Every board gets stuck on the same question every February: how much should we charge for membership fees this year? Someone suggests repeating last year's amount, another thinks it's too low, a third one points out there's a struggling family in the club. And the conversation ends in a guess — which later turns into a scramble in October, when the camp registration comes due and the cash box is empty.
There's a better way, and it starts at the end: first you build the year's budget, then the membership fee shows up on its own. The Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual, published by the South American Division (SAD, the headquarters of the Adventist Church for eight countries in South America), doesn't set an amount — and we couldn't find any official fee table published by the SAD. But it does set the criteria, the sources of money and, above all, what to do about those who can't pay.
In this guide you'll find the step-by-step calculation method, a complete sample annual budget to copy and adapt, a collection routine that doesn't expose anyone, and the official paths to a fee waiver. If you want to understand where every dollar in the club comes from first, start with the club's treasury.
What is the club membership fee for?
The membership fee isn't an entry fee or a payment for a service rendered. It's one of the club's four sources of funding, listed in chapter 3.6.1 of the Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual: membership fees, local church subsidy, sponsorships and fundraising campaigns.
And it covers very concrete things. In the planning chapter (3.1), the manual itself instructs the board to build the annual budget considering these items:
- Dues or membership fees — the club's regular income;
- Uniforms, both the official (dress) uniform and the activity uniform;
- Equipment: tents, tools, first-aid supplies, ropes, manuals, books, musical instruments;
- Field, Union and Division events: registration, transportation and meals;
- Course registrations;
- Fundraising campaigns;
- Mandatory annual insurance.
Notice that insurance is on that list, and it's not optional: it has been mandatory across the entire South American Division since 2010. It's worth reading the details in the club's annual insurance before closing any accounts.
There's also an educational side, and the manual is explicit about it: everyone pays, including board members. Even when the club is in a very low-income region, the membership fee still exists — in that case at a symbolic amount. The stated reason is pedagogical: to show children that everything worthwhile in life has a cost. It isn't fundraising, it's character formation.
How to calculate the membership fee amount, step by step?
Here comes the part nobody tells you: the Administrative Manual doesn't set an amount, a range, or a percentage. What it sets is the criterion — the fee charged "must be in line with the financial reality of the Club's members." In other words, the number is your club's decision, but the number needs to be defensible.
The method below turns that criterion into a calculation. It's a practical framework built by Desbravai from chapters 3.1, 3.6.1 and 3.6.3 of the manual — it isn't a procedure standardized by the SAD, but rather an organized way to arrive at an amount the board can justify to the committee.
| Step | What to do | Where this comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Add up the annual cost | List all regular expenses (stationery, patches, class materials, insurance, decorations, campouts) and occasional ones (tents, camp stove, Field/Union/Division event registrations). | Ch. 3.6.3 — regular and occasional expenses |
| 2. Subtract what isn't the membership fee | Subtract the subsidy the church voted for the club in its budget, plus sponsorships and campaigns already confirmed. | Ch. 3.6.1 — the 4 sources of funding |
| 3. Divide by paying members | Divide what's left by the number of members — remembering that the board pays too. | Ch. 3.6.1 — "everyone must pay" |
| 4. Divide by the months of activity | Many clubs pause in January. If yours runs from February to December, divide by 11, not by 12. | Ch. 3.1 — the club's annual schedule |
| 5. Add a cushion | Add some slack for delinquency and unforeseen costs. If the reserve for the next camporee isn't already in step 1, include it here — but only in one of the two places, so it isn't counted twice. | Management practice (not an SAD standard) |
| 6. Approve before announcing | The annual plan is proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the Regular Committee; the year's calendar goes through the Church Board. | Ch. 3.3.6 and 3.1 |
In a single line, the formula looks like this:
Membership fee = [(projected annual cost − church subsidy − sponsorships and campaigns) ÷ number of members ÷ months of activity] + cushion
And there's a final test that matters more than the math: does the resulting amount fit the budgets of your club's families? If it doesn't, the manual doesn't call for raising the fee or cutting children — it calls for adjusting the criteria. In practice, that means trimming expenses, seeking sponsorships, or running a fundraising campaign, the subject of fundraising.
