The Garand Collectors Association

Hey GCA Members!!
Many of you are receiving the Spring ’13 GCA Journal now. And many are making use of the “All In One” mail order form as your renewal form.
Please remember, ALL of your information MUST be filled out on the front of the form and signatures must be on the back!
Checks and envelopes are separated from the forms early in the process (this is true with any GCA mail in form). If you do not fill out your information it makes it very difficult to decipher who you are using your signature alone. Also, we check every form to make sure that we have all of your information correct and up to date so that you don’t miss a single issue of The GCA Journal.

Just remember, if there’s a blank space on any form that we send you….it’s there for a reason!

DON’T LEAVE IT BLANK! ;-)

Thanks you for your continued support of the GCA!

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!
Many of you are receiving a second notice for renewal in the mail. Please note that at this time there is about a month and a half lead time on processing of renewals. We still have hundreds of unprocessed renewals to get through. This lead time will decrease as we get farther along in the renewal process.

IF YOU HAVE MAILED YOUR RENEWAL IN PLEASE DISREGARD THE NOTICE.
Your renewal has simply not yet been processed.

If you renewed online, you should have received a confirmation email, however your renewal must still be processed through the GCA office.

Please understand that calling the GCA office to check on your renewal will only extend our lead time and we will not be able to quickly locate your particular envelope. You will receive your new membership card in the mail once your renewal has been processed. Renewals are processed in the order that they are received.

Thank you for your patience and for your continued support of the GCA!

Yes, it happens that some memberships will actually expire before we here at the office have processed your renewal.
Rest assured that as long as your completed and signed renewal form or online renewal is in our office by September 1st you will not miss a single issue of the GCA Journal. Also, the CMP is well aware of this lag time and will give a 30 day grace period. If we have your renewal in the office and the CMP is not showing you as a current member we will be happy to notify the CMP that your membership is current, just not actually processed yet.

I hope that this will alleviate some of your questions and as always….

Thank you for your continued support of the GCA!

Hey Garand Collectors!
Please be patient. We’re processing renewals as fast as we can around here but there are over 15,000 of you all and just a couple of us here in the office processing.
We’ll get to all of your renewals as soon as we can and you’ll get your new membership card in the mail once it has been processed.

Rest assured, we won’t let you miss a single issue of the GCA Journal!

Remember….the more time we have to spend telling folks whether their renewal or book order has been processed, the less time we have to process them! ;-D

Thank you all for your continued support of the GCA!

HEY GCA MEMBERS!! The renewals are starting to pour in, thank you all for your continued support!

Please know that renewal forms are issued to all members with the Summer edition of the GCA Journal. If you’ve renewed ahead you can just discard the renewal form. Be sure to look on your membership card for your expiration date. If it is later than August 31st, 2012 you do not need to renew, however you are welcome to renew for the next consecutive year or for as many years as you like!

And don’t forget, now you can renew your GCA membership online right here on our website in The GCA Store!

Hey GCA Members!

It’s that time again! Time to renew your GCA Membership for 2013. The Summer 2012 edition of the GCA Journal has just been released. That means that each of you will be receiving an Official GCA Membership Renewal Form in the envelope (not inside the magazine) with your Summer ’12 edition of the GCA Journal.

And now you can choose to renew your membership ONLINE in The GCA Store right here on our website! If you have never used The GCA Store before, you will need to set up a NEW ACCOUNT with The GCA Store but you would still be RENEWING your membership. Your membership number will always remain the same.
**Remember, if you have been a GCA member at any time since 2002 you will need to RENEW your membership. You can only be a new GCA member once.**

Memberships don’t expire until September 1st so you have plenty of time to get your renewal in. But don’t wait!! We have around 15,000 members at this time. It takes quite a while for us to open, sort and process all that mail and email. So avoid the rush and send your renewal in NOW!! And please feel free to renew ahead for as many years as you like!

And as always…Thank you for your continued support of the GCA!

