As many of you know, NCDD is a lean organization with a small staff, and we rely on the active support of NCDD members to continue our efforts and raise awareness of the innovations in engagement, dialogue and community-building taking place across the country. It is our strong and growing membership that enables us to add even more to what we can offer our members to support their work.
As part of our effort to step up the support we can offer to our members, we are planning to increase our membership dues on November 5th, the day after Election Day. That means that if you haven’t joined NCDD or renewed your membership, you need to do so today to lock in the lower rates!
Through November 4th (election day!), annual membership dues will stay at their current levels:
- $25 for Student Membership
- $50 for Individual Membership
- $125 for Sustaining Membership
- $150 for Organizational Membership
Starting November 5th, we will be using a new membership dues scale, and annual membership rates will be as follows:
- $30 for Student/Young Professional Membership
- $75 for Individual Membership
- $150 for Sustaining Membership
- $200 for Organizational Membership
But we are offering a great deal for those who join NCDD or renew their memberships between now and the 4th: if you join or renew before the new dues scale goes into place, you can lock in your dues at current membership levels for two years! Through November 4th, members will be allowed to prepay their dues at current rates and can avoid paying the new, higher dues for two years. It’s a great deal, so make sure to take advantage before it’s gone by visiting www.ncdd.org/join to join, renew, or upgrade your membership.
You can check what membership level you are currently by looking yourself up in the directory at www.ncdd.org/directory or on this chart (which shows all members’ renewal dates and member types). If you’re still not convinced that it’s worth it, then we encourage you to check out our member benefits page to get a sense of all of the great things your NCDD membership does for you. We think you’ll see why we are already over 2,100 members strong!
In these weeks leading up to the election, we have an opportunity to share what we know is not only possible, but is working, to reclaim our democracy. We hope you’ll take a few moments now to join or renew your membership and to help us spread the word and express your support for NCDD.
Even as partisan rhetoric heats up in an effort to amplify division and discord in advance of the November elections, the people and organizations involved in NCDD offer a countervailing narrative — one that shows how people can talk across divides and co-create fresh solutions to stale problems.
It’s a little hard to see who some of the other nodes are that seem to connect multiple sectors, but I could get a sense of who the most connected people are by the size of their dot. Diana Whitney, Matt Leighninger, Thomas Valenti, Larry Schooler, Beth Offenbacker, Jon Ramer, Nancy White, Margaret Herrmann, and Libby and Len Traubman stand out to me as highly connected in LinkedIn.
Over the last few years, I’ve networked with about 50 legislators who operate with a collaborative leadership model, rather than power-based model; and I plan to form a Collaborative Legislators Network when the time is right (we’re getting close).
Sustaining Members
Many of you hear from Joy when you first join the Coalition, when it’s time to renew, when you have a question about sending dues or conference registration fees, and when we need a new bio from you. Joy started working with NCDD in 2006 soon after Andy and I moved from Vermont to Pennsylvania, and we’re now completely dependent on her! :)