AIBU to be frustrated chasing unpaid Girlguiding subs Every. Single. Term?

I think it says in our t&c from dd gym that if the monthly payment isn’t in the child wont be allowed to attend sessions

I run a dance school and every month there are late payers that have to be chased and reminded. I’m currently still owed about £1000 for overdue april invoices that should have been paid already. The knock on effect is that I have to pay all bills related to the business first before I can pay myself, meaning that a large overdue number of invoices results in my not being able to pay myself own household bills, as well as the additional hours of admin spent sending out reminders either taking up class planning time or eats into what should be my personal time. OP- I completely understand your frustration.

Well done on getting action so far OP!

As some.others have mentioned, for your remaining 3 I think you need to be specific in targeted emails/WhatsApp messages to individual parents if you haven't already done so - "We haven't received payment for Sally, we require this by X or her place will be offered to the next on the waiting list. If you are experiencing financial difficulty bla bla bla" - there may well be parents who think they've paid and don't realise that generically worded messages relate to them.

Definitely agree automated payments are the way forward!

I pay for Scouts, Cubs & Beavers subs by standing order, have since they started years ago. I’m always irritated by the reminders the leaders have to regularly send out to chase subs & the apologies each time as to why. Some of the parents I know well, rarely pay their kids subs & aren’t struggling financially to the point of being unable to pay. One parent happily admits they’ll pay when requested & try to see how long they can manage to not pay. The leaders are fab & regularly say if issues talk to us as we have discretion funds etc to access so kids don’t miss out. Football is exactly the same, subs rarely paid & named & shamed in WhatsApp group.

It’s rude

if you have asked several times

start afresh and send letter /email/text etc to all and state if payment isn’t made by abc time that due to a huge waiting list their child’s place will be passed on

You need to switch to direct debits.

and use OSM

We use GoCardless for monthly direct debits.

You DO know when you’re meant to pay though! At the start of each term….so put it in your calendar and set up reminders on your phone calendar to remind you to pay! You shouldn’t be waiting for a please pay the payment that you know damn well is due every term email!

It’s so frustrating we had two this year that didn’t pay the membership fee which we pay to HQ. Despite being told they could let us know if they were leaving one told us one day after the cut off that they were leaving and one has just not turned up for weeks. We have a long waiting list too.

People have definitely become worse since lockdown.

I feel your pain. I'm a cub leader, and we do use OSM for subs (payable once a term), and other payments, but even so, there are sometimes people who do not pay, and have to be chased. They can set up an automatic payment option if they choose to, but many don't want to.

We also run frequent optional activities in addition to our usual meetings. Most of these need either payments or forms to be filled in and returned, and I feel that chasing for these is the most difficult and frustrating part of my volunteer job. Honestly, it drives me absolutely crackers, and is quite disrespectful on the part of the parents I feel. I'm giving up so much time, and all they have to do is click a button to pay, but they still don't.

It's quite telling that it's always the same parents who are late paying/returning forms, and it has nothing to do with the amount of money they have.

I sent an email at the beginning this term pointing out that I'm a volunteer, chasing forms/payment is very frustrating and time consuming, and said from now on if forms/payment are not received by the deadline, the children will be removed from the activity. We'll see how it goes!!

Do people really pay the hairdresser before??

and those that don't pay would never run anything either or take responsibility for anything.
losers, wouldn't volunteer and don't pay either

We pay by monthly standing order. Much easier than having to pay for a term at once, especially if you've got multiple kids and it's suddenly feels like a lot of money at once.

OP our Scouts are a monthly Standing Order that runs all 12 months. This means that payments are spread for those that may struggle with a lump payment. I think mine are £12 a month, so essentially hardly anything. Obviously, trips are completely separate.

You deserve to not be doing this chasing. Your time is so appreciated by so many of us. ❤️

Last night I sent a ‘if subs aren’t paid by the end of the week we will assume your child no longer wants a space and offer to the next girl on the waiting list' and 12/15 outstanding have paid as of this morning

This is exactly what I said on page 1 of this thread -

These parents were using you(r organisation) as a credit line.

I cannot stand modern British middle class parents at the best of times, but this is taking the absolute piss.

Why do they think they have the right to take a service and not pay according to the terms?

I highly doubt all 12 of those 15 somehow "forgot"....

Others have mentioned Online Scout Manager (and it's Guiding counterpart Online Guiding Manager) - when I was running a Cub pack some years ago, this saved me so much time and effort. Not just Subs, but any payment for activities was also collected through OSM (create an event, add a payment and send invite - if a parent accepts the activity invite, payment is taken a specified date). Hours and hours saved each month was well worth the cost in fees and subscription charge.

If they are due at the start of term, then just pay at the start of term? I used to appreciate the parents that did that without prompting.

Do you forget to go to the meetings? If not, then pay before you go the first one of the term.

I'm never sure when I'm meant to pay for Rainbows. The leader admits herself she is slow with communications (last minute details for trips provided via email etc). I wait for an email to say that subs are due (paid at the start of each term) and then pay then. I'm now wondering if I'm doing it right or I should pay before asked (at the end of the term maybe?). Either way I'd much prefer some sort of automated system, the fear of forgetting to pay is real 😅

I don’t have the answer but as a fellow Brown Owl you have my sympathies. I sent out reminder newsletters and message on the WhatsApp group before term starts. Then after a couple of weeks those outstanding will get a personalised email so they can’t think it doesn’t apply to them. If still no payment I will WhatsApp them directly and try and catch them at the meeting (although this is hard as trying to sort 24 kids and parents and often those who don’t pay send someone else to pick up). It’s painful. And never the ones who may be struggling who are late (although we always say let us know if there is a reason for non payment and we don’t want finances to be a barrier).

Although there is an OGM my understanding is that Girlguiding UK haven’t authorised its use. And as a PP said, although there is a free trial, anything like making online payments is part of their Gold package and a bit spendy.

you could consider getting a card reader, so people can tap and go. You might have to raise your subs by 1-2% for those who want to pay like that to cover the admin fee?

It's really hard with Brownies (used to run a unit) as the ethos of the organisation is that you try to make it open to as many girls as possible. Therefore you can't really enforce things like "Must pay before beginning of term" like other clubs do, and you have to be nice to people that are non-payers (I've said the "your daughter will no longer have a space" thing on messages but I would never actually follow through).

I do agree that parents don't think how their non payment generates extra work.
Having to deal with parents who didn't think I needed any consideration was one reason why I'm now an ex-leader.

that’s great. I think volunteers can be shy about asking for money. But private providers of extra curricular activities simply do not let children start unless they have paid for the upcoming term

I think you did the right approach OP, GG is such value for money, there's no excuse unless families are really struggling.

Maybe discuss with the parents about setting up an automated payment system, if it means putting price up slightly, they've brought it on themselves tbh. Think you just need to stress to them that they need to pull their socks up or things will change.

Get standing orders set up - no SO. no Brownies.

When I ran a Brownie pack I used Gocardless but I'm not sure if that still works.

This constantly happens in schools, especially parents who have booked their child in for private music lessons and then ignore payment dates and reminders.
We had to start threatening recovery action and/or turning children away from their lesson to get people to pay, usually grudgingly and with very bad grace.