Membership Policy
August 2015: Changes to Sustain Ontario Membership
As of August 14, 2015, the following changes have been implemented for Sustain Ontario’s membership policy and processes:
- New Benefits: We’ve made it easier to view and compare your member benefits, including new additions. Please see the new charts online: What It Means to be a Member. If you have signed up at the $50 membership level, please consider upgrading your membership to take advantage of member discounts for Bring Food Home. Conference discounts begin at the $100 dues level.
- Changes to Dues Levels: Membership dues levels have changed slightly. Member Dues A ($50 level) is now intended specifically for new farm businesses and grassroots volunteer organizations, replacing the “Budget/Revenue under $100,000” level. All other dues levels are the same and have increasing numbers of conference discounts.
- Voting Representative: Each Member’s main contact is also the Member’s voting representative. All Members have 1 vote in the election of the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting.
- Endorsement: Instead of collecting members’ advocacy limitations upon sign-up, our campaign endorsement is now structured on an opt-in basis. By renewing, you agree to this new endorsement clause: “By becoming a Member, you endorse the Sustain Ontario pledge and thereby its general aims and work. Support for particular projects or campaigns is structured on an opt-in basis, so membership of Sustain Ontario does not mean that an organization gives its endorsement to each Sustain Ontario initiative.”
- Categories (a.k.a. “Areas of Expertise”): Feedback from Members in the July 2015 membership survey included suggestions for additional new categories to better identify with members’ activities. All members are requested to log in to their profiles and update their categories in their profile as soon as possible.
- Areas of Focus and Regions Represented: To streamline the sign-up process, this information is no longer collected or shown in the directory. Members can add this information in the “About Us” section of their directory listing, which will return search results.
- Annual Membership: Membership is still renewed annually based on your original join date. For members that signed up after August 1, 2014, you will receive renewal notices at the beginning of the month of your join-date anniversary.
- Taxes: Sustain Ontario membership is now subject to HST because benefits include significant savings (ie. conference and webinar discounts) valued at greater than 30% of member dues. Learn more about member benefits.
Membership Policy
Click image to view PDF version of the Membership policy
The Benefits of Being a Member or Supporter of Sustain Ontario
*Last Updated: August 24, 2014.
Have Your Say
Members and Supporters benefit from being part of an Alliance that is the leading, province-wide Ontario voice for transforming the food system into one that is healthy, equitable, ecological and financially viable. By being a Member or Supporter of Sustain Ontario you are joining hundreds of other private, public and not-for-profit organisations across the Ontario in the health, agriculture and food sectors advocating for transforming Ontario’s food systems. We can leverage our collective strength to let governments, traditional agriculture and food organisations, other institutions and the public know what it will take to improve Ontario’s food systems.
Connect
Members and Supporters have the opportunity to build and strengthen networks and leverage each other’s skill sets and expertise to affect change. Connecting with the Alliance takes many shapes including working groups and networks on specific issues and sectors (children and nutrition, a food and nutrition strategy and action plan for Ontario, municipal-regional policy, government relations, agriculture and food processing policy etc.); events, webinars, research papers and a robust internet and social media platform through which to exchange ideas, views and information.
Learn
Sustain Ontario’s Members and Supporters are working in policy, advocacy, research and on the ground action to transform the food system into one that is healthy, equitable, ecological and financially viable. Accessing information on what others are doing, what others are thinking, and what’s working here and elsewhere is a key opportunity that being a Member or Supporter of Sustain Ontario enables you to be a part of.
Categories of Membership and Support
Membership and other supportive relationships are essential to the ability of the Alliance to facilitate innovation and change. The main types of relationships are:
- Members
- Supporter Circle Groups
- Supporter Circle Individuals
- Campaign Supporters and Working Group Collaborators
- Newsletter recipients
Members
Sustain Ontario Members are groups, organizations and businesses that work in the health, food and farming sectors and are committed to creating a food system in Ontario that is healthy, ecological, equitable and financially viable.
Sustain Ontario Members form the heart of the Alliance. Members direct the work of the Alliance, identifying emerging and continuing priorities, setting policy directions and recommendations, and informing the agenda for the Alliance’s activities. Members also help to advance the work of the Alliance. by participating in communications, advocacy, research, capacity building, events organizing, and more. Members also contribute financial support to ensure that the Alliance is able to remain responsive to emergent needs and opportunities and as independent as possible. Members will be listed on the Sustain Ontario website alongside individual profile pages.
All Members have a vote in the elections of the Board of Directors.
Eligibility
Members must apply and be vetted by the Membership Committee. Membership is open to incorporated and non-incorporated non-profit groups and organizations as well as businesses that are owned exclusively by Ontario residents or located wholly within the borders of Ontario. Part of the Member’s work must include food and/or farming. National organizations and groups are welcome to join Sustain Ontario as Members, provided they have proven substantial activity within Ontario.
These criteria are inclusive of a very wide range of groups, businesses and organizations. Some examples of groups that might become members include buy local groups, food security organizations, anti-poverty groups concerned with food security, private catering companies, environmental organizations that work with farmers or support local and organic food, research groups and institutions, seed companies, educators, farmers, healthy eating and nutrition organisations, food distributors, institutional purchasers, food consultants, and many more.
