Resources for Chapters and SIGs

Reporting Membership

With any questions, please contact: Jeanine Swick –  ICG Treasurer

This page describes the information the ICG Treasurer needs from Chapters and SIGs. If you, or the person who will be handling the membership, have any questions don’t hesitate to ask for help. It takes a bit of work to get a new Chapter or SIG up and running. Referring to the ICG Standing Rules will help.

Remitting ICG Dues (Primary Chapters only)

ICG membership dues are only collected from a member’s Primary Chapter. No dues are required from a member’s Secondary Chapters or SIGs.

  • Individuals/Head of Household: $8
  • Member of Household: $4
  • Non-Primary $0 = Person has paid their main membership in another chapter.

By cheque. If you are paying by cheque, make it payable to “ICG” and send it to

  ICG Treasurer
  c/o Jeanine Swick
  113 Townsend Harbor Rd
  Lunenburg, MA 01462-1818

Please include a list of names covered by the payment with the check.

By bank online bill pay service. Nearly every bank provides an online bill pay service that allows the chapter to remit membership payments by filling out an online form to schedule a payment. Once set up, it is easy to use it afterwards. Consult the ICG treasurer for the required banking information to use. Most bill pay services are free as long as you have an active checking account with the bank or credit union. Please send a separate report of the list of names covered by the payment to the treasurer.

By PayPal. PayPal charges a processing fee that is subtracted from the amount received by the ICG. Chapters must add an amount to their payments that ensures the ICG receives the full amount of membership dues. Consult the ICG treasurer for the amount to add to your payment. Memberships cannot be processed unless the full amounts are received. To avoid these fees, use one of the other payment methods. Make the payment to

  Payeee: International Costumers' Guild
  Email: icg-treasurer@costume.org

Please list the names covered by the payment in the comment box or send a separate report to the treasurer.

Membership Reporting Requirements

Your Chapter or SIG will send an initial membership report, an annual membership report, and a monthly membership update to me as ICG Treasurer.

  • Within 30 days of your Chapter or SIG being approved, email a full list of members and officers to the ICG Treasurer using the reporting spreadsheet template described below.
  • By January 7th of every year, email a full list of members and officers to the ICG Treasurer using the reporting spreadsheet template described below.
  • By the 7th of every month, email an update to the ICG Treasurer on any new or renewing members, and changes in officers. Use the reporting spreadsheet template described below. Important: be sure to modify the “Last update” fields and color the background of the rows that have changed to make them easier to locate.

Creating a Membership Report

I have created a spreadsheet template for the format I use for the membership list. By using this format, I am able to copy and paste directly into my master list instead of manually entering the information which allows for mistakes to creep in. The file is available in both Excel (.xls) and OpenOffice (.ods). I can work with either format.

There are 3 sheets in the file.

  • Membership Roster for the entire chapter
  • Chapter Officer list
  • Chapter contact information for the ICG website.
    (See Finding a Chapter and Finding a SIG for examples)

Explanation of Membership Roster Column Headings

Members: 1,2 3… to keep count of members in the Chapter or SIG.

Last update: last time dues were paid or any information change was made in mm/yy format.  Important: when sending monthly membership updates, please highlighted changed rows with a colored background to make them easier to locate.

Chapter (Primary): primary chapter of membership.

Multi-primary: other chapters members may belong to (see below).

Paid thru: when membership expires This will be the last day of the month that payment is received by the ICG Treasurer. Example: Dues paid in Sept for new members will have the expiration date of Sept 30th of the following year. This applies to any month dues are paid for new members. There is a 3 month grace period on expired memberships to retain the same expiration date. Members expired for more than 3 months will receive a new expiration date based on the month dues are paid.

Newsletter Format: either “E-mail” or “USPS.” The International Costumer newsletter is published bi-monthly as a full-color digital edition. The current issue is available to all members on the ICG website. Instructions for accessing the current issue are sent to all members who provide their email addresses. Members can also request a black-and white printed edition by specifying “USPS” in this field. Back issues are available to everyone on the  ICG website.

Last Name: member’s family name

First name: member’s given name

MH name: other member(s) in household – must all reside at the same physical address.

Membership code:

  • HH — head of household
  • MH — member household (must live at the same address)
  • I — individual
  • NP — non-primary – ICG membership is paid to another chapter (see below).

As a new chapter you are not likely to have members from other chapters at this time, but it can happen.

Address: street address of residence.

City: city of residence.

State: state or province of residence.

Zip: postal code of residence (for U.S., please use ZIP+4 whenever possible; enter as ‘00000-‘ or ‘00000-0000’ to avoid spreadsheet formatting issues).

Country: country of residence.

Phone: telephone number (optional); (please format as (AAA) 000-0000 for U.S. or Canadian numbers, or +CC for country code followed by area code and telephone number for other countries).

E-mail: member email address (official notifications of meetings and notifications of new newsletters are only sent by email).

Chapter Officers: officer role(s) in primary chapter (e.g. Pres, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, BoD rep, Alt BoD Rep)

*If you a have membership in multiple chapters, one must be listed as your primary membership chapter. Your membership(s) in any other (non-primary) chapter(s) will expire in the same month as your primary membership. There is frequently confusion about this. All household members must reside at the same address as the Head of Household. Full details can be found on the ICG website: http://www.costume.org/documents/StandingRules.htm

Sending Reports

Annual membership reports are due no later than January 7th of each year. Email them to icg-treasurer@costume.org. Be sure to identify your chapter or SIG. Attach a spreadsheet with your complete membership list. Here is an example.

  Subject: Annual membership report
  
  Membership list attached
  
  Jane Smith
  Treasurer, AAAACG (or officer sending report)

Monthly membership reports are due no later than the 7th of each month. Email them to icg-treasurer@costume.org. Please identify your chapter or SIG. It nothing has changed, just state no membership changes at this time. Here is an example.

  Subject: Monthly membership report
  
  No Changes- AAAACG  
          
  Jane Smith
  Treasurer, AAAACG (or officer sending report)

If members have renewed, new members have joined, or officers have changed, include a membership spreadsheet with the changes.

Important: Be sure to modify the “Last update” fields and color the background of the rows for changed members to make them easier to locate. Here is an example.
  Subject: Monthly membership report
  
  20 members renewed, check mailed, membership list attached, mailed check.
  
  Jane Smith
  Treasurer, AAAACG (or officer sending report)

Questions and Additional Information

Please don’t hesitate to ask questions when needed, either by sending me email at icg-treasurer@costume.org, or by having your Chapter or non-voting SIG representative post to the ICG-BOD Yahoo! group. Your Chapter or SIG Treasurer is also welcome to join the ICG-FINANCE Yahoo! group for advice on finance-related issues.

To join one of these lists, go to the main page of the Yahoo group and select “Ask to Join Group” at the upper right side of the page. Be sure to state your role in your Chapter or SIG. Only ICG officers, Chapter representatives, non-voting SIG representatives, and ICG committee chairs can join the ICG-BOD group, and only ICG Finance Committee members and Chapter or SIG Treasurers can join the ICG-FINANCE group.