After presenting our new membership scheme in the last Buzz several questions have been raised. We would hope to address these here for a better understanding of the new membership contribution. If you still have questions or concerns, please do let us know. You can reach us at:
- What is the basic difference? There are two. First, we are replacing two payments (the former minimum membership fee of 60,- Euro and the former 65,- Euro IT/Library fund contribution) with one contribution, to be deducted either annually or monthly on a recurring basis. Second, we are automating the membership and payment systems, in order to improve efficiency and eliminate human error.
- What happens to my existing membership and the direct debit I had signed? We will soon check our existing member database against the list of those who have joined using the new online system. If you sign up now, but had a prior direct debit, we will simply remove you from our old direct debit system. This means that you should feel free to join now without concern about a possible double payment. For all those who are currently members and prefer to wait to hear from us before using the new online tool, we understand and will be in touch with you soon.
** There is one exception to this. About 30 of you have already made a payment for calendar year 2019. We ask you to “sit still” for now and we will reach out to you directly about how and when to transfer your payment from the old system to the new one.**
- Which membership should I choose if I have 2 or more children at NMS? We hope for all families to support the school and our community to the greatest extent that their material circumstances allow. For those with more than one child, bearing in mind that in the past you paid 65,- Euro per child toward the budget for Library and IT, we kindly ask that you choose at least a PLUS level membership.
- Aren't there too many contributions to be made at the beginning of the school year? We understand this concern, but would kindly ask you to consider a few things. First, you can pay your membership on a recurring monthly basis. Also, it would be excellent if you sign up today, you may do so at any time between now and this December. Finally, between the cancellation of the Lernmittelfonds payment, and the lunch fee, and the price of the Schulerticket, most families are spending about 750,- Euro less per childthis year than in the past.
- I am worried about payment security and data protection. We take your privacy seriously. That’s why we use Stripe (https://stripe.com/docs/security/stripe) to process all payments and why we’ve ensured that a member of our parent community with expertise in this sector has implemented it.