BIS Membership has changed!
Many of our members have now received a notice of BIS 2022 Membership charges.
In a time where the cost of living is rising beyond many people’s budget, we understand that extra fees are unwelcome. We also understand that with many cases of Covid, concern for family members and friends, and general stress at this time, you may not have seen or digested our previous attempts to warn you of this change in pricing, and we realise that no amount of emailed explanation is enough, as it only hits home when the bill arrives!
We’d like to explain why this has been necessary:
Why have we changed the structure?
It has been necessary to change the way you pay for your magazines, because of the rising costs of production, print and distribution.
For many years the BIS has subsidised the cost of our magazines to our membership but due to the pandemic, and other issues, this became impossible to maintain. Therefore, a financial analysis was undertaken in 2021 and BIS Council agreed that the cost for printed copies of our magazines had to be extracted from the price of membership, in order for BIS to survive.
The BIS Membership table shows the 2021 prices and the 2022 prices for Membership have only increased minimally. It shows that Digital copies of SpaceFlight are included at ALL membership levels. It also shows the production and print costs for all the add-on subscription. SF – SpaceFlight Magazine, JBIS – BIS Journal, SC -Space Chronicle.
Please note: Printed subscriptions include complimentary digital subscription to the same magazine.
What if I can’t afford the rise in costs?
The cost of membership has risen minimally and generally in-line with inflation, and therefore remains similar to 2021 membership.
If you have seen a significant rise in your 2022 membership, this will be because in 2021, you chose to receive other magazines in digital or printed format.
If you do not want to pay the extra costs required for printed versions of our magazines, you will need to cancel these subscriptions.
How do I change my subscription choices?
Please contact our Membership Manager, Mary Todd at [email protected] to discuss your options.
What if I want to keep my printed magazines?
If you have previously received printed copies of our magazines, this will be reflected in your new subscription price, and no action needs to be taken.
If you wish to add a new subscription to your membership, All our magazines are now available as an add-on subscription, which covers the costs of printing and distributing your magazine.
For Example:
If your 2021 membership cost was £80; you are a standard member, and receive a printed copy of SpaceFlight.
In 2022 this same choice of subscription costs £123 (£75 for standard membership inc. digital SpaceFlight +£48 for printed SpaceFlight)
If you wish to keep your costs down, you can opt for Standard Membership, which includes a DIGITAL SpaceFlight subscription for £75.
Why do I have to pay for something that was previously included in my membership?
The production of SpaceFlight is still included in your membership, and digital copies are complimentary.
However, the costs associated with printing and distribution, will only be charged to those who choose to maintain an add-on of a PRINTED (paper) SUBSCRIPTION.
In order to ensure our Membership subscriptions can continue to support the work of the Society, we have had to separate out the cost of printing and distributing the magazines and pass that cost on to the receivers of physical copies.
To illustrate:
In 2021, a standard Membership subscription only provided, on average, £17 per membership towards BIS Operations. The rest of the membership subscription was spent on the production, printing and distribution of SpaceFlight and JBIS magazine.
In 2022, £60 of a standard Membership will go towards BIS Operations and £15 per member goes towards the production (only) of SpaceFlight.
Why do Fellows get a free DIGITAL copy of JBIS?
A Fellow’s subscription is more costly, because it includes the production of SpaceFlight and JBIS, whereas the Members’ subscriptions only pay towards the cost of production of SpaceFlight.
Therefore, just as Members receive a complimentary digital subscription to SpaceFlight as part of their subscription, Fellows receive a complimentary Digital copies of SpaceFlight and JBIS, as a thank you for helping to produce the magazines.
To Illustrate:
In 2021 a standard Fellowship subscription only provided, on average, £63 per membership towards BIS Operations. The rest of the Fellowship subscription was spent on the production, printing and distribution of SpaceFlight and JBIS magazine the same as a 2021 membership.
In 2022, £70 of every standard Fellowship will go towards BIS Operations, whilst the rest pays for the production of JBIS and SpaceFlight.
Our reasoning for making these changes:
Whilst we understand that some of our Members and Fellows prefer to receive printed copies of our magazines, we also knew that our membership would not agree to putting our Society in financial jeopardy, by expecting the Society to continue to subsidise a major cost item.
Our assessment was that our members choose membership of the BIS through a desire to support the Society and our aims, and would opt to assist with ensuring the Society’s success for the future.
BIS Council and Staff, throughout the pandemic, have been working non-stop to keep the Society functioning cost-effectively and ensuring that the Society has survived through, what has been, a very difficult time.
BIS Council appreciates your support and understanding in 2022, as we continue to look at ways to expand into the future.
If you wish to discuss this or any other matter, please contact us or if you feel you can volunteer your time, skills, knowledge or expertise to assist the Society, please email [email protected]
NB: This change was passed through BIS Council in October 2021, in time for the 2022 membership renewals and in November 2021, the BIS membership was first notified of the changes to its membership’s add-on subscriptions and associated costs.