Frequently Asked Questions

About Toastmasters|Membership|Advancement|Leadership/Organization|Contest

Membership: part 2 of 5 from alt.org.toastmasters

Last updated: October 15, 2005
Revisions are posted occasionally on the alt.org.toastmasters newsgroup.

1. How does one go about joining Toastmasters?

First, of course, you must have found a club to join. If you have visited a club and found it to your liking, ask a member (preferably an officer, who is more likely to be able to help you) for an application form.

According to the bylaws all Toastmasters clubs operate under, any new member of a club must be voted into membership by the club. In practice, this rarely happens. Instead, members are welcomed enthusiastically into the club as soon as a standard membership application ("Form 400") is turned in with a check for the appropriate dues.

2. How much does membership cost?

Upon joining Toastmasters, you will find yourself paying three different fees. The first is the standard $16.00 fee that every new member must pay in order to receive educational materials (see below). The second is the standard International dues, $3.00 per month. And the third is Club dues, if any.

All Toastmasters clubs are billed in March and September for semi-annual dues for their members who wish to remain members for the next six months. If you join in between those periods, you submit a pro-rated share of the dues.

Clubs usually charge dues on top of the world dues. This is so they'll have money in the treasury for expenses. It's up to each club what they want to charge. Synergy Park Toastmasters Club charges club dues of $5.00 per six months.

So, to make a long story short, if you join at the following times, you'll owe:

January or July: $16.00 + $9.00 + $5.00 = $30.00
February or August: $16.00 + $6.00 + $5.00 = $27.00
March or September: $16.00 + $3.00 + $5.00 = $24.00
April or October: $16.00 + $18.00 + $5.00 = $39.00
May or November: $16.00 + $15.00 + $5.00 = $36.00
June or December: $16.00 + $12.00 + $5.00 = $33.00

Then, once you're signed up, dues of $18.00 +$5.00 are assessed every six months, in September and March.

3. Can I belong to more than one club?

Yes. This is called "dual membership" even if you belong to more than two clubs. When you join the second club, of course, you don't need to pay the New Member fee because you don't need a second set of starter materials (see below).

4. If I belong to more than one club, do I have to pay full dues for each?

Yes. If you belong to more than one club, you must nonetheless pay full dues for each club.

5. Are my dues tax deductible?

In the United States, they are -- IF your job is of a sort that requires or necessitates good communications skills. In other words, it must be an educational expense to be tax deductible. Toastmasters International will send you complete tax deduction explanations if you request them to do so.

6. What do I get for my dues?

Your $18.00 semi-annual dues paid to World Headquarters goes partly for a subscription to the "Toastmaster Magazine" (which, to be honest, is an excellent publication), partly to support development of new educational programs (they've got some *nice* new programs coming out these days), partly to support operations at World Headquarters (i.e. the staff who process membership applications, CTM applications, new club applications, etc. etc. ad nauseam), and partly to support your local District organization.

Furthermore, when you finish your CTM, you get three of the Advanced project manuals for no extra charge to work toward your ATM with.

Your club dues generally go to pay for the club's supplies, such as ballots, awards, ribbons, and educational materials. In some cases, such as when your club has a meal at each meeting, your dues may go to pay for that.

7. What do I get for my New Member fee?

Your $16.00 New Member fee gets you the following:

  • the Communication and Leadership project manual
  • the "Gestures - Your Body Speaks" manual
  • the "A Speaker's Guide to Evaluation" manual
  • the Voice manual

    The latter three are instructional manuals rather than project manuals. Only the first is a workbook.

    8. If I want to drop out of Toastmasters after joining, what do I do?

    Simply wait for March or September to arrive and don't pay your dues again.

    It'd probably be a good idea to let your Vice President of Education know to stop scheduling you for speeches, though.

    9. How receptive are clubs to new members?

    Since most people are genuinely terrified of public speaking, Toastmasters has its hands full recruiting members. There's virtually no chance that you won't be enthusiastically welcomed into any club you join and immediately be considered one of the gang.

    Occasionally, however, people get into bad situations, but the same is true of ANY organization. There are jerks everywhere. Toastmasters probably has its share.

    If a club that you visit turns out to be full of jerks, please don't assume that this is true of the entire organization. Once in a while, people come to forget that they're part of a larger organization and act as though the message and mission of Toastmasters doesn't concern them. Please nod, leave, and visit some other club. This is definitely the exception, but we cannot honestly say that it never happens.

    10. If I join, will they make me speak right away?

    No. You will not be asked to speak unless you're ready to. If you feel more comfortable waiting a few months, that's fine. Most clubs attempt to arrange the meeting schedules in such a way that most members are involved in some capacity at each meeting, so you'll need to let them know what your wishes are.

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