SAME National revised the membership structure and dues, approved July 2021. Below is a summary of the changes. Reach out to the National office with any questions.

What You Need to Know PDF HERE

The SAME Board of Direction approved changes to SAME’s member structure and dues rates on July 19, 2021. Changes will allow us to:
• Better serve and manage members at the Post and national levels.
• Simplify overly complicated membership and dues structure.
• Improve SAME’s financial stability by aligning dues with the value the Society provides; aligning dues revenue closer to industry standards; and covering costs to serve members.
• Contribute to the ongoing overhaul of the membership database (Enterprise Management System).

Key Impacts of New Membership Structure
• All persons are able to engage anywhere with ease.
• Consistency between membership types.
• More engaged, active members in Posts.
• Allows for more flexibility and consistency for all individuals.
• Each member knows their status—with one data record per individual. More accurate counts of members.
• Membership operations are streamlined.
• Management of company memberships is easier and more efficient for both companies and SAME; less time is spent on administration in managing membership operations.
• Streamlines what is included in company memberships to eliminate confusion.

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION and UPDATES
• Current members pay the new rate when they come up for renewal, starting with October 1, 2021 renewals.
• New members pay the new rate upon joining, starting August 1, 2021.
• Membership includes one Post; individuals may join as many additional Posts as desired for a small fee per Post.
• Military and government civilians now pay the same rate.
• Multi-year memberships have been eliminated, including the purchase of new Life Memberships. All current LIFE members are grandfathered.
• All current uniformed members are grandfathered into their current structure until they transition out of uniform.
• All current government civilian members remain in their current structure until it expires. For example, a civilian member who recently signed up for a three-year term will not be impacted until their renewal date; then they pay the new rate.
• All current life members are grandfathered.

COMPANY / ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION and UPDATES
SAME is committed to the vibrant relationships the Society has with its member companies and organizations —and to ensuring a transparent process in working through respective changes with each company.

For current company members, this will go into effect at the earliest with renewals beginning April 1, 2022. It is important to know: companies will have time to make decisions on their membership, as there will be no changes until a company is up for renewal. Companies will be invited to informational webinars on the changes prior to their renewal. The National Office will work with each company’s primary point of contact to help them best structure their membership going forward.

Key Company Changes
• Provides more flexibility for companies and individuals.
• Eliminates company “representatives”. All members will be Individual Members, including people who are paid for directly as part of a company membership.
• Allows individuals who work for a member company to buy an Individual Membership at a corporate rate.
• Eliminates multiple member records. Every member will have one record.
• Individual Members who are paid for by the member company will “own” their membership (rather than be a “representative”). They take it with them if they leave the company, then they will be billed directly on an annual basis to renew. A company can opt to add individual memberships to its corporate invoice.
• Companies will purchase people and Posts separately. This gives companies more flexibility because they can select Posts where they most want to be involved.
• Companies will not have to purchase a Post just to allow a single person to join it. The individual can join at the corporate individual rate and join the Post(s) of their choosing. Individuals can join as many Posts as desired.