The Secular Student Alliance is a democratic membership organization.  In addition to having our affiliate groups (which can join for free and get great services and resources), we also have individual members.  Anyone, regardless of student status or age, can join the SSA as a contributing member and help support our organization.  You also get to vote for our Board of Directors each year (and even run for the Board if you are so inclined), and get discounts to our conference.

Being involved in an affiliate group doesn't mean you are automatically a member of the Secular Student Alliance.  We don't require our students to become members of the SSA for their groups to get all the resources we provide, but we definitely encourage it.  Membership for students is only $10/year, and you get to have a direct hand in the organization that supports your group.  Having students involved in the national organization gives a strong voice to the students we serve, helping us better meet their needs.

That's why we're launching our first-ever Student Membership Drive!  In order to get more students (and nonstudents) involved in the national organization, we're encouraging members, alumni, supporters and friends of our affiliate groups to join the Secular Student Alliance.  Tell your members, supporters and friends about the SSA and the work we do for our affiliates, and encourage them to get involved!  We'll be holding the drive from now through the end of the semester.  That's closer than you might think - so start spreading the word sooner rather than later.

Why Students?
Students are the rising stars of the freethought movement.  Never before have we seen the kind of activity and organization that's happening right now on high school and college campuses.  As an organization that exists to support, serve and organize students, we want to have those same people individually involved in our organization.  We want your input, support, feedback, and to help foster a commitment to freethought that carries on beyond campus into the rest of our society.

How does the Student Membership Drive work?
We're asking our affiliate groups to tell their members about the Secular Student Alliance and encourage them to join the national organization as individual members. If someone has been an SSA member in the past, encourage them to renew their membership!  We believe that building a strong member base will help strengthen the entire movement.

Joining is easy.  You and your group's members can join online using PayPal or a major credit card, or join by mail using our printable .pdf membership form.  As the Secular Student Alliance is a 501(c)(3) educational public charity, all membership dues (as well as any additional contributions) are tax deductible within the United States. 

When you or someone from your group joins the Secular Student Alliance, they'll see an option to select a referring group: make sure they know to select your group!

Join today at www.secularstudents.org/join!

What's in it for us?
The greatest benefit in getting your members to join the Secular Student Alliance is having your voice represented in our organization.  But to sweeten the deal a little more, we'll be awarding $50 EvolveFISH gift certificates to the two groups who are able to recruit the most members for the SSA. 

We realize that there's no way a group on a 1,500-student campus can compete with groups on 50,000-student campuses - so we're dividing affiliates into two tiers: groups with less than 35 members and groups with more than 35.  We'll be using the numbers from the latest Affiliation Renewal questionnaire, so we can be sure that we're working with up-to-date information about your group.

I have a question about…
We're happy to answer questions.  You or members of your group can contact us at ssa@secularstudents.org, or call our office at 614-441-9588.  You can also find answers to many questions on our website at www.secularstudents.org.