Membership

February 3, 2017 sagadmin

The Southern Arizona Grotto welcomes all prospective members to take part in our organization!  You don’t have to be a member to meet or come caving with us, however your membership allows us the ability to pool resources to fund various cave-related endeavors both in support of cave conservation and in the promotion of safe recreational caving.  What we do together has the potential to impact our local community and surrounding ecosystems for generations to come.  We’d love to have you join us in making that positive difference.

Benefits of membership:
  • Access SAG Google Group aka “List Serve” e-mails
  • Borrow SAG Library media
  • Receive our quarterly email newsletter, The Hole Story
  • Join SAG private FB group
  • Voting rights on Grotto business, such as officers, spending, & by-law changes
Becoming a Member:

If you already belong to the NSS or NSS chartered grotto, please reach out about joining us on meeting day or by email any time.  For those new to the caving community, we first invite you to one of our monthly meetings and then we hope you’ll go caving with one of our members before applying for membership. 

After attending at least two Grotto functions, anyone wishing to join the Southern Arizona Grotto may request to apply for membership at any time.  One of these functions must be a SAG general membership meeting; the other(s) may be either a second general membership meeting OR a recent caving event with at least one current SAG member.  Application for membership shall include a statement signed by the applicant indicating support for the goals and conservation policies of SAG and the NSS.  Applications must be accompanied by dues ($12) for the entire current calendar year.  Requests will then be approved or denied by a majority of the qualified voting members at the end of a general membership meeting.  

Southern Arizona Grotto humbly requests that all members also join our parent organization, the National Speleological Society, within 1 year of joining our grotto.  The cost starts at $40 annually.  Join the NSS or renew membership here.

SAG membership applications are available at all the meetings but if you need to you can print out the 2020 Membership Application to bring with, mail in or fill out and submit electronically.

Furthermore, “Membership” shall consist of the following classifications:  i.Full Member:  Full members are members of the NSS, may vote on NSS,Grotto By-Laws, and local Grotto decisions if that member has attended at least three (3) general membership meetings in the previous twelve(12) months. A full member may hold executive office if that member has attended at least six (6) general membership meetings in the previous twelve (12) months.

ii.  Associate Member:Associate members are not members of the NSS,may not hold executive office, but may vote on local Grotto decisions(excluding By-Laws) if that member has attended at least three(3) general membership meetings in the previous twelve (12)months.Associate Members are encouraged to join the NSS.

iii.  Supporting Members:  Supporting Members are members who have attended fewer than three(3) Grotto events in the previous twelve (12)months. Supporting members forfeit voting rights but retain all other member benefits.

Each new member starts as a supporting member and, after one month of becoming a member, is eligible to move up to an Associate Member or Full Member based on attendance of general membership meetings and NSS membership status.