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

[brownieleader]

I run two Girlguiding units who started back this week. Like every term, subs are due before the first meeting of term.

So please tell me why I am still waiting for about 15 children’s subs!

I am a volunteer. I do not want to chase you for money. I want to spend my prep time planning fun trips and activities for your children.

So if you are one of these parents who forget to pay despite several reminders please tell me how I can get through to you! I won’t turn children away for non payment, but equally I have a 2+ year waiting list so perhaps I should….

And if you are a parent who always pays for your children’s clubs on time thank you!

We are in a very diverse socioeconomic area and there is no correlation between who haven’t paid and those who might struggle to pay. But if anyone does struggle, if they let us know we can access funding from county.

Anyone who hasn’t paid by next week is being named and shamed in the parents WhatsApp group

Another vote for OSM. Up the subs to pay for it if needed. I get that parents are busy with work/kids/activities/houses/pets, but so are the leaders!

I'm a Guide leader. My late payers fall into 3 categories: affluent families who seem to see us as so cheap that it doesn't matter if they're late, families with genuine financial hardship (who all let me know and arrange to pay in smaller installments), the ones who just forget.

I have different chasing emails for groups 1 and 3. The first lot I emphasise the financial support if they're struggling which seems to get instant payment. The last lot just need a reminder and I get lots of apologetic messages back with payment screenshot.
The middle group we accommodate as they have spoken to us.

But I hate chasing and it takes time away from the fun stuff.

So at ours you can pay in person at the beginning of the month or weekly at every session or even for the whole year. You can pay online, weekly or monthly or for the year. I pay online for the month. I set reminders in my phone and that works for me. At our local guides sessions are only held termtime so the number of sessions does vary month to month.

Thank you for all the responses - 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 so that’s progress! I will follow through with those three places if I have to (but I’ll feel mean about it I’m sure as they are three lovely girls).

I am going to get people set up on monthly payments for the next academic year as I think that would make it less stressful for me and the parents.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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).

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 😅

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.

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.

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"....

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. ❤️

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.

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

Do people really pay the hairdresser before??

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!!

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.

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!

We use GoCardless for monthly direct debits.

You need to switch to direct debits.

and use OSM

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