To become a Member, groups must pay their annual membership fee and sign a pledge to the following statement:
“As a member of Sustain Ontario, we commit to working collaboratively with diverse groups from across the province to help create a food system that is healthy, ecological, equitable and financially viable.”
Responsibilities
Members are expected to support the work of the Alliance in three ways.
First, Members are expected to communicate their support of the Alliance’s work to their constituents (clients, customers, members, etc.) in some way. Suggested methods include:
○ Occasional communication and updates via newsletters or social media
○ Indication of support on the member’s website or through communications on the website
○ Sharing paper flyers about Sustain Ontario with constituents
○ Support fundraising activities
Second, Members are expected to participate in some aspect of activities a minimum of 5 hours/year. These hours can be spent on the following activities:
- Providing feedback on strategy/policy
- Reviewing documents
- Supporting policy development
- Participating in a working group
- Helping to organize an event
Third, Members endorse the Sustain Ontario pledge and thereby its general aims and works. Support for particular projects or campaigns is structured on an opt-in basis, so membership of Sustain Ontario does not mean that an organization gives its endorsement to each Sustain Ontario initiative. All Members will be notified of policy and advocacy activities for which Member support is wanted.
Contribution
Members are asked to provide an annual membership fee to support Alliance activities. The amount of the fee will vary depending on the size and annual budget or gross revenue of each organization, group, or business. We suggest the following minimum fees based on annual budgets or gross revenue:
| Annual Budget or Gross Revenue | Fee |
| New Farm Businesses or Grassroots volunteer groups | $50 |
| Under $250,000 | $100 |
| Under $500,000 | $250 |
| Under $1,000,000 | $500 |
| Over $1,000,000 | $1000 |
Membership is renewed annually.
If a Member is unable to pay their membership fee, they are encouraged to contact the Membership Coordinator to discuss a reduced rate, deferred payment or in-kind contribution to cover their fee.
Supporter Circle
The Supporter Circle is made up of groups and individuals that want to help advance the work of the Alliance, but that do not meet the criteria for Membership or are limited by their own rules about membership. Supporters help ensure that Ontario has a healthy food and farming system by lending their voice, skills, financial support and time to the work of the Alliance. Differences in the participation of Group Supporters and Individual Supporters can be read on the following page.
All Supporters can help to create a healthy food and farming system by:
- publicly showing support for Sustain Ontario and its initiatives
- lending their time, energy, skills, and perspectives to the work of the Alliance
- supporting Sustain Ontario Members directly
Benefits
Sustain Ontario keeps the Supporter Circle up-to-date about food and farming developments and activities in each Supporter’s specified regions and areas of interest. The Alliance also provides information about proceedings and initiatives at the provincial and federal levels so that Supporters can find ways to make an effective impact.
Each Group and Individual may also elect to be publicly recognized as a Supporter on the Sustain Ontario website.
Responsibilities
Sustain Ontario occasionally reaches out to the Supporter Circle for extra help and perspectives regarding initiatives and working groups. This extra help could include writing to MPPs, posting a sign, providing opinions, volunteering particular skills in any number of areas such as marketing, design, research, etc, or sharing specialized knowledge in areas such as law, finance, statistics, etc.
Groups
If your group, organization, or business is not eligible to become a Member of Sustain Ontario, you are still welcome on the Supporter Circle.
Groups, organizations and businesses that can join the Supporter Circle despite ineligibility for Membership include:
- Non-profits operating primarily outside of Ontario
- For-profit businesses not owned exclusively by Ontario residents or not located wholly within the borders of Ontario
- Groups or businesses whose work does not include food or farming
- Organizations limited by their own rules about membership
National organizations and groups are welcome to join Sustain Ontario as Members, provided they have proven substantial activity within Ontario. See the previous section on Members: Eligibility for more detail.
Groups and Individuals that sit on the Supporter Circle are asked also to provide financial support.
| Individual | $50 |
| Organization | $200 |
Individuals
Sustain Ontario exists to provide a space for groups with common interests to collaborate to advance a healthy food and farming system for Ontario. Accordingly, Membership is restricted to groups, organizations and businesses. However, many individuals may support the work of the Alliance, and want to lend their strength, skills, and voice to that of the Members. These individuals are welcome to join the Supporter Circle.
We ask that Supporter Circle Individuals consider first making a donation to non-profit Members of the Alliance to better enable them to contribute their time and energy to the work of the Alliance if there is an applicable Member that is in accordance with their interests . Please feel free to indicate that is the purpose of the donation when it is made.
If a Supporter is unable to pay their membership fee, they are encouraged to contact the Membership Coordinator to discuss a reduced rate, deferred payment or in-kind contribution to cover their fee.
Campaign Supporters and Working Group Collaborators
Groups that are not aligned with Sustain Ontario’s vision and cannot sign on to the commitment statement, but find specific initiatives, campaigns, or working groups complementary to their work on food or farming, are welcome to become campaign or working group supporters or collaborators. These relationships are topic-, event-, or initiative-specific.
Similarly, Sustain Ontario welcomes opportunities to act as a collaborator on initiatives that align with our goals, where other groups act as the lead.
Newsletter recipients
Anyone curious about what’s happening at Sustain Ontario is welcome to sign up to receive our monthly newsletter. Anyone interested in following our Members’ activities can sign up for our Weekly Good Food Bites – a weekly email digest of some of the most exciting and interesting things happening with food and farming in Ontario.