Thursday, May 9th, 1991 is an important day for Humanists of Utah. It is our chapter's official zeroth birthday, the day the chapter charter will be approved by the national board of the American Humanist Association.

At its official birth, the chapter weighs in at 134 people on the mailing list; 72 of those have sent in a donation of $5 or more to help get the chapter started. At the moment, most of that money goes into newsletter production costs. It is time to start thinking of ways to share the financial burdens more equitably. The way I see it, the chapter can go three ways: it can become:

• more exclusive,
• more inclusive,
• or more expensive.

And those ways don't exclude one another.

• Those people whom we have been sending the newsletter for some time, and whom we haven't heard from yet, will get a letter asking them to give us some feedback. If we can stop sending mail to people who have long since moved, that should cut our cost.
• The postal service and the printers offer economies of scale. If we can get 200 or more readers on our mailing list, the production cost would actually be lower than it is now. That is why the people who already expressed a financial interest in the newletter will also get a letter with this issue. It will ask them if any of their friends might be interested, as well. That's not an invitation to do a proselytizing hard sell, although we may include a promotional brochure. We can send those friends a couple newsletter issues so they can make up their own minds.
• Either way, by making the mailing list leaner or fatter, there will be enough money in the kitty to produce another six newsletter issues this year. (That gives everybody one month off. What month would a newsletter be missed least? Please let us know!) But there are other things the chapter could be doing. Things like inviting speakers from out of state, acquiring books and videos for our lending library, sponsoring a Rational Recovery group (for people who want to stop their addiction, but without getting religion), you name it. The idea has been floating around to have chapter dues in tiers: $10 for 'regular" people, $5 for those who live on a fixed income, $0 for those who are financially challenged. We don't want anybody to be unable to link up with us just because they are smart, but not rich.

How does that plan strike you? Please let us know.

--Anne Zielstra