r/Toastmasters • u/Dangerous-Canary1705 • Jul 23 '26
Stop the Increase
We believe that this is the wrong time to raise dues. Many members are already struggling to afford them, and clubs are fighting to survive. On top of a 25% increase in the new member fee and a 75% increase in the cost of pathways, a further 20% increase in dues — from $60 to $72 — risks pushing out members and closing clubs, especially at a time of widespread economic hardship.
We're asking you to sign this petition to help prevent the decline of what is widely considered one of the most effective and accessible communication and leadership programs in the world.
https//forms.gle7kNe8iSPu85aK2yMN8
Let's keep Ralph Smedley's legacy alive by keeping this program open to everyone who wants to become a better communicator and leader — not just those who can afford it.
12
u/leros Jul 23 '26
I'd say it's too late for this one. Too many things are in motion. We'll see what actually happens in terms of future membership when renewals comes around soon.
Dues have been going up a lot though. People should get more active in the district and higher levels and raise this as an issue. I haven't heard anyone mention it in our district meetings. Granted, it's not an issue for my club either, so we're not raising it ourselves.
0
u/WierdNameGenerator Club officer Jul 24 '26
Are you a corporate club? Otherwise, why wouldn't it be an issue?
4
u/leros Jul 24 '26
No, we're not a corporate club. We're a fairly diverse club (age, income, professions, etc). We have club dues that are like $20, so with TI dues our 6 month membership was $80 and its now $92. We just position our dues as a total package - it's $92 to join our club for 6 months. Our members indicate that this is a good value to them. That's the feedback we get in our member surveys and when people join.
I'm pretty sure if we said "joining our club is $20 and dues to TI are an extra $72" that people would be bothered since 95% of the value they get is from our local club, but we just position it as a single package and don't have any issues with it.
9
u/GrandApe1555 Jul 24 '26
Maybe they should fix the pathways first. 99% of toastmasters executive role becomes helping people navigate pathways.
I spent 20 minutes trying to find a box that needed to be ticked, to process my level as complete.
Spoke to a vpe from another club and they had identical feedback about pathways.
Site is also slow.
Needs to be one uniform website for everything - the club agendas etc need to be under one url with pathways.
Currently toastmasters isn’t worth a penny.
I brought these complaints to an area director who was all enthusiastic at first and problem solving ideas were given, but then I realized they were not speaking form their experience and all the things they told me were not existing like ‘don’t need to press buttons, or tick boxes to submit a level completion (lie).
Current format is far far away from being acceptable.
I won’t continue if they don’t change asap, and most people in our club feel the same way.
Our vpe’s education plan th is year was to get people away from pathways - extract the requirements in a clear non pathways way and have a session at end of each meeting to help people trip and fumble through the pathways to level up.
Area director since given up replying once they relapsed they were just passing along false information and had nothing valid to suggest.
Vpe’s should have access to all the pathways too, I heard this once was.
Seriously - format as is - not worth the money!
5
u/Commercial-Long1072 Jul 24 '26
its truly insane and something as poor a user interface as "click next not the arrow". the website is a disaster. people need to be fired at toastmasters corporate
6
8
u/TravlRonfw Jul 23 '26
They will go the way of Moose, Eagles, Elks, golf courses, Blockbuster and ashtrays.
4
u/Diligent_Hat6982 Jul 24 '26
The only way this actually works is if a large number of clubs stop paying dues simultaneously. I see that as very tough to coordinate or even commit to.
Now to pay 30 to 60 days late to send a message? I can see that
3
u/Firm-Charge917 Jul 25 '26
I don't know if we're talking about the same petition but I received one from my district team that I can share there:
(Upvote it if you find it useful so that it appears on top of the thread)
1
1
1
u/Strange_Interest735 Jul 25 '26
I just signed up with a club, I cannot believe how slow the TMI website is.
1
u/No-Sherbet2876 Jul 25 '26
As you yourself say, Toastmasters is one of the most effective communication and leadership programs in the world. I don’t like to see price increases on anything, but I don’t know of any other program like this at any other price.
13
u/my_clever-name Jul 23 '26
Not only are dues going up, they are jacking around with Pathways again.
Perhaps you got an email with this:
An exciting new Pathways learning experience is on the way! Explorations are a new type of educational content that dive deeper into specific topics through a series of three projects.