Over the last year, we’ve been reviewing and improving our Member Services, culminating in the biggest improvement of all, a new website, due in May 2023.
When we launch our new website, prices on some of our services will increase. This blog from Laura Elliot, our Member Services Manager, explains what will be changing and why.
What is changing?
As of May 2023 prices on our Membership+, Job Finder and Enhanced Recruitment services will increase.
New prices start from May 2023, so current memberships and Job Finder adverts are unaffected. Prices will apply from the point you renew your Membership+, place a new advert on Job Finder, or make a new Enhanced Recruitment enquiry.
Why are we increasing prices?
Increasing prices hasn’t been an easy choice, but we’re a registered charity and much of our core work is unfunded.
Prices were set several years ago, when Job Finder, Membership+ and Enhanced Recruitment Services were first established. Since then, our prices have stayed the same even though the cost to deliver services has increased.
All the money we raise from Membership+, Job Finder and Enhanced Recruitment services is reinvested into our work to strengthen the North East VCSE sector as well as providing services to our members.
Since our services were set up, we’ve also invested time and money improving them. With our new website we hope you’ll find it much easier to see and access member benefits and to sign up to the groups and updates that help you make the most of being part of our extensive networks. [link to blog 1].
How we reviewed our prices
It’s been clear for some time that we needed to review our prices, but we decided to hold them during Covid-19 and in 2022/23 because of the financial crisis.
To get a sense of what we should charge, we benchmarked our services within and beyond the sector. We also took into account feedback from customers and from our Member and Stakeholder surveys.
This research showed we were charging less than comparable organisations, while offering better benefits.
As part of our review we also restructured our Membership+ pricing. There’s a new Membership+ tier for organisations with income over £1m, reflecting other membership models in our sector.
We remain passionate about offering good value services to the North East VCSE sector, and keeping those benefits accessible to all, including the smallest organisations. So with this in mind our review was guided by a few principles:
- Keeping Membership+ benefits accessible to small charities - Bronze membership+ is still free for organisations with income under £50K and price increases are smallest for smaller organisations
- Ensuring Job Finder remains a cheaper, VCSE focussed alternative to national charity jobs boards and regional commercial jobs boards
- Offering big discounts on Job Finder adverts and Enhanced Recruitment services to Membership+ members
Have a question?
We know these are tough times, so if these changes make things difficult for you, please get in touch to discuss it.