Why $100/$10

Why $100 Member Dues?

  1. IEEE Member trends clearly show:
    ◦ After 2013 increasing member dues has decreased overall membership year after year.
    ◦ After 2016 increasing member dues has decreased member revenue year after year.
    ◦ Regions with higher dues have year after year declining membership.
    ◦ Regions with the lowest dues have slight year after year increasing membership.
    ◦ Members who volunteer tolerate higher dues.
    ◦ Members receiving full price dues discounts tend to remain members i.e. Electronics members.
    ◦ Generally members who pay full price dues are quitting IEEE.
  2. Resetting all member dues to Region 9 & 10 levels will only benefit members in Regions 1 to 8.
  3. Currently 1 in 3 members who do not volunteer or use IEEE products or services quit IEEE because dues appear to be above member’s discretionary spending range.
  4. Members in Regions 1 to 8 see lower social, technical, educational and networking value compared to members in Regions 9 & 10, because their dues are higher.
  5. $100 dues will encourage arrears and inactive members to rejoin IEEE.
  6. $100 dues is within the range of discretionary spending.
  7. After joining, members who are not volunteers start to question the value for the current dues they pay.
  8. $100 member dues will encourage graduating students to become members.
  9. Crushing inflation has made full price member dues much less affordable.
  10. When student dues were cut by 50% in Jan. 2021, undergrad student membership has increased by 29.7% year after year.
  11. If member dues are reduced to $100, membership growth should track with student growth.

Why $10 Student Dues?

  1. Students typically have limited funds and look for value at reduced prices.
  2. Regions with the lowest student dues have increasing membership. Regions 8 to 10
  3. Regions with the highest student dues have declining membership.  Regions 1 to 6
  4. There are 4.1 times more IEEE non US undergrad students than IEEE US undergrad students.
  5. $10 will encourage more students to join IEEE.
  6. $10 is well within student’s discretionary spending.

In Nov. 2020 the IEEE Board of Directors approved a 50% discount of all IEEE student dues around the world to be implemented Jan. 2021.  Today undergrad student growth has increased 29.7% proving reduced dues promotes membership increases.

$100 Dues Financial Impact On Your Section

Each year IEEE gives our Section money based on the # of members in the Section. With more members renewing & more new members joining that financial support will increase. This means our Section will have more resources to invest in local community activities, such as STEM projects for grades 1-12, undergrad projects, community awards, Section member awards. Etc.

$100 Dues Impact on Young Professionals

Young professionals have presented IEEE a difficult challenge. Currently, the retention rate of YPs in year 1 is only 20%. In year 2 it is 10%. Many YPs who have dropped out of IEEE after they initially joined right out of school have been interviewed. They all say the transition from school to a sustained IEEE professional membership is very difficult. School debt, starting a new career, general living costs all tend to be overwhelming. While many YPs are eager to be an IEEE member, they quickly find that membership cost is unaffordable. It seems only after they get settled in their career for a few years do they start thinking about being an IEEE member. This seems to be around the age of 25 to 28.

The current number of YPs in IEEE is a sort of artificial number. In 2014 IEEE changed the definition of a YP from one who is from 20 years to 30 years old to one who is 20 years to 35 years old. This definition change doubled the number of YPs. Clearly more members over 30 join IEEE than those under 30 because of affordability.

Since early 2020 IEEE volunteer leadership (IEEE Boards) and senior IEEE staff  have been aware of this website’s recommendations to reduce member/student annual dues.  In Nov. 2020 the IEEE Board of Directors approved a 50% discount of all IEEE student dues around the world to be implemented Jan. 2021.  Today undergrad student growth has increased 29.7% proving reduced dues promotes membership increases.

Please electronically sign the petition at:

https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/election/petition.html#constitutional-amendment-petition