Please remember that we have almost 15,000 members attempting to renew their memberships. When you renew your membership with a check or credit card information via the US Postal service we ask that you send a COMPLETED AND SIGNED OFFICIAL GCA RENEWAL FORM! That means that no other “form” is acceptable. If it doesn’t say MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL on it, then it’s not a renewal form. New Membership applications, old invoices or notes on scratch paper should not be substituted for a renewal form. The tri-fold mini membership applications are also not renewal forms, they are new membership applications for you to give to a friend that might like to join the GCA. If you pay online please pay through the portal on our website in the GCA Store so that we receive the proper documentation.

New Memberships and Renewals are not accepted by phone.

If you have been a GCA Member at any time since 2002 your membership has only been “inactive” and you should still send a RENEWAL….one can only be a NEW MEMBER once. It is very important that we do not duplicate memberships!

Renewal forms are distributed with the Summer issue of the GCA Journal. You can also download and print one from this website or if all else fails, feel free to call our office at 816-471-2005 and we’ll be happy to mail or fax you a copy.
And now you can renew online in The GCA Store right here on our website!

Please remember that we have to file all of these forms. Imagine what our files would look like if we had to keep every piece of  scrap paper or envelope or whatever else one might send in to renew their membership. If you only send a check with no form at all we then we have to fill out a form FOR YOU in order to put something in our file. We have a very small staff here and a lot of renewals to get through so please be courteous and fill out your own renewal form. Also, we need your signed authorization with each renewal to submit (or not submit) your personal information to the CMP.

Thank you!

Renew online in the GCA Store…

http://www.thegca.org/store/membership_renewals.html

Or download the forms to mail or fax in…

http://www.thegca.org/membership

It’s time to renew your GCA Membership!!
Here are some tips to speed up the process for everyone.

As you all know, GCA Memberships expire on September 1st of each year. Renewal forms are distributed with the Summer edition of the GCA Journal each year. So if you’ve received your Summer ’12 GCA Journal, you should have received a renewal form. And now you can choose to renew your membership right here on the GCA website in The GCA Store. Either way, you will receive a paid invoice (receipt) with your new membership card at the bottom via first class mail. If you renew online, you will also receive an email confirmation when the transaction successfully processes.

With close to 15,000 members now, renewal season has become quite a task. This is part of the reason renewal notices are sent out early – to help spread out the incoming renewals and improve the overall work flow. Here are some steps you can follow to help make things go more quickly for everyone!

1) If you are mailing in your renewal with a check, money order or credit card payment, be sure to submit a completed and signed official GCA renewal form with your payment. You should have received one with your Summer GCA Journal or you can always print one from this website (see link above).
**If you do not submit a completed and signed renewal form your check will be returned to you with a blank renewal form for you to fill out and return.**

2) Be sure to complete and sign your renewal form even if you are paying by check. Checks are separated from envelopes early on during processing and cannot be used as a reference.
**If you do not fill out your renewal form your check will be returned to you with a blank renewal form for you to fill out and return.**

3) Credit Card payments must include the CVV (Card Verification Value) code. That is the 3 digit code from the back of your credit card next to the signature line. We cannot charge your credit card without this code! If the billing address is different from the mailing address, the billing address must be included as well to avoid your card being declined. We can only accept Visa and MasterCard when mailing in your renewal, however The GCA Store will accept Discover as well.

4) Be sure your handwriting is legible. We can not process what we can not read.

5) Please do not tape your envelopes closed! Every envelope is opened by hand, one at a time. Remember….we have several thousands of these envelopes to open. If we have to “fight” with tape we will most likely just go on to the next envelope and come back to yours when we have more time. Also, please do not staple or tape your checks to your renewal form.

6) Please remember that we have a small team in our office. It will take some time to get through all of your renewals, plus processing new memberships and other orders coming in simultaneously. Please be patient….it might take us a couple of months to get you your new membership card. But rest assured that we won’t let you miss a single issue of the GCA Journal!!

We look forward to processing your GCA Membership renewal and as always….Thank you for your continued support of the GCA!!