FCS Membership Model to Change Effective September 1, 2020

As with so many small businesses impacted by the coronavirus, the Financial Communications Society has had to pivot in the absence of in-person events. For the past several years, our organization has thrived on the 40 to 50 events we typically host across the country annually.  Since March, when we held our last two in-person events, we’ve been proud to host nearly a dozen online events for free – with the same caliber of content you’ve come to expect from the FCS: relevant topics discussed by smart executives at leading brands. And we are committed to continue to host such events going forward.

But our business model must change in order for our community to continue to be vibrant, for our organization to continue to be the leading voice in financial marketing, and, most importantly, for the FCS to be able to support children’s charities.

What won’t change is our value proposition – to help financial marketing and media professionals ‘elevate their game’ through content and connections. Nor will our mission change. We remain focused on:

Community – even limited to online experiences, we continue to build our network; in fact, our virtual events allow us to reach more marketers than ever before, as across the U.S. and Canada, we’re making new connections with every event.

Education – our full calendar of events, as well as published content on our website, will continue to share the personal insights, proprietary research, and instructive lessons from the brands and leadership that bring creative and strategic excellence to their marketing campaigns. We will be supplementing our free events with additional Members Only events. (More info below!)

Philanthropy – having announced our $100,000 donation for 2020 to the FCS Race for Kids children’s charities in May, we’re excited to share with you that our new business model will increase our annual charitable donations by at least $30,000. (More info below!)

NEW MEMBERSHIP PRICING

Effective September 1, 2020 (the start of our fiscal year), we are instituting a new membership pricing structure that will increase the benefits to our dues-paying members, provide discounts to companies with at least 3 members, continue to provide 50% discount to our Young Members Circle (age 35 and under), and continue to provide special pricing/benefits to members in transition (“MITs”).

All members will continue to have access to our downloadable Member Directory. All memberships will continue to extend for 12 rolling months from the date of enrollment/renewal. We’re counting on in-person events returning in 2021, and your active membership will continue to give you discounted pricing on tickets to those events.

But most importantly, your new/renewed membership will give you exclusive access to our new Member Only Virtual Event Series (FCS MOVES), a full-year of 30-minute online conversations with CMO-level executives at the nation’s leading financial brands (See calendar of confirmed upcoming events.) We are guaranteeing at least 30 interactive events in this series over the course of our fiscal year, and only members will be able to view them live and access the recorded replays.

We are lining up a set of dynamic speakers from top-notch brands, and in gratitude, the FCS will be making a $1,000 donation to a children’s charity during each event – a charity personally selected by the speaker. So your membership will continue to drive our philanthropic mission!

Discounted Pricing for Existing Members

If you’re a member in good standing as of August 31, 2020, you are entitled to a one-year discounted ‘renewal’ price of only $250. If you’re a YMC member, it’s only $125.

And you’re eligible for a further group discount if your company enrolls at least 2 more employees. Read on!

Corporate Membership/Group Discounts

The price for brand new individual members is $450. However, that price will be discounted with a group enrollment beginning with 3 employees from the same company (only $425 per employee) to as many as 30+ employees (only $100 per employee). YMC members receive a further 50% discount on those prices. See the sliding scale of discounts here.

Current FCS and YMC members (as of August 31, 2020) are also eligible for further group discounts as outlined on the same document, here.

Payment Processing & Terms

Brand new individual members can purchase their membership on our website, here.

New and renewing members looking to take advantage of the group discounts are asked to email the following information to both Kevin Windorf [email protected] and Vanessa Sandri [email protected]:

  • Company name
  • Name and email address for each member
  • Indicate New or Current status for each member
  • Indicate payment method: one credit card / individual credit cards [We will contact you.] or invoice.

And we will confirm the pricing for each member and your company overall.

While we prefer that you pay for the full year, we are willing to accept semi-annual installments and will work with you to ensure that all processing is convenient to your individual circumstances.

Upon receipt of payment, you will receive a coupon code that will enable you to create/renew your membership on our website.

As of September 1, 2020, only a new or renewed membership will enable you to access all of the membership perks, including access to FCS MOVES. (Note: Tickets for individual Member Only events will not be sold.)

Existing memberships that are not renewed by September 1 will be canceled.

 

We appreciate that this change may seem a little convoluted, but we have created a Membership model that rewards the many companies that support the FCS with multiple members, entices new members with an expanded set of membership benefits, and ensures the viability of our organization as we solidify our role as the only national community and not-for-profit organization for financial marketers.

Should you have any questions, please contact FCS CEO Kevin Windorf, [email protected].

Thank you for your continued support and active participation.