At last week's Annual General Meeting, members of Southern New England Landcare ratified new membership subscription categories and prices, making memberships for Individuals free.
"There are now only two categories, Corporate and Individual, making the membership subscription process more streamlined and easier to understand," said Karen Zirkler, Executive Officer at Southern New England Landcare Ltd.
"Corporate memberships still attract a small fee, but with greater opportunities to become more significant sponsors of the organisation,"
"Members who still wish to contribute financially - and there are quite a few - can do so by making a donation on our membership sign up page," said Karen.
The Board or Southern New England Landcare is keen to increase membership numbers, and has worshopped ideas and consulted with members during the last 12 months, before making a recommendation to members at the 2021 Annual General Meeting. The recommendation was met with great enthusiasm.
"A strong membership base creates a strong and resilient organisation, which is more impactful around issues that are important to our community, agriculture and the environment in our region," said Karen.
"In recent years, our regular eNews has alerted to upcoming events and opportunities, while the very popular full-colour hard-copy Landchat newsletter has been reserved for financial members only," said Karen.
"It's exciting that we can now offer Landchat to a larger audience as a result of free memberships, because Landchat is such a showcase of the amazing work done by members of our community.
"Everyone needs to know about the great work being done in this space," she said.
In addition to Landchat, other benefits of membership include access to resources such as tools, pest animal traps and library resources; access to news and information about upcoming events, subsidised entry to certain events, and connections with industry experts and like-minded locals. Members also have access to the latest grant information and assistance from staff members to apply.
Anyone who previously held a Family, Volunteer or Affiliate Membership are advised that they have been automatically provided with a free Individual Membership.
Those wishing to add family or group members to the database can sign them up at https://snelandcare.org.au/membership/become-a-member.html.
Existing members or members whose subscriptions have expired in recent months (or years) can renew their subscription or update their contact details by navigating to "Update My Profile" under the Membership menu at www.snelandcare.org.au. If you can't remember your login, use the prompts on the page to reset. Alternatively, email us or call 02 6772 9123.
To sign up as a new member, visit https://snelandcare.org.au/membership/become-a-member.html and follow the instructions. If you need a hard copy form, please call the office on 02 6772 9123.
