After a proposed dues hike a few years ago was met with resistance, the Public Relations Society of America decided the next effort would have to include the kind of community outreach that's in line with the best practices of the profession.
"We needed to put the information out further than two months ahead of time," acknowledges PRSA's chair and CEO, Sam Waltz, of Waltz & Associates, Wilmington, Del.
The society now is engaged in a comprehensive effort to convince its members that a $40 dues hike - phased in over a three-year period - is warranted. The group is using its Web site, e-mail and member publications to make its case, emphasizing that:
- dues have not risen in 10 years;
- non-dues revenue has risen, and now makes up about 60 percent of PRSA's funding; and
- new members services, such as additional support for chapters and funding for PR ethics and "PR for PR" programs, require additional revenue.
The society also has scheduled a number of teleconferences in July, August and September to let members get more details and share their views about the proposed increase.
Former Washington, D.C., Chapter President Katherine Hutt of Nautilus Communications, Vienna, Va., says PRSA has done a "decent job in making their case" this time.
Today's dues, $175 plus chapter dues (which can run about $50 or more), is about the same as that of PRSA's most similar association, the International Association of Business Communicators. At $225, PRSA dues would still be only about one-half of those of the 4,000- plus member National Investor Relations Institute.
Nonetheless, opposition to the increase has been evident, showing up in places such as the PR & Marketing Forum on CompuServe. Waltz says he expects opposition, but believes that the society's assembly of elected leadership will vote for the increase when it meets at the annual conference in October.
(Nautilus, 703/938-4540; PRSA, 212/995-2230; Waltz, 302/777-4774)