The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (SCA, Inc.) is announcing an increase in membership fees and non-member registration fees for events.

This decision comes after careful consideration and extensive discussion among the Board of Directors, office staff, and Corporate officers. The effects of inflation across all sectors of operation, as well as other factors impacting the organization’s operational costs, including insurance premiums, legal expenses, and general business expenses, necessitated a comprehensive review of membership rates.

Annual membership fees have not been adjusted in over a dozen years, and non-member registration fees have not increased in over 15 years.

In response to the evolving financial environment, the organization streamlined operations during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and significantly reduced corporate expenditures. The relocation of the office to San Jose, CA resulted in an annual savings of over $35,000, and upgrades to software and CRM systems have netted a further savings of over $100,000 annually. While membership numbers have rebounded post-pandemic, operational costs continue to rise.

SCA, Inc. Corporate is solely funded by membership fees, including the Non-Member Registration fee, and does not currently seek operational funds from its Kingdoms or subsidiary organizations, including those overseeing Pennsic and Gulf Wars.

At the January 2024 meeting of the Board of Directors, the Board approved the following changes, effective February 15, 2024:

Raise the Sustaining membership price from $45 a year to $55 a year (This represents an $0.83 cents per-month increase over the previous monthly rate.)

Raise the Associate membership price from $30 to $40 a year. (This represents an $0.83 cents per-month increase over the previous monthly rate.)

Raise the Family membership price from $10 a year to $15 a year, per person. (This represents an $0.42 cents per-month increase over the previous monthly rate.)

No changes to Canadian or International memberships have been announced at this time.

Note: this change will take effect for all renewal transactions processed on or after February 15, 2024. Renewal transactions prior to that date will be processed at the previous rate, regardless of membership expiration date.

The Board also approved the following changes to Non-Member Registration fees, effective April 1, 2024:

• Raise the Non-Member Registration Fee from $5 to $10 per event.  As always, this only applies whenever there is an actual event fee charged.

Both Sustaining and International Membership allow subscriptions to printed publications, as well as the ability to add Family memberships.

It should be noted that these increases remain less than the cumulative U.S. inflation increase of 36.5% which has occurred since 2011. (Data calculated using the US Inflation Calculator).

SCA, Inc. emphasizes its commitment to transparency and sustaining a vibrant community. These fee adjustments aim to ensure the organization’s fiscal health, support ambitious initiatives in 2024 and beyond, and keep the Knowne World thriving and dreaming for years to come.

For more information, please contact John Fulton at president@sca.org.

Currently approximately 8000 people around the Knowne World actively participate in target archery, combat archery, siege weapons, thrown weapons and equestrian martial activities.  While no ultimate decision has yet been made the Board believes that a proposal of a path to peerage for these individuals is worthy of deep consideration.

Having received advice from the Peerage Committee, Directors have discussed the matter and following some minor amendments to language which align the proposed draft of Corpora wording to the existing patent orders, the Board feels that the proposal has matured to the point where commentary on the proposed Corpora wording from members is requested. This commentary will assist the Board in forming further decisions relevant to its consideration of this matter.

The draft Corpora language approved for commentary is:

VIII.A.4: 

e. The Order of <Name> 

(i) Members of the Order of <Name> may choose to swear fealty but are not required to do so. The candidate must have attained the standard of excellence in skill and/or knowledge equal to that of their prospective peers in a pre-17th century martial pursuit as practiced in the SCA, including, and limited to, target archery, combat archery, thrown weapons, equestrian activities, and siege engineers.  The candidate must have applied this skill and/or knowledge for the instruction of members and service to the kingdom to an extent above and beyond that normally expected of members of the Society. 

(ii) The duties of the members of the order are as follows: 

(a) To set an example of courtesy and chivalrous conduct on and off the field of honor. 

(b) To respect the Crown of the kingdom; to support and uphold the laws of the kingdom and Corpora. 

(c) If in fealty, to support and uphold the Crown of their kingdom. 

(d) To enrich the kingdom by sharing their knowledge and skills. 

(e) To enhance the renown and defend the honor of the peer’s Lady or Lord.

(f) To advise the Crown on the advancement of candidates for the Order of <Name>. 

(other sections re-numbered as needed) 

Knowing exactly what the people who work, study, and play in the Society want a potential new peerage to achieve and do will be key to moving forward in this discussion.  The Board welcomes any additional context that people feel may be of use to the discussion.

We are looking for your feedback – as you begin to type up your comments please feel free to include your thoughts on the following questions:

• Does this language fill the gap I personally feel exists in the paths to peerage, why or why not? 
• What is my ideal vision of a new peerage and its members? What virtue will they embody? 

EDIT: If you are a financial member of the SCA, please include the relevant information.

The expertise of our community is invaluable, and these responses will contribute significantly to an outcome that positions our Society to meet its goals and future opportunities.

Corpora, including the By-Laws, can be found in its entirety here: https://www.sca.org/resources/document-library/govdocs/.

Please email all commentary to SCA-Comments@sca.org and use the title “Omnibus Peerage Proposal” in the subject line.

NOTE: Do not use attachments in your commentary. Attachments will mark your message as spam and it will be rejected by the server.

You can also send commentary by mail, Postage-Prepaid, to:

Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
RE: Omnibus Peerage Proposal
P.O. Box 611928
San Jose, CA 95161

Commentary regarding this proposed Corpora change, must be received by the Board no later than April 2, 2024.

NOTE: 

The Board of Directors also expresses its gratitude and appreciation for the dedicated service of all those individuals who have worked tirelessly as members of the Peerage Committee.

As we acknowledge the duration of efforts relating to this work, with the Committee having fulfilled its requested function, the Directors commend all members and release the Committee from the work with the Board’s gratitude for their time and service.

Commentary Request – Draft Corpora Wording – Omnibus Peerage Proposal