Membership: Join the Tick Borne Inc. Family
What does it mean to be a member of Tick Borne Inc.? Simply that you want to be more closely involved and united with others in this cause. Our membership isn’t about exclusion or fancy perks. It’s about creating an empowering community where everyone’s contributions are valued. There’s no cost barrier to join; it’s about commitment and camaraderie.
Membership Levels (Empowering, Not Exclusive):
We have a “suggested donation” for certain membership levels mainly to help fund our initiatives, but no one is turned away if they can’t contribute financially. You can always join as a Friend for free and still get involved!
Quick Heads-Up About the Form!
When you click to join or donate, you’ll see a little form pop up from Zeffy (that’s the secure platform we use to process donations). Just so you know: We’re not officially partnered with Zeffy or anything like that. We just use their service because it lets 100% of your donation go to Tick Borne Inc. (which is awesome).
At the end of the form, Zeffy will ask if you want to leave them a tip. That’s totally up to you. If you don’t want to, it’s totally okay to put $0 in that box. This is nothing sketchy, but just one way of how they keep their service free for nonprofits like us.
Why Become a Member?
- Empowerment
Being a member means you’re not just passively reading a site. It means you’re part of a movement. You get to proudly say, “I’m a member of Tick Borne Inc., and we’re making a change.” That can be really empowering, especially for young members. We plan to send out little missions to members like “this month, challenge your friends to all do a tick check after the soccer game” and members hopefully love taking those on.
- Community
You’ll have access to our Members Forum, which is an online space where you can chat with others, share your story, ask questions (“hey, does this tick look like a dog tick or deer tick?” – someone will help ID!), and support one another. It’s moderated and safe. Friendships may form there. Whether you’re a patient, a parent of one, or just an advocate, you’ll find people who get it.
- Knowledge
Members get insider news. If there’s a new tick study or a cool prevention gadget, we’ll break it down in our newsletter. We may also host members-only Q&A sessions with experts where you can directly ask questions in a smaller setting.
- Leadership Opportunities
We want to lift our members into leadership roles. Have an idea for an awareness project in your town? As a member, you can propose it and we can help guide or even fund it. Our teen members can become “Tick Ambassadors” leading projects for service hours or just passion.
- It’s Personal
We’re a small org with a big lime-green heart. As a member, you aren’t just a number to us. We’ll likely get to know you by name. You can email us anytime. It’s more like a family. And you can be as involved (or not) as you want. You can decide to become super active, or just like getting the news and showing up at the annual walk. No pressure to do more than you’re comfortable with.
How to Join?
You can join with our lime-green buttons on the right of our page by filling out a short form. If you choose a Supporter/Advocate level, the donation can be done together with that form. If you choose free Friend, no payment needed of course. You’ll get a welcome email and then ongoing communications.
Remember, membership is not about exclusivity. It’s about inclusivity by bringing together people who care. There’s no secret club here. It is just a network of kind-hearted folks. The benefits we give (shirts, etc.) are tokens of appreciation and tools to help you spread awareness (wear that shirt proudly!). We just want to inspire commitment. If you join, we ask that you carry our mission forward in whatever ways you can. Maybe that’s something as simple as educating your own family, or as big as organizing a community event with our help.
Thanks for helping out and being awesome. 💚