Support group dues?

hey folks!  Just wondering what support groups do to cover costs of things like websites?   Are there dues? Free will offering?   The local group is having this conversation and I'm interested to see how things are done elsewhere.

I don't charge a thing! Mind you, it is an informal coffee group and people purchase their own coffee/etc.

If, however, I decided to create a more structured setting (which I am considering) and had to secure a monthly location, I would hope to recoup any room costs through donation from attendees. I have seen other groups charge a $5 fee to cover the cost of the room rental. As long as the funds collected go directly to paying for the rental, I have no issue with contributing or collecting.

Web sites are free these days. If a support group wants to have a web site, I would expect that the people (or person) responsible for the site to keep it updated, etc., but wouldn't expect to pay them a fee to do so.

When I host coffee nights and other get-togethers, I do so because I want to help others with their weight loss journey and help them to form a solid network of support in their area. No fee needed for that, I do it because I want to.

Karen

We have a large group and luckily got our auditorium free of charge so have never had to charge dues. We did ask for donations for the place that hosted us (although donations were few).  I liked not making it mandatory to spend $. We had - 50/50 for photocopies etc. 

Unfortunately we are losing our hall due to a change in their insurance policy. We are hoping the centre will help provide us a place (waiting to hear back). Otherwise we may have to do dues to pay for a public space.  That totally sucks. 

I am starting up a support group, and was wondering about fees.  For the time being our meeting place is free of charge, but if we grow and need a larger place then we may have to look into a rental and collecting donations.

what do other formal groups do for refreshments? Do you have tea and coffee for everyone or do people just generally bring their own?

Thank you all for your replies.  And thank you for the time you spend running your groups!  I am sure they are a huge help to those in them.   

Hello,

We meet each month and use a Community Conference Room at the Police station.  We can only book time slots 30 days ahead. This can cause issues if we are unable to get the date and time we want but so far we have only had a couple of instances where we needed to reschedule the meeting.We have had two Christmas events that required the rental of a venue so everyone in attendance chipped in to cover costs.  Other than that we have no dues for our meetings.

Linda

Most support groups are free, I believe.  If the group is held at a surgeon's office, any cost is usually included in a program fee, which many surgeons charge to cover things not covered by insurance.  My support group has no costs, we don't have a website or anything.

Our group is fairly large, 20-30ppl/meeting.  We meet at a local church once a month. We have a website and a facebook page(no cost). We do have to pay for insurance that the church charges us. We do a 50/50 draw every month and we also have a donation jar as well. All money collected goes to the insurance and costs for photocopies, coffee, tea, snacks etc. If there is any money left over it goes to the church as a donation.