Announcing ACA's New Membership System.

You've heard about it for a long time. You've participated in our member and camp surveys. ACA sections have provided important input, and several committees have worked for many years. Now, it's almost here!

The new membership system, benefits, dues, and fees will become effective on July 1. ACA sections have determined their fees for the next fiscal year. Later this month, every member and camp will receive a letter explaining the new dues, benefits, and fees specific to them. Contact names and phone numbers will be provided in case you have any questions. Until then, here is a brief overview of the new system.

Individual Membership Opportunities

Three types of ACA memberships are available to individuals:

* Professional Member: Professional membership is available to any individual interested in advancing ACA's mission.

* Associate Member: Associate membership is available to any individual who wants to keep informed of the issues affecting the camp industry, but who is not interested in receiving the full benefits of professional membership.

* Business Member: Business membership is available to any individual who represents a business that supplies goods or services to camp operations and is interested in advancing ACA's mission.

Camp Opportunities

There are two types of camps within ACA:

* Accredited Camp: Accredited camps are those camps that have successfully achieved ACA accreditation. These camps pay a fee to receive important camp-related and accreditation-related benefits.

* Camp Affiliate: Camp affiliates pay a fee to receive important camp-related benefits from ACA. These camps are not accredited by ACA and cannot indicate or imply that they are anything more than an entity that receives benefits from ACA.

Camps (whether accredited camps or camp affiliates) may choose to pay their fees in one of two ways:

* Single Camp: Any single camp may receive benefits from ACA by paying the appropriate fee based upon their total operating budget.

* Multiple Camps: Any operation that runs more than one camp may receive benefits from ACA for each of their camps by totaling the operating budgets of those camps and then paying the appropriate fee based upon that total. If paying fees based on the budgets of multiple camps, all included camps must belong to the same ACA section.

These are exciting times for the American Camping Association. Watch your mail for specific details about the new membership system!