Make your club a HEMAA affiliate today.
For non-profit clubs and schools, joining the HEMAA provides your group access to insurance, event support, and additional discounts on individual memberships.
Benefits of Affiliation
Leverage our insurance for your training sessions and special events (Insurance information will be forwarded to our insurance provider for their review)
Receive event support for costs associated with running a event
Discounts on individual memberships for people in your club
Benefit from our 501(c)3 non profit status (conditions and requirement apply)
Access other HEMAA services and support
Becoming an affiliate
Requirements
Must not be a for-profit club (please contact the governing council for exceptions)
The club does not need to be a registered non-profit, but must operate as one
Must be US-based.
All members of the club must register as HEMAA members ($26 yearly, or $2.17 a month)
The fee is $150 per club.
Is your Club Ready?
How to register as an affiliate
Visit hemaa.tidyhq.com
Sign up for the Affiliate membership - must be under the 'head' of the club's tidyhq account.
The fee in order to become an Affiliate of the HEMA Alliance is $150 per year for each club/school/organization.
Register your practices & events at https://www.hemaalliance.com/activities-registry
Email gc@hemaalliance.com and announce your new affiliation.
Important Information on Affiliation
Affiliates must follow the rules of a non-profit to maintain their affiliation status.
All club members must become HEMAA members.
New students are covered for their first two months.
You must register new students under the 'intro class coverage' membership. Links to register students are in the member resources section.
This free membership is active for two months.
A student is *only* covered if they are registered, and only for the dates the membership is active. There is no back dating
Affiliate Responsibilities
Affiliates must be their own legal entity and, at a minimum, have their own EIN registered with the IRS.
Affiliates must operate as a non-profit organization.
Again, the club does not need to be registered/approved as a non-profit
All money raised by an affiliate must be used for the affiliate and can not be for personal gain.
An affiliate could buy lunch for all of its club members, it could not buy the lunch of just the head instructor.
An affiliate can pay for the airfare for an instructor outside of the affiliate coming to teach the affiliate, it could not pay for the airfare of the affiliate’s instructor to go teach somewhere else.
An affiliate can pay rental fees on a facility the affiliate uses, it could not pay for the living expenses of its members.
An affiliate can buy gear for its membership as a whole, it could not pay for the gear of just one member.
An affiliate can pay for the HEMA Alliance