Complementing the Membership Retention Data Sheet is the following Cliff’s Notes version of the billing cycle. The following dates and actions should enable you to complete the process within the same fraternal year.
| Date | Action |
| December 15 | Financial Secretary (FS) sends the First Notice to members. |
| January 15 | FS sends the Second Notice to members who do not respond to the First Notice. |
| February 15 | FS completes a Membership Retention Data Sheet for each member who does not respond to the First and Second Notices and provides it to the council’s Retention Chairman (RC). |
| ASAP after February 15 | RC attempts personal contact with the member, such as knocking on his door or calling him. If an associate member’s contact information is suspect, solicit help from the State Membership Engagement and Development Commitee (engageanddevelop@vakofc.org). Provide the member’s full name, last know home address, and age. Ask the field agent for assistance locating insurance members. |
| March 1 | RC advises the Grand Knight (GK) on results of personal contact attempts and about any help from the State Membership Engagement and Development Committee and field agent. GK directs the FS to send a Knight Alert Letter (KAL) to the delinquent member. When the KAL is mailed, consider including a copy of the Your Brother Knights Miss You letter, which addresses his arrears situation fraternally. Important: If a member notifies the council in writing/email that he wants out, your immediate reaction should not be to simply facilitate his departure! See the Member Requests Withdrawal page for more details. |
| March 16 | RC advises the GK on results of the KAL. GK directs the FS to send a Notice of Intent to Retain (NOITR) to the delinquent member. RC continues attempts at personal contact. |
| May 16 | RC advises the GK if the delinquent member met his obligation or arranged a payment schedule. GK directs the FS to send a suspension advisory for nonpayment to Supreme. |
Notes:
- If the process is started during a month other than December, simply apply the same spacing between actions as depicted above.
- Actions after a Second Notice are a TEAM effort and one person SHOULDN’T drive the train!
- The first opportunity to suspend a member via Member Management is 60 days after the NOITR is registered at Supreme. The NOITR becomes null and void 90 days after it is registered, and will be discarded under the assumption the council retained the member. In other words: if a suspension is not recorded at Supreme by the 90th day, the member remains on the council rolls. If the intention was to suspend him, another NOITR must be sent!
- As the above timeline is accomplished, ensure all applicable annotations are made on the Membership Retention Data Sheet.
