NMGIC Membership Fees Increased
Due to a number of factors, the NMGIC, Inc Board of Directors has voted to increase the various membership fees, starting with the current year, 2011:
- Standard membership fees will be increased from $25 yearly to $30 yearly;
- Student fees will be increased from $10 yearly to $15 yearly;
- Corporate membership fees (which include two individual memberships) will be increased from $200 yearly to $250 yearly;
- Corporate member Exhibit fees will be increased from $75 to $100 per meeting;
- Exhibits fees for non-Corporate member vendors will be increased from $150 to $200.
All fees are due at the beginning of the calendar year, and are based upon the calendar year.
Why? NMGIC has not raised fees in many years, and as a result, it is becoming more difficult to balance the NMGIC budget. As an example, a regular member's $25 yearly fee gains admission to both the Spring and Fall Meetings, as well as almost all NMGIC Workshops. Lunch is provided for those two meetings, at an approximate cost of $10 per lunch - so just factoring in the lunches, about $20 of the current $25 membership fee goes towards lunches. For students, their $10 fee bought them $20 worth of lunches. Coffee, tea, drinks and other refreshments are also provided prior to the meetings and during breaks. This leaves very little for the other costs of putting on a NMGIC meeting, or for scholarship funding.
NMGIC membership fees are still quite the bargain (even at the slightly increased amounts that will be charged beginning this year), in comparison with other professional organizations:
---GITA: $125;
---URISA: $131.25;
---APLS as "Geospatial Professional": $150;
---AGS - American Geographical Society: $70;
---ASPRS: $135 but includes monthly magazine
