--- title: "Free-To-Fee: When it’s Time to Ask Members to Start Paying" id: "19265" type: "post" slug: "free-to-fee-when-its-time-to-ask-members-to-start-paying" published_at: "2013-09-03T21:44:15+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T19:06:34+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2013/09/03/free-to-fee-when-its-time-to-ask-members-to-start-paying/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2013/09/03/free-to-fee-when-its-time-to-ask-members-to-start-paying.md" excerpt: "New organizations sometimes face an uphill battle in gaining traction, but the right approach could go a long way. Food-and-beverage trade group FaB Milwaukee tried a free-to-fee approach to membership." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "dues cycles" - "labor organization" - "Membership" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Free-To-Fee: When it’s Time to Ask Members to Start Paying What comes first, the membership or the dues? For many new associations, this can be a challenging question. It might make sense to let the organization gain a foothold first, or it you might want to put a dollar value on your offerings from the beginning. One Milwaukee food-and-beverage group chose to do the former, but it recognized when the moment came to ask members to start paying their way. Here’s how its plan worked: **About the group:** Last year, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and Milwaukee 7, which encourages economic development across a seven-county area, jointly started FaB Milwaukee—a group representing food and beverage industry manufacturers throughout southeastern Wisconsin. They intended the new group—[as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted (opens in a new tab)](http://www.jsonline.com/business/milwaukee-7-aims-to-organize-beverage-food-industry-d34ivnb-142716525.html) —to formalize a collaborative approach already being taken. Since its launch, FaB Milwaukee’s goal has been to encourage the investment of capital in food businesses in the region—whether [through expansion, relocation (opens in a new tab)](http://www.fabmilwaukee.com/?page=ExpandRelocate) , or [startup businesses (opens in a new tab)](http://www.fabmilwaukee.com/?page=Start_Up) . **Next steps:** [According to the Milwaukee Business Journal (opens in a new tab)](http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2013/08/28/milwaukee-food-and-beverage.html) , the group is expanding its efforts beyond simply encouraging growth in the region and is now a membership organization. To correspond with new membership fees (which vary based on organization size, though professional memberships are available for $100 per year for those not connected to a member company), the group is rolling out a series of member benefits, including a career center, closed community, and directory listings. **Why now?** The group’s executive director, Shelley Jurewicz, told the *Business Journal* that this will help make the professional group sustainable. “We have been convening a large group of diverse employers in this industry for more than a year,” she said. “Now those companies are formally investing in the infrastructure of this organization to sustain the network.” The organization is expanding its reach in other ways as well—[working with local schools (opens in a new tab)](http://www.biztimes.com/article/20130527/MAGAZINE03/305249980) to build training courses for budding food entrepreneurs. How do you know when it’s time to create a dues structure? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. (iStockphoto/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#dues cycles](https://associationsnow.com/tag/dues-cycles/) [#labor organization](https://associationsnow.com/tag/labor-organization/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [TemplateMembers onlyMember Onboarding ToolkitNovember 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/05/member-onboarding-toolkit/) - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [VideoThe Career Moves Every Association Leader Needs Right NowSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/the-career-moves-every-association-leader-needs-right-now/) - [VideoNCRA: Safeguarding Cancer Surveillance: An Advocacy Response to FY26 Budget ThreatsSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/ncra-safeguarding-cancer-surveillance-an-advocacy-response-to-fy26-budget-threats/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2013%2F09%2F03%2Ffree-to-fee-when-its-time-to-ask-members-to-start-paying%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !