Early Birds Catch Membership Rebate Checks

Several State National Guard associations will soon receive shares of almost $58,000 as a result of their Early Bird dues submissions. NGAUS rewards a 5 percent rebate to state associations on national dues received by the March 30. This year, the states sent nearly $1.2 million by the deadline. Dues rebates ranged from less than $10 to more than $4,000. The NGAUS board of directors created the program several years ago to encourage states to forward their collected national dues early.

Holding all dues until the traditional June 30 membership deadline for conference seating and awards can bog down processing and accounting. Early dues submission also helps more evenly distribute NGAUS revenue flow. States that didn’t make the Early Bird deadline still can receive a dues rebate based on their membership performance. State Guard associations can receive up to a 5 percent rebate on all collected dues by exceeding their previous yearend membership percentages.

Rebate amounts are based on the percentage increase from one year to the next, using membership percentages as of Dec. 31. States that maintain a 100 percent membership rate from one year to the next receive the full 5 percent rebate. These second rebate checks are issued upon the state association request. Last year, 15 states reached the 100 percent membership mark.

So far this year, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin have reached 100 percent. Overall, NGAUS membership now stands at 58 percent.