Sponsorship of a candidate for membership is an important process for the wellbeing of our organization. They precede the application process and continue past the acceptance of the new member. Sponsors can either respond to a request for membership, or suggest to a suitable candidate that they may want to consider applying for Voting Membership at CSP. In either case it is up to the prospective member to select a sponsor they feel comfortable with.

Once the sponsor is approached by the person requesting sponsorship, the sponsors duties are as follows:

1. Have a conversation with the applicant to gain a better understanding of the applicant’s interests and fit as a voting member. The sponsor may feel that an Associate Membership may better meet the prospective member’s needs at this time. The sponsor
2. Solicit that the member write a letter of interest in joining the center, as described above.
3. Attach the sponsor’s letter of recommendation and forward to the voting members.
• There are important reasons for limiting the circulation of the sponsorship correspondence and the subsequent chain of member replies, to voting members. Members with a longer history in CSP are aware of situations where membership requests were not approved. In some instances prospective members reapplied at a later date prior to being accepted – which may have been the case with one or more of our current members.
• Correspondence regarding the application should be confidential to insure privacy for the applicant, and to allow members to fully express their thoughts and feelings.
4. Our current process is to confirm the acceptance of the new member once a majority of the voting members – one more than half – have replied positively. In the less likely event that there are negative responses, we will have to deal with this as a community or refer to the board for decision.
5. Once the board has confirmed the member’s acceptance, the sponsor will circulate a letter to all the members – voting and associate – announcing our new member and inviting members to welcome the new member via a reply-all response. These confirmations are important to build and support our connection as a community.
6. The new membership will not be official until payment is received, or a plan for payment of dues is arranged with the Treasurer, and a photo and biography are received by CSP.
7. It is the sponsor’s responsibility to go over with the member all the benefits that come with membership, including website listings and links. These are detailed under our membership section for Voting Members. For the first year, the sponsor should continue to communicate with and monitor the new member’s adaptation into our community to insure the best experience possible for the member and the community.