What goes into a membership fee?

[orangebird]

So I just got the membership fee for the org I'm hoping to work HS with this year and quite frankly, I was a bit surprised at the number. I'm gonna assume it's unprofessional to say the exact cost, but it definitely caught me off guard.

However, I'm not trying to complain, but am pretty curious how the accounting works for this. So, for anyone more familiar with this, what's the general breakdown of where the money goes? I can pretty easily figure out part of it goes to Arbiter and part of it goes towards rulebooks, but I'd assume there's other things I'm missing. 

[Jay R.]

Are they providing:
-- a uniform (or elements of one, or discount with a uniform and gear supplier)? 
-- insurance (or discount for participation in a group plan)?
-- NASO membership?

My HS chapter doesn't, but our fees aren't outlandish ($50ish to the state, $25ish to the local chapter). We get a rulebook and chapter fees pay for Arbiter and a few other small things. 

I have been in orgs that provide shirts and caps as well as insurance discounts. 

[orangebird]

6 minutes ago, Jay R. said:

Are they providing:
-- a uniform (or elements of one, or discount with a uniform and gear supplier)? 
-- insurance (or discount for participation in a group plan)?
-- NASO membership?

My HS chapter doesn't, but our fees aren't outlandish ($50ish to the state, $25ish to the local chapter). We get a rulebook and chapter fees pay for Arbiter and a few other small things. 

I have been in orgs that provide shirts and caps as well as insurance discounts. 

Uniform is a no from working a bit of summer travel with them, the other two, no idea

[Richvee]

My HS association is $80. Gets us a rulebook, and a banquette at the end of the season with some decent door prizes. 😏

Couldn't tell you what the rest is used for. 

The state grabs another $60 from us, which gets us nothing more than a background check, and a poorly written test each year. I think the state pays the Arbiter bill as well. 

We don't have high school assigning fees, so there's that. 

Bottom line, it's $140 of expenses for tax purposes. 

[JSam21]

As a board member, here is what I can tell you. Insurance, Arbiter, rental costs for banquets/meetings/training facilities/training equipment/videos, accountant/treasurer and webmaster/website costs, food/drink and awards. That is what your dues for our organization go to. Along with carrying a cash surplus in order to cover any emergencies or payment shortfalls from leagues/schools in order to make payroll on time. 

Pre-Season training for us starts in January with video calls for our JUCO crew, we have a preseason banquet/training in late January for all members where we focus on the upcoming HS season, then we have weekly in person training sessions from the first week of February until the week before the season starts in March, approx. 7 90 minute sessions, along with spontaneous cage work opportunities. 

We have recurring conference calls in-season to go over what we are doing well and what we can improve on. 

We charge $85 for a general membership, $30 for softball only, and $30 for students with valid school IDs. After 25 years of service, you no longer have to pay dues and become a lifetime member. Our dues are based on the lowest single game fee that our org gets, ($85). 

The State also charges a fee to register with them. 

[Richvee]

3 hours ago, JSam21 said:

As a board member, here is what I can tell you. Insurance, Arbiter, rental costs for banquets/meetings/training facilities/training equipment/videos, accountant/treasurer and webmaster/website costs, food/drink and awards. That is what your dues for our organization go to. Along with carrying a cash surplus in order to cover any emergencies or payment shortfalls from leagues/schools in order to make payroll on time. 

Pre-Season training for us starts in January with video calls for our JUCO crew, we have a preseason banquet/training in late January for all members where we focus on the upcoming HS season, then we have weekly in person training sessions from the first week of February until the week before the season starts in March, approx. 7 90 minute sessions, along with spontaneous cage work opportunities. 

We have recurring conference calls in-season to go over what we are doing well and what we can improve on. 

We charge $85 for a general membership, $30 for softball only, and $30 for students with valid school IDs. After 25 years of service, you no longer have to pay dues and become a lifetime member. Our dues are based on the lowest single game fee that our org gets, ($85). 

The State also charges a fee to register with them. 

When I said "I have no idea" I didn't mean to imply anything negative, like "I don't know why I pay it". I just didn't know. State money?.. That's a different story. I'd bet a good chunk goes to the bureaucrat's salaries.  

[JSam21]

1 hour ago, Richvee said:

When I said "I have no idea" I didn't mean to imply anything negative, like "I don't know why I pay it". I just didn't know. State money?.. That's a different story. I'd bet a good chunk goes to the bureaucrat's salaries.  

Oh I didn't mean to imply anything. I can only speak for the board that I am a part of. All of the board members are non-paid positions. The only paid members are our treasurer, webmaster, and assignor. All 3 of those positions are non-voting positions.  

[SeeingEyeDog]

@orangebird, respectfully...you can ask this on this forum, of course...but, in order to get the answer that is really relevant to YOU as a member of YOUR association, you should be asking this question of your local association mentor or a member of your board. As you can see by the answers here, your question is a very, very important question and the local answer again for YOU should NOT be a secret. Your association, EVERY association should be TOUTING the benefits of membership in the association. It should be a point of pride for all the members as to what the association is doing collectively to give value to the umpires and officials who join the association.

So, if you don't get a thorough and complete answer to the question...What do my membership dues pay for? That should be a flag. Until such time that you can learn what they provide for membership fees, you simply can't assess it's value because you don't know what you're getting for your payment of dues.

~Dawg

[jimurrayalterego]

On 1/7/2026 at 4:15 PM, orangebird said:

So I just got the membership fee for the org I'm hoping to work HS with this year and quite frankly, I was a bit surprised at the number. I'm gonna assume it's unprofessional to say the exact cost, but it definitely caught me off guard.

However, I'm not trying to complain, but am pretty curious how the accounting works for this. So, for anyone more familiar with this, what's the general breakdown of where the money goes? I can pretty easily figure out part of it goes to Arbiter and part of it goes towards rulebooks, but I'd assume there's other things I'm missing. 

In Texas all the chapters of the State umpire chapters should have board and members meeting. A financial report is usually given and given the volunteer aspect of the officers it may not be detailed. But if you are in attendance, which is lacking to a great degree, in your state I'm guessing they would address your question. How they would respond to it should guide your future involvement with them. Or not, just pay the money and get your game fees.

[johnnyg08]

That's what ours is too. A game fee.