For 33 years, thousands of people paid an annual membership fee to support Seeds of Diversity’s programs and services. In Fall 2021, our board suggested - and the vast majority of respondents agreed - that memberships should be free moving forward.
Our members told us, overwhelmingly, that there should be a difference between participation and financial support. Memberships are for those who want to contribute, participate, and learn from each other, and there shouldn’t be a price on that.
Although most of the members we’ve heard from are in favour of removing the membership fee, the #1 concern they expressed is that the value of membership, and the importance of working together, should not be devalued or undermined. We couldn't agree more.
We invite serious gardeners and seed savers to join our programs if they genuinely want to contribute, participate, or learn. Beginners are welcome too: certainly we all started somewhere, so if you’re new to seed saving but you truly want to learn and get involved, then we definitely want you to be a member. Learn from other seed savers; turn your interests to good use; eventually you’ll become a skilled part of our network. We just don’t think we should charge you a fee for that anymore.
Since 2022, it has been completely free to join Seeds of Diversity as a member, and we hope that those who are able to contribute financially continue to do that. So far, that has been the case, and we are incredibly grateful.