Minnesota SAR

Here is an up-to-date summary of dues and application fees charged by the Minnesota SAR. Each fee may include amounts charged at the national, state, and/or chapter level.

The Annual Dues column is what each member pays to retain their membership from year to year, excluding life members. This includes membership in one chapter. A few members have chosen to belong to more than one chapter; the extra cost is $8.00 per year per chapter.

The New App column shows how much is charged for each new member application submitted through the MNSAR. This includes an application fee and one year’s dues. The application fees are not refunded if the national headquarters rejects an application; only the annual dues are refunded. The Supplemental column shows how much it costs a current member of the MNSAR to register another patriot ancestor.

In the Family Plan, applications by two or more close male relatives (father, son, grandson, uncle, nephew) are submitted together for a lower cost. All applications must share the same patriot ancestor to be eligible for the discount. One applicant pays the full price and the others pay a discounted price.

New applications cost more for a regular member and less for a junior member. Regular members pay the full dues amount at the chapter, state, and national level. Junior members pay no state or chapter dues, and their national dues are only $5.

Costs	Annual Dues	New App	Supplemental
Regular	$67.00	$237.00	$160.00
Family Plan		$162.00	$85.00
Young adult son		$162.00
Junior	$5.00	$175.00	$160.00
Junior Family Plan		$100.00	$85.00
Junior son		$100.00

There are two additional categories of new member applications:

• Young adult son: If a young man is aged 18 through 24 and closely related to a registered member of the SAR, or the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), or the Children of the American Revolution (CAR), then his application is charged the lower cost shown.
• Junior son: If a young man is under 18 and closely related to a registered member of the SAR, the DAR, or the CAR, then his application is charged the lower cost shown.

The cost difference between Young adult son and Junior son reflects the difference in dues for Regular and Junior members.

I fervently hope that the dues and fees will remain stable for the next few years. The recent increases have been quite alarming.

Where the Money Goes

All payments for MNSAR applications and dues are made to the Minnesota SAR, even though some or all of the cost may be passed through to the national or chapter organizations.

The National part of each dues and fee payment is sent to the national SAR Treasurer General. This supports the national magazine, youth programs, genealogical policy, and other programs. When submitting an application to national headquarters, the State Society sends the national fees with the application.

The State Society dues and fees are retained by the State Society. Chapter dues are sent to the appropriate chapter when the annual dues are processed.

Life Membership

The Minnesota Society offers a complete life membership package that covers dues for a lifetime. This program was instituted by our late compatriot John Hallberg-Jones, who became national SAR life member #1. A single life-member payment covers life membership in the Minnesota SAR, the national SAR, and a selected chapter.

The State Society provides a special application for life membership. It includes a National Life Membership application plus additional fees for the state and selected chapter life memberships. The State Society does not support National-only life memberships or state- and chapter-only life memberships.

Contact the State Treasurer for the state life membership application form.

Rejected/Pended Applications

All applications handled by the Minnesota SAR are reviewed by the State Genealogist (Membership Coordinator) before the application and fees are sent to the national office. If the State Genealogist rejects an application, and the application is not sent to the national office, then any fees already paid may be refunded, or applied to another application using a different patriot ancestor.

Occasionally an applicant will insist that the State Society send an application to the national office despite rejection by the State Genealogist. Once the State Society has sent an application to the national office, the national policies apply regarding refunds for rejected application.

The national office typically either approves an application or marks it as “pended.” This happens when the application fails to prove either the ancestor’s lineage or the ancestor’s service to the cause of independence. An applicant may respond to a pended application as follows:

1. Provide information to prove or otherwise correct the application.
2. Substitute another application using the lineage of a different patriot ancestor that is easier to prove.
3. Withdraw the application entirely. New member applicants may receive a refund of dues paid; supplemental applicants receive no refund.
4. Do nothing, and the national office will delete the application after 2 or 3 years.

New member applications sent to the national office and withdrawn by the applicant may receive a partial refund. The national office will refund the national annual dues and the State Society will refund the state and chapter annual dues. The total refunded appears in the table under Annual Dues.