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I am new to falconry, and one piece of advice that kept being pitched to me was to join NAFA. So I sent in my application about a month ago and they told me a few days later that they were investigating my application.
22 days later I was accepted and they sent me my By-Laws and everything else. From what I was told this is a very fast response, and it can take some applications months to get processed.
So I was wondering, how long did it take you guys to get accepted into NAFA?
I don't remember. It was 26 years ago and I just sent my app in, and a Hawk Chalk eventually showed up in mailbox.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonjenuwine
You don't actually DO anything with the membership except get the publications, go to the meet, and vote, none of which is happening right now, so- just curious- what's the rush?
It was a piece of advice that kept reoccurring so I just did it
I was told they only accept applications in January so all the members renew at the same time. I waited 4-5 months.
They accept applications anytime of the year, of course, the later you apply in the year, the least you get for your yearly dues. There is no amount of year/discount.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven
The time to process all depends on how you apply. If you apply online (just became available this year), as soon as you submit your application via online and it takes you to PayPal to make payment. All of the board members and officers and applicant are automatically emailed a copy of your application. After your payment is verifyied on PayPal, it then takes them about 20 days to review and approve and for the Membership Secretary to enter you into the database and for you to receive your packet in the mail. If you apply by mailing in your application, it has to go to the New Membership Secretray and then has to be forwarded on to the officers and board members and the process takes a while longer. They also have to wait for your check to clear or run your payment through with the credit card information you supplied. To be honest, I don't know why anyone wouldn't apply online now days.
Several months as I was over seas.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonjenuwine
I joined at the '74 Yankton meet when they closed it to members only. & I got a December '74 Hawk Chalk in the mail, tho my dues went to '75 year.
Well as the current new membership secretary for NAFA let me throw my 2 cents in
There are currently two ways to apply to NAFA, 1- via web and 2- via snail mail.
A list is sent out to the directors the first week of every month. applicants are also informed via email that their application has been received and is being processed. We have a 20 day review period. Twenty days may seem long but we have managed to weed out quite a few wackos and bad apples often enough that I am for keeping this 20-day review period. At the end of the month I send our membership secretary the info for each approved applicant and they are entered into the database. They also receive a welcome packet.
We had many problems in the past with applications, it used to be that you had to send your application to your Director and he in turn would forward it to the new membership secretary who in turn had to compile an applicant list and send it out to all directors for review. for example, it took me about a year to get into nafa from the time I sent my application to the time I was officially accepted. Directors would often hold applications for months ( dont ask me why) before sending them to me and I would have to deal with outdated checks, address changes, etc. A real headache.
Since I have moved 4 times the last 3 years we have also had delays because of the Postal Service. We have also had snafus like my old addresses keep showing up in applications and website.
Any applications received after October 1st we try to carry over to the next year since it doesn't make sense to pay $45 for 2 months of membership.
Even if your application is delayed, you are still processed and if accepted to NAFA, you will receive anything that's has been published for the year.
We are an all-volunteer organization and the amount of time and money I have spent on applicants since I have taken over has been astronomical. Its a pretty thankless job but every little contribution counts. I have never, ever asked for any refunds or reimbursements in all my years. for example, up until last year I used to mail out all welcome packets and lost or damaged HC and Journals. Besides answering dozens of questions each month from would-be falconers.
I applied in 2004 and was accepted in about 35 days, pretty fast for the days of snail mail.
I applied on May 24th and paid via paypal so I will let you know when I get the email.