Answers

Why should I become or remain a paid member of EV Society, rather than the free "associate" membership?

• EV Society is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers and funded by our members. In order to support our mission of advancing electric vehicle adoption and supporting EV owners, we require funding. By supporting us with a paid membership of a very reasonable $50 / year, this allows us to operate and advocate on behalf of EV owners like you. As a thank you for your membership, we provide a number of membership benefits which often provide more value than the cost of membership.
  
  

How is EV Society funded?

• EV Society is funded almost entirely through membership fees. We periodically look for corporate sponsors to fund specific initiatives, but these do not fund ongoing operations. We do not receive any government funding although we do monitor for potential grants to leverage.
  
  

• EV Society is incorporated as a not-for-profit business registered in Ontario. We are not a charity and thus are not able to offer tax receipts for donations or fees.
  
  

Does EV Society accept corporate or government funding?

• EV Society offers corporate memberships for a fee of $100 / year. Corporate members are permitted to have their logo on our website and in our newsletter. Corporate members do not receive voting rights and do not have any influence on EV Society operations or activities.
• EV Society does allow for corporate sponsorship of specific initiatives. For example, we accept sponsors for our webinar series "Canada Talks Electric Cars" to help offset webinar costs.
• EV Society does not currently receive any government funding or grants, although we do monitor for potential grants that may fund specific initiatives in the future.
  
  

How does EV Society use membership fees collected?

• Our first priority for usage of fees is to provide value to our regional chapters and members. For example, we pay for group liability insurance coverage that covers physical events. We also provide resources to chapters such as; virtual meetings, communications platform, website, member management, etc.
• As with any organization, we have basic administrative costs such as; membership software, website hosting, accounting and tax services, etc. We aim to keep these costs as low as possible and look for donations of time whenever possible.
• Any remaining funds we set aside for future needs, such as purchase of material for in-person chapter events (flyers, etc).
• A financial report is reviewed by our Board of Directors monthly and an annual financial statement is made available to all members at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and is also available on request.
  
  

How do I change my membership from free "associate" to a full paid membership?

• Go to the Member Home page and use the "sign-in" button. Once logged in you can change your membership level from associate to the applicable membership type.
• For assistance, please contact secretary@evsociety.ca.
  
  

Why can I no longer use PayPal for membership fees?

• Our membership management software recently increased fees and brought in additional restrictions for using PayPal to pay membership fees. In order to keep administrative costs and overhead down, we made the decision to use the preferred payment system of our membership software (AffiniPay).
  
  

My previous PayPal subscription still appears to be active, why is that?

• Members who were using PayPal for membership fees prior to 2019 were never connected to our membership software so did not have their subscriptions automatically cancelled. If this applies to you, we prefer that you cancel your PayPal subscription and renew through the membership portal. We will continue to manually process legacy PayPal subscriptions until they are cancelled.
  
  

How do I renew my membership after my PayPal subscription was cancelled?

• You can renew your membership up to 45 days prior to your membership renewal date. You will receive email reminders twice prior to the renewal date and once after the renewal date until your renewal is processed. If you do not renew your membership, it will automatically be converted to an affiliate member (following a short grace period).
• To renew, go to the Member Home page and use the "sign in" button. If you are due for renewal you will see a button to renew your membership. Use this button and follow the prompts in order to complete the renewal.
• If you have any issues, please contact secretary@evsociety.ca.
  
  

Can I pay for my annual membership one year at a time instead of with an automatic subscription?

• Our payment system requires signing up for a subscription, however you can immediately cancel the subscription once paid. Your membership will continue to be valid for 12 months following the last payment date, regardless of when you cancel.
• As you renewal date approaches you will receive email notifications reminding you to renew. You must again sign up for a subscription in order to renew your membership, after which you can again cancel if desired.
  
  

Do you keep my credit card details?

• No, EV Society never receives credit card information for our members. Payments are handled directly by the payment processor (AffiniPay) who follows industry best practices for secure handling of payments. You can read more about AffiniPay data security here.
  
  

Can I pay for my membership without providing a credit card?

• Our payment system only allows payment by credit card. If you are unable to use a credit card, please contact secretary@evsociety.ca to arrange an alternate manual payment (e-transfer or cheque).
  
  

How do I cancel my membership?

• Your subscription can be cancelled at any time by logging in to your membership profile and selecting the "Stop Recurring Payments" button.
• Your membership will remain active until your renewal date. If you do not renew your membership will automatically be converted to a free "associate" membership.
• If you wish your account to be closed completely, please contact secretary@evsociety.ca.
  
  

How do I reset my password?

• Click here to go straight to the password reset tool. Simply enter your email address, check the "I'm not a robot" box, and submit. A password reset link will be emailed to you.
• If you continue to have issues, contact secretary@evsociety.ca.