliary Life) membership and do not pay dues ever again. The unit should not send dues to the Department office for these members.
  • VIM- Very Important Member. VIM was renamed to PUFL- Paid Up For Life- but some correspondence still references the old nomenclature VIM. A VIM/PUFL member does not pay dues ever again, and the unit should not send dues to the Department office for these members. PUFL memberships are still accepted. (See PUFL Applications section below.)
  • HLM- Honorary Life Member. These members are life members as designated by the unit. The unit pays their membership as a courtesy to the member. The full $19 needs to be submitted the Department office for their dues. The designation of HLM on the roster is there as a courtesy to units to assist them in remembering who has these members. The Department office did not/does not track who is an honorary member, other than noting it on the roster. If someone needs to have the designation added or removed, please contact the Department office.

Member Type on Roster

  • MAM- Adult (senior) members. $19 needs to be sent to the Department office for each senior member.
  • MYM- Youth (junior) members. $5 needs to be sent to the Department office for each junior member.

Junior and Senior Member definitions

A member is considered a junior memberif she is under 18 years old as of January 1, 2015.

  • A member born January 1, 1997 or any date before is a senior member because she is 18 years old as of January 1, 2015.
  • A member born January 2, 1997 or any date after is a junior member for the 2015 membership year.

Continuous Years of Membership & Join Dates

There has been much discussion in recent years over continuous years of memberships and join dates. A few years back there was a glitch in the membership system which caused many join dates to be incorrect. In most cases the continuous years of membership data is correct, and little work needs to be done to fix the error. If you have an incorrect join date, please notify the Department office so it may be corrected. Many join dates were fixed over the last year, and I apologize if one was missed.

Some members feel their join date is off a year. If you submitted a change to me and feel the date is still off a year, please know that the National office actually counted the number of years that dues were paid to make sure it was fine. I do have a list of those that were reviewed and determined to be correct (and differed by one year as noted by the membership chairman). Contact me if you wish to discuss it further.

If a member does not pay dues for a year or more, the continuous years and join date will restart to the date she resumed paying dues. If desired, the missing dues may be paid and the continuous years and join date will be reinstated back to the original join date.

Forms

Please make copies of the forms as needed. The forms can also be found on our website at

  • Membership Submission form- There are two pages to this form. The first page is to calculate the number of dues being paid and the total funds due. The second page is to list the member names. The form included with this mailing was revised June 2014. Older forms may be used if you have them, but please be sure you pay the correct amount of dues for each member. A member’s address does not have to be included in the list. Please doinclude their membership number as much as possible. It is extremely helpful to have the names listed in alphabetical order by last name.
  • Member Data form- This form may be used to submit name and address changes for members, and member transfers.
  • New Member application- There are many versions of the new member application. Use whichever one works best for you. One version of the application has been included with this mailing. Regardless of which new member application used, be sure the Post Adjutant/Legion Membership Officer has signed the new member application, as well as the new member if she is over 18 years old.
  • PUFL application- This is the application for a member to become a Paid Up for Life (life member). See PUFL application below.

How to Submit Member Information Changes

Member name and address changes should be submitted to the Department office. This may be done by using the member Data form, mailing a note, sending an email or by calling the office. If your unit has access to ALAMIS, many changes can be done yourself. See ALAMIS Access below for more information on ALAMIS.

ALAMIS Access

ALAMIS is a web-based system used to track our membership. Anyone with a computer and internet access can use it. This system allows a Unit to make member address and name changes. It allows access to reports such as paid membership for the year, unpaid membership, the unit roster as a whole and a report of those marked deceased in whatever time frame specified. New members can be added to the system by the Unit; the member simply stays in Pending status until the Department office receives the application and dues.

The cost is $10 per account per year. Units may have up to two accounts. The billing cycle follows the calendar year. If interested, send the Department office the user’s name, email address and $10 for each account requested.

How to Transfer Members From One Unit to Another

If a member wishes to transfer units, the Member Data Form needs to be submitted by the receiving unit to the Department office.

  • If the transfer occurs before January 1, 2015 dues can be paid to the new unit
  • If the transfer occurs after January 1, 2015 dues need to be paid to the old unit before the member can transfer to the new unit.

PUFL Applications

PUFL (paid up for life) members, formerly VIM, Very Important Members, are life memberships on the national level.

  • To be a PUFL member for the 2015 membership year, the application must be received by the Department office by December 1, 2014.
  • Anything received between December 1 and January 1 may not be accepted by the National office for the 2015 membership year.

A copy of the form in included with this letter. You can request additional forms from the Department office, or you may find it on the National ALA website.

Numeric Objectives (Goals) and Incentives

Your unit’s numeric objective (membership goal) and incentives for reaching various milestones will be provided to you in a future mailing.

Thank you!

Thank you for your dedication as a membership chairman. I realize paperwork can sometimes seem overwhelming or tedious. Suggestions you may have on making the procedure simpler are always welcome. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

Catherine (Cat) Olson

Department Secretary