Membership fee payment and benefits of joining the NBCBA

[Kyle]

Membership benefits:

The New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association is a social club offering a range of benefits, summarized below, for home brewers in or around Fredericton. We welcome novice and experienced brewers of legal age.

In terms of what members might get in return, NBCBA is a vibrant network for home brewers to share their talents in a welcoming environment. There are also benefits such as a hops sealer, jockey boxes, competitions, protection in case of accidental loss of group purchases, economical access to a massive variety of hops, grain, and yeast, and in-kind member donations such as tools. You will benefit from hundreds of hours of volunteer time donated by the executive and other members to offer a truly rewarding club experience.

We negotiate bulk order deals on parts, grains, hops, and any other relevant items at prices averaging about half of retail. In negotiating wholesale deals, our providers typically want to know how much business we can deliver. Having dues-paid members is a good barometer of the number of people who are serious about the club.

The membership fee is decided on an annual basis, through a Board vote. This covers things such as extra bags for grain splits, twist ties, a receipt book, shrink wrap for hops, and other small items related to the operation of our relatively small club. We also use this fee to reimburse other incidentals such as gas for the people who pick up the very heavy bulk grain orders. All of our financial transactions are recorded using financial accounting software called GNUCash.

In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, the club really took off and our elected Treasurer, Brew, has provided monthly statements as well as maintaining a repository of all transactions, shipping rates, wholesaler contacts, income, and expenses. We offer Paypal as a convenient option for club related transactions and use a 4% surcharge on such transactions to cover fees we pay to Paypal. Every transaction is logged and vetted.

Members have the right, of course, to know how the money is spent, and to suggest acquisitions for the club. It is not spent in wasteful or undemocratic ways. The money goes to a BMO community account held by the Treasurer. At the bi-weekly meetings, there is lively discussion between members of ways to use our operating budget. Many ideas have come to light, including, but not limited to:

-    Running more competitions where we are contributing club funds to the prizes
-    Self-insuring the potential loss or damage of grain and / or hops orders
-    Stocking of grain, hops, and yeasts for club members to have access to between bulk purchases
-    Purchase of tools required to build pieces of home brewing equipment, many of which are expensive but single use.

In 2013, we organized the 1st New Brunswick Home Brew Challenge with a lot of help from Picaroons.  This is something we are hoping to continue in 2014 as well.

In the end, we are just a bunch of guys doing our best to foster a club that will be a home-base and social club for those that are interested.

Guests are welcome to attend meetings!

Membership dues

Dues can be paid in cash to a board member or via Paypal if using credit card. As mentioned above, the club charges 4% on all Paypal transactions to keep us in the black by compensating for transaction fees.

The club year begins in May and dues are $30/year ($31.20 via Paypal). Every 3 months the dues are reduced and the last term dues are adjusted to include membership for the following year. The schedule is as follows:

Aug 1 - $23 ($23.92 via Paypal)
Nov 1 - $16 ($16.64 via Paypal)
Feb 1 - $10 ($10.40 via Paypal)
Apr 1 - $33 ($34.32 via Paypal) includes following years dues.

Click the Buy Now button below to become a member. Note existing members can renew for the following year anytime by visiting the Membership Renewal topic in the Club Business forum.

Note - if you are on the forum without a logon account, please put in the paypal note section when paying your preferred username to be created on the forum, preferred email address, full name and phone number if you're willing to let us have it - we dont give it out.

To pay dues by Interac EMT, send payment to: fcba.nb@gmail.com.

Or send the paypal amount by clicking below: