Plinkit Collaborative Membership Fee Structure
Statement of purpose
The Plinkit Collaborative provides a template based, Plone structured web authoring tool for libraries that is maintained and developed by member organizations.
Principles on which to base a fee structure:
1. Allows member organizations with different business models to effectively participate in the collaborative
2. Easy to understand and apply
3. Makes joining the collaborative possible for new members
4. Is predictable from year to year
5. Facilitates the collaborative mission.
The committee considered possible fee structures based on number of member organizations and number of participating libraries.
The idea of a fee based on the number of libraries that a member organization has using Plinkit was considered. However, the committee felt that whether a member has 20 participating libraries or 100, they receive the same product and support from the collaborative. This approach does not seem to facilitate the collaborative mission. It also results in a larger cost for organizations with many participating libraries, and would mean the fee increases the more successful the member is. While a member that was charging for the service may be able to spread the cost to more libraries (and thus potentially reduce the fee charged to libraries) this approach does not work well for members that do not charge libraries for the service. The Committee also examined the idea off a sliding scale for fees based on the number of participating libraries and a combination of set fee and per library cost. Neither of these approaches fit with the principles described above.
Recommended approach:
The cost of the collaborative is shared equally by the members of the collaborative. This approach does facilitate the collaborative mission (all members have an equal stake), it is easy to understand, and does a better job of balancing the pros and cons of a fee structure approach for different business models. As more members join, the fee goes down for all.
The committee proposes these guidelines towards development of the annual membership fee:
1. Determine the actual cost to maintain the collaborative. i.e. software development and administration services from BCR.
2. Base the fee on actual costs.
3. The fee shall be an annual fee. If a member joins the collaborative during the January - June portion of the fiscal year, the fee will be ½ the annual fee.
4. The fee should be stable with no wide swings from year to year.
5. Establish a different approach for travel costs, by adopting a travel voucher system similar to Western Council that is more of an elective fee for each member. The Western Council membership fee includes one “staff exchange” ($1,000) so that staff can travel to other states. States can purchase additional “staff exchanges” (used in increments of $1,000). These show on the annual invoice as “X staff exchanges.” The Plinkit fee could include one “staff exchange” or not. This committee urges the steering committee to encourage new members of the collaborative to send a staff member to the Plone boot camp at some point during the first 12-18 months of participation.
6. The fee must be kept as low as possible so that is does not make it difficult for new members to join or current members to sustain membership.
7. The excess funds currently held by the collaborative can be used to ease the annual fee over the next few years. If there are new members, the fee will naturally stabilize or continue to decline.
8. The budget for the year should have a maximum amount placed in the budget that is above the anticipated expenses for the year. Estimate $10,000.
Assumptions of the committee
Major software development will be needed every 2 years. Minor development annually.
Each new software development will require manual updates.