What does a sample annual budget look like?
Loose numbers don't help anyone. So here's a complete budget for an imaginary club of 40 members (Pathfinders and board) with 11 months of activity, from February to December. The figures are fictional, created only to demonstrate the math — swap each line for the prices in your city and your Field's table.
| Expense projected for the year | Type | Amount (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Annual insurance for the 40 members | Regular | R$ 1,200 |
| Class, honor and stationery materials | Regular | R$ 1,600 |
| Patches, badges and investiture ceremony | Regular | R$ 900 |
| Tent, rope and tool maintenance | Regular | R$ 1,500 |
| Two local campouts | Regular | R$ 3,000 |
| Special programs (Pathfinder Day, Scarf Week) | Regular | R$ 1,000 |
| Field/Union event: registration and transportation | Occasional | R$ 4,800 |
| Monthly reserve for the next camporee | Occasional | R$ 2,400 |
| Total for the year | R$ 16,400 |
Now the other side of the sheet: what comes in without being the membership fee.
| Income and final calculation | Amount (example) |
|---|---|
| Local church subsidy (percentage voted by the committee) | R$ 3,600 |
| Sponsorships and sponsors | R$ 1,200 |
| Fundraising campaigns | R$ 2,600 |
| Subtotal that doesn't come from the membership fee | R$ 7,400 |
| Still to cover (16,400 − 7,400) | R$ 9,000 |
| Divided by 40 members | R$ 225 per member for the year |
| Divided by 11 months of activity | R$ 20.45 per month |
| With a 12% cushion (delinquency and contingencies) | R$ 23 per month |
Done: the membership fee stopped being a guess and became an explainable number. When a parent asks why R$ 23, the board opens the spreadsheet and shows them. That changes the tone of the whole conversation — and tends to reduce delinquency more than any amount of chasing payments.
If the number that comes out of your calculation feels heavy for the families, adjust the lines above, not the member list. Cut the occasional expense, look for a sponsor for that specific item (the manual suggests exactly that: list the need and ask for help with one item), or step up the fundraising campaign.
Read alsoClub treasuryWhen and how to collect payment without embarrassing anyone?
The manual gives very practical guidance on collecting payments, and all of it revolves around one concern: protecting the child.
The first is having a fixed date. The treasurer should set a monthly deadline — the examples cited in the manual itself are "by the 10th" or "the second Sunday of each month." The second is splitting the work: unit treasurers collect the fee from the members of their unit and pass it on to the club treasurer, with a record. The third is tracking by name, in a spreadsheet with every club member — the manual includes a template in Appendix D.
The flow below organizes this guidance into a routine. The manual sets who handles each step, and fixes two deadlines: transferring the money to the church treasury is immediate, and the financial statement is monthly. The other deadlines in the "when" column are a practical suggestion from Desbravai — work them out with your board.
| Step | When | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Collect at the unit level | At the regular meeting (suggestion) | Unit treasurer |
| Pass on to the club with a record | Same week (suggestion) | Unit treasurer → club treasurer |
| Transfer to the church treasury | Immediately (ch. 3.3.3) | Club treasurer |
| Follow up with late payers, privately | After the set date (ch. 3.6.1) | Club treasurer |
| Present the financial statement | Monthly (ch. 3.3.3) | Treasurer → Executive Committee |
On late payments, the text is direct: collection must be handled "with all delicacy and courtesy," with special care not to embarrass the Pathfinder. No posting a list of debtors on the bulletin board, no calling the child out in front of the unit, no barring participation in the Saturday activity. The matter is handled with the parent or guardian, in a private conversation.
And there's a freedom many boards don't realize they have: nothing stops the treasurer from making personalized arrangements with parents. Splitting payments into installments, agreeing on a different date, adjusting the amount for families with three children in the club — all of that is fine, as long as it's recorded and arranged privately.
