How to Join or Renew Your Membership
Purchase your new CyberStitchers membership or renew your annual CyberStitchers membership in our online store. The amount you’ll pay for dues depends on your membership category. Scroll down to see the detailed information about dues.
Guest Membership
If you’re not sure you want to join CyberStitchers, email the membership chair to request a 30-day guest membership before you join.
Payment
You can pay via PayPal (using your PayPal account or a credit card), or you can mail us a check.
Special notice for check payments: If you choose to pay by check and reside outside the United States, there’s an additional $35 fee to process your payment. This is charged by banks in the United States for the chapter to deposit your check and receive those funds. The chapter cannot absorb that cost, so we must pass it on to the member. We strongly recommend that members outside the United States pay all fees for dues or classes via PayPal to avoid the additional $35 fee for each check.
Getting Started
After your information and dues have been received, our membership chair will send you an email. Follow the instructions in the email to join our groups.io group where we conduct all our activities (such as member chat, meetings, and education events).
Dues
The EGA membership year runs from June 1st to May 31st. Dues are collected once a year by the chapter, and must be submitted to the regional and national organizations by May 31st. To meet this deadline, CyberStitchers must collect all dues from renewing members no later than April 30th. Members who submit dues after this date may be considered late renewals and submitted to the regional and national organizations as such. If you are re-joining CyberStitchers and it has been more than a year since you were a member, please choose the New Member category rather than Renewal
The amount you pay for CyberStitchers dues each year depends on your membership category. EGA has several membership categories:
- Primary Member You are a member of only one chapter.
- Plural Member You are a primary member of one chapter, but also belong to one or more additional chapters.
- Life Member Life members pay a one-time, lump sum to EGA for lifetime membership in the national organization, but pay chapter and region dues each year. Life members can be primary or plural members of CyberStitchers.
- Member-At-Large (MAL) You are a member of EGA at the national level only and pay dues directly to the national organization each year. As an MAL, you have no chapter affiliation. If you join CyberStitchers (or any other chapter) you will no longer be an MAL.
If you join CyberStitchers after the annual renewal period in April, your dues are prorated for your initial membership. Each year after that, you’ll pay the full amount in April.
The amount you’ll pay when you first join CyberStitchers depends on the month in which you join. The proration is made on a quarterly basis. If you join from January to March you pay 25% of the annual dues; from April to June you pay 100% of the annual dues; from July to September you pay 75% of the annual dues; from October to December you pay 50% of the annual dues.
The table below shows the membership categories and the dues you’ll pay at the time you join. The column for April to June is also the amount you’ll pay to renew each year.
| Membership Category | Jan–Mar | Apr–Jun or Renewal | Jul–Sept | Oct–Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Member | $13.50 | $54 | $40.50 | $27 |
| Plural Member or EGA Life Member (within the TVR*) | $3 | $12 | $9 | $6 |
| Plural Member or EGA Life Member (outside the TVR**) | $3.75 | $15 | $11.25 | $7.50 |
| Member-At-Large Transfer*** | $3.75 | $15 | $11.25 | $7.50 |
*Primary membership is in a chapter within the Tennessee Valley Region
**Primary membership is NOT in the Tennessee Valley Region
***MALs pay National dues to National at sign-up; a MAL who subsequently wants to join CyberStitchers will pay to the chapter the remainder of dues required, and will pay to the chapter the full dues amount as outlined above at the next annual renewal
Postage for the EGA quarterly magazine, Needle Arts, is included in the dues for United States residents. Members who reside outside the United States must pay an additional postage fee in addition to the dues. The fee is $8 for residents of Canada, or $24 for residents of other countries or regions.