What happens to your Membership Dues?
Annually, the League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale reports our financial status to our members and the public at our annual meeting in June.
This year we would also like to provide a more graphic illustration of how the money flows.
LWVCS Income
Most of the income of LWV Cupertino-Sunnyvale (LWVCS) comes from two sources:
- Member dues and
- Donations
- (3) Plus, some Other Income, mainly bank interest and occasional grants for special projects
Income from Member Dues:
The total amount of dues paid by LWVCS members is determined by a vote of the LWVCS membership at our annual meeting in June. LWVCS dues are currently set at:
~ $100 per full member
~ $50 per additional member in the same household as the full member (Associate or Household Member)
~ $0 for student members and Life Members (those who have been LWV members for 50 years or more)
The entire League of Women Voters structure is supported by:
- Local League sharing the dues paid by their members with Leagues at the other levels of LWV
- and donations and grants given at a specificlevel of League organization, such as local, state, or national
The dues are shared with other levels of League based on a formula of either a fixed amount per local League or by a payment per member/by member type (called PMP - Per Member Payment).
The chart to the right shows how LWVCS members’ dues (both full and associate) are currently shared at the various levels of the League. When a member pays their dues to LWVCS, they also automatically become a member of:
- LWVUS – the national U.S. LWV
($32/full member & $16/associate per year)
- LWVC – the state of California LWV
($28 full member & $14/associate per year)
- LWVBA – LWV of the San Francisco Bay Area
($3/full member & $1.50 associate per year)
- LWVSCC – LWV of Santa Clara County
($100 flat fee per local League, shown here as approximately $1 per member)
and
- LWVCS – LWV of Cupertino and Sunnyvale
(what’s left of whatever dues our members pay:
- in 2022-23 that was $16/ member & $8/ associate (household)member
in 2023-24) that was $36/member & $18/ associate (household)member
LWVCS’s total share, after dues sharing with higher levels of the League:
- In fiscal year 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023, LWVCS kept about $1,700 (21%) of the approximately $8,270 our members paid to us in dues. (LWVCS full dues were $80 that year)
- In fiscal year 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024, LWVCS kept about $3,550 (36%) of the approximately $9,890 in dues paid by our members, with about the same number of members. (LWVCS full dues were $100 that year).
Income from Donations:
Our net dues revenue is not enough to cover the cost of all the work we do. Donations are a very important part of supporting our mission.
When a member or friend of the League donates to either the Education Fund or the General Fund, 100% of that amount goes directly to LWVCS. Other levels of LWV (like the state and national Leagues) have separate donation funds.
- In fiscal year 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023, LWVCS received donations of approximately $7,100
- In fiscal year 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024, LWVCS received donations of approximately $5,500
Other Income:
A small portion of our League’s income comes from interest on our bank account and occasional grants for projects.
- In fiscal year 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023 that was only about $19 in interest on our bank account.
- In fiscal year 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024, our Treasurer invested in a CD, which provided $705 in interest income.
LWVCS Spending:
While all the work of LWVCS is done by volunteers, there are many things that must be paid for. The chart below shows how LWVCS spent its funds over the past two years, not including the dues shared with higher levels of LWV, The chart covers (7/1/2022-6/30/2024) because two years is a better measure of League spending than one year, since major election cycles occur every other year.
- In fiscal year 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023, (a November election year) LWVCS spent approximately $8,500, not including dues shared.
- In fiscal year 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024, LWVCS spent approximately $9,000, mainly due to inflation.
Categories of LWVCS spending
- LWVCS Membership Support: Expenses of
- Membership meetings & get-togethers
- Outreach to new members
- Committee activities, including:
- Business meetings,
- Studies, and
- Public presentations on elections and issues
- Other voter support activities, such as voter registration
- Technology: Software & equipment to provide:
- presentation and meeting support, including in-person, Zoom and Webinar,
- LWVCS online presence (incl. website, social media, and YouTube),
- accounting,
- the ClubExpress membership system
- Operations: Basic things to support our volunteers, such as:
- Supplies and hand-outs,
- Storage rental,
- insurance,
- postage & post office box rental,
- membership fees for participation in community organizations,
- other basic operating costs
- Awareness & Fundraising:
- Correspondence
- Publicity & Advertising
- League Booths at public events
- LWV Convention Attendance (& other League-associated costs):
- Assistance to members representing us at bi-annual state and national League conventions
- Support for VOTE411 system
Looking Forward:
As costs continue to rise, we need to find innovative ways to fund our work to support the mission of the League in our communities of Cupertino and Sunnyvale. Our work with the Santa Clara Registrar of Voters in this year’s election is one example of how we, as members of LWVCS, can volunteer our time to support both the mission and the finances of our League.
If you have any questions related to this article, please email them to online@lwvcs.org. In a future article we will discuss some upcoming changes to the methods by which dues are collected and shared within the League of Women Voters.
Nina Wong-Dobkin, Marilyn Sherry, Marieann Shovlin, and Beth Claywell all contributed to this article.