Terms of Service for CSSA Membership

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Use the contact button on the Member Portal site to request assistance

Terms revised 2024-04-19

ACCOUNT | DURATION | RENEWAL & REBILLING | ASSOCIATES | PROFILE PHOTO | PHONE NUMBER | COMMUNICATIONS | JOURNAL DELIVERY | SEED DEPOT | CODE OF CONDUCT

Existing (2023 or 2024) members who don’t have an email address associated with your account: Email “membership at cactusandsucculentsociety.org” or text/call (+1) 949 701 Nine Four Two Seven to claim your account. Include your name, city, and email address if you have one.

Membership Account

NEW for 2024 – Your Membership to the Cactus and Succulent Society of America is now managed via our Member Portal on Joinit 

  • You will need to have an email address on file to access your CSSA Member Portal account.
  • You can update your billing and address information, access member-only benefits, and download your digital membership card
  • Payments are processed through Stripe
  • See info on how to renew or claim your existing membership here
  • Members may cancel anytime from their profile, which may be easily accessed using your email address or, if you contact us, we will cancel for you

Membership Duration

NEW for 2024 – Memberships last 12 months from your payment date

  • Starting in 2024 paying your membership dues give you 12 months of ACTIVE status from your payment date
  • Memberships that include the Journal will be sent 4 quarterly issues – we are not responsible for Journals lost or stolen in the mail. Please make sure your address is updated to avoid a lost Journal. Coming soon, we will replace undelivered Journals with a PDF.

Renewal & Automatic Rebilling

NEW for 2024 – All Memberships purchased online default to automatic re-billing

  • Standard Memberships and other memberships existing before 2024 have the option to pay one-time with a credit card at checkout. Offline payments (check, etc) can be made by special arrangement. Contact us for help. Memberships paid for on a one-time basis must be renewed in a timely manner to avoid missing issues.
  • You may cancel automatic rebilling at any time from your account profile or by contacting us. We won’t make it hard to cancel, we promise. If you do, you will see the option of keeping your membership active till your current expiration date, and you should choose that to be sure you get all Journals and Newsletter issues you paid for.
  • We strongly suggest using automatic rebilling so you never miss an issue.
  • If you do lapse, you may order any missed issues from the CSSA online shop.

Associate (spouse/partner) Memberships

NEW for 2024 – are now purchased as separate memberships after a Standard Member joins

  • Associate Memberships are equivalent to Supporting Memberships with regards to benefits.
  • They have their own Member Portal account profile and digital membership card.
  • Active Standard Members will see a link to purchase a discounted Associate Membership ($10) on their account profile page. No previous Associate info transferred to the new system from 2023 members. You will need to set them up in Joinit. If you already paid for them on Shopify or by paper, just inform us to claim any benefit as needed, and add them the new way the next time you renew.
  • Associate Members need their own unique email address. This will allow them to receive the To The Point digital newsletter, and give them access to a digital membership card, and future members-only benefits.
  • The Standard Member will be asked to add the name and email of the primary member on the Associate’s Membership form so we can track the connection. Only one Associate Member per Standard Member.
  • Associate Memberships will automatically rebill at their discounted rate until cancelled or converted by CSSA to a Supporting Membership upon the primary member’s account lapsing for more than 6 months.

Profile Photo

NEW for 2024 – Members may optionally upload a profile photo

  • Visibility – Profile photos are only visible to membership administrators, staff, and event volunteers, and on your digital membership card.
  • Uploading a profile photo is not required.
  • Why do we ask for one? It may help us remember you as we assist with your account and benefits. The CSSA is more than just a magazine subscription, it’s a community. Establishing a personal connection between members and the people who run the Society makes our community stronger.

Phone Numbers

NEW for 2024 – Members are encouraged to provide a phone number

  • Phone numbers are not required, but having one on file could enable us to verify your account if you were locked out, say if something happened to your email address.
  • They will only by used by CSSA staff to contact you in an urgent situation, such as at an event you would be attending, a shift reminder for volunteers, or notification of a lost and found item, etc.
  • We will never ask for personal or billing information via an unsolicited phone call or text message.
  • We do not sell your phone number to third parties.

Communications Policy 

NEW for 2024 – CSSA may contact you by email and through a variety of platforms that we use, including but not limited to Mailchimp, Zoom, Joinit, and social media

  • We mostly use the CSSA Member Portal email system (on Joinit) for communications directly related to billing and your membership account, including renewal notices and payment due reminders, account support, and member benefits (like To The Point).
  • We will only share your contact information with third parties in order to provide services directly associated with your membership. For instance, our publishing house is given a list of subscriber’s addresses to mail the Journal, and Joinit shares your information with Stripe to facilitate payments.

Journal Delivery

NEW for 2024 – We guarantee we will mail out four issues of the Journal for each year of active Standard Membership

  • We will need at least a 40-day notice on change of address to insure proper Journal delivery.
  • We cannot be responsible for and will not replace issues not delivered, if we are not notified of change of address in time or were provided with an incorrect address.
  • Coming soon … Journal issues lost or stolen in the mail will be replaced with a PDF version.
  • Lapsed members who miss Journal issues will need to order replacement issues, if available, from the CSSA Shop online, not through the membership system.

Seed Depot

Seed orders are taken through the online shop, checked manually against the members roster, and then fulfilled by a volunteer

  • Please do not order seeds on the shop if you are not an current active member. They will not be sent, and transaction expenses may be deducted from any refund. Check your status on your CSSA Member Portal profile before ordering.
  • Active members will see a link to the Seed Depot order page on their Member Portal profile.
  • See the additional terms on the Shopify purchase page to insure your country is eligible for seed delivery. We will obviously have to obey all applicable import/export laws.
  • We cannot be responsible for and will not replace seeds not delivered, if we were provided with an incorrect address or there were issues with customs or the postal services that carry the packages.
  • Seed Depot issues and questions may be directed to the seed depot contact listed on the CSSA Online Shop.

Code of Conduct

The following will not be tolerated and may result in expulsion or banning from participation in CSSA events, at the discretion of the Board of Directors

  • Threatening, abusive, sexist or racist behavior, including stalking and cyberstalking.
  • Participation in illegal trafficking or sales of habitat collected plants. See here.