Keeping the records

Forest and Bird, Issue 282, 1 November 1996, Page 11

Keeping the records

BASED IN Forest and Bird’s central office in Wellington Jenny James has one of those unsung but vital backroom jobs that help to keep Forest and Bird ticking over. Jenny processes all the subscriptions

and ensures the society’s membership system is properly maintained and up to date. Originally a South African, Jenny came to New Zealand with her husband and two children nine years ago and soon became a member of Forest and Bird. "I was concerned about the natural

environment being degraded," she says. "Coming from another country, I really appreciated how special and unique the animals and plants and wild places are in this country." Jenny worked as a computer programmer for a number of years before joining the staff at Forest and Bird. It’s a skill that has proved useful in keeping on top of the society’s membership software and database. "You'd think a membership system would be fairly straight forward to run," says Jenny. "But with 46,000 members in ten different categories, plus all the KCC members, making sure that each member gets their magazine, and handling queries from members who are not sure if they have renewed — it can all get pretty complicated." With the help of receptionist Danni Ogilvie, Jenny also looks after membership requests for the society’s 55 branches, giving them updated lists of members

and labels for their local newsletters. Then of course there is dealing with misdirected magazines, processing all the new members and keeping track of the donations from appeals. From now until after Christmas, Jenny’s work will be focused on handling the membership renewals that are being sent out with this issue of Forest & Bird. With a large number of loyal members, Forest and Bird has always had a high membership retention rate. Once the renewals start to return it'll be more than a fulltime job processing them, banking the money and updating names and addresses. "We handle about 40 or 50 address changes every week, even during the quiet times," says Jenny. "I’m always surprised by how many Forest and Bird members are on the move."