And what about those who can't pay? The paths to a fee waiver
This is the non-negotiable point of chapter 3.6.1, and it's worth spelling out in full: the club must not leave any young person out because they can't afford to pay. The manual reinforces this twice on the same page — no one will be kept from taking part in the club for being unable to pay the membership fee.
The intended path has a name: the board looks for sponsors or benefactors who will financially "adopt" that Pathfinder. And there's an emotional care built into the guidance — the child should know that someone who cares deeply about their well-being is covering their expenses. It isn't anonymous charity; it's belonging.
| Family situation | Intended path | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary hardship (job loss, unexpected event) | Personalized arrangement: new deadline, installments, or an agreed pause | Treasurer, with the parents, in private |
| Ongoing inability to pay | A sponsor or benefactor who covers the Pathfinder's costs | Club leadership (a responsibility of the whole board) |
| Entire club in a very low-income area | Symbolic fee for everyone — it exists, but fits the budget | Executive Committee, in the annual budget |
| High one-off cost (camporee, uniform) | Sponsorship of a specific item and fundraising campaigns | Treasurer + board |
One golden rule closes the subject: this arrangement must never, under any circumstances, be made in public — always in private. If your board announces waivers at an open meeting, even with good intentions, it's going against the official guidance and exposing the child.
Parents and guardians: if the membership fee is a strain, the right step is to tell the board, not disappear. The manual asks for exactly that — that the family communicate the situation so the problem can be solved together. If you're still getting to know the club, see how much it costs and how to enroll your child.
How do you fit camporees and big expenses into the budget?
The manual splits expenses into two types, and that split solves half of every cash crunch. Regular expenses are the ones that repeat year after year — stationery, investiture patches, class and honor teaching materials, decorations, annual insurance, campouts. They should always appear in the annual budget, and the manual calls for balance between them and the club's regular income.
Occasional expenses are the big ones: tents, camp stoves, flags, registration fees for Field, Union or Division events. The manual acknowledges that regular income won't always be enough to cover them — and says it's precisely for this kind of expense that sponsorships and fundraising campaigns are sought. In other words: don't try to pay for a camporee with the membership fee alone.
Here's an example with a date already set: the VI South American Camporee takes place in January 2027, in Barretos (SP), in two stages (January 5–10 and 12–17). A club that only starts thinking about this in November 2026 is going to struggle. A club that opened a monthly reserve back in February arrives in good shape. Details are at SAD Camporee 2027.
That's why the Field's calendar factors into the calculation before the membership fee amount does: without knowing which official events fall in that year, you have no way to project registration, transportation and meals — the three line items that blow club budgets more than any others.
Where do you record everything, and how do you report it?
Money without a record turns into conflict. Chapter 3.6.4 allows three formats: a simple paper cash book, a spreadsheet, or an online system. What isn't negotiable is the content — every deposit and every expense, with copies of the receipts filed month by month.
Three rules tend to catch boards by surprise: the club's money stays in the local church treasury, not in a separate account; every purchase or contract uses the Field's CNPJ (Brazil's tax ID number), never a member's personal ID (confirm the number with the Conference or Mission treasury); and the treasurer issues a monthly financial statement to the Executive Committee.
There's also a concrete incentive to keep this up to date. In the SGC, the South American Division's Club Management System, the Treasury criterion is worth up to 50 of the 1,000 points in the score that determines the club's star rating, and it requires a minimum of 48 accounts payable and receivable entries per year — about four a month (criteria published on the official club portal, checked in July 2026). How to access and use the system is covered in SGC: what it is and how to sign in.
Full transparency about us: Desbravai is an independent system, built by Pathfinders, that helps the club with day-to-day tasks (schedule, communication with parents, tracking of classes and honors). It doesn't replace the SGC — official member registration, annual insurance, and registration for official events happen exclusively in the Division's system, and that's how it should be. No third-party tool — ours included — replaces those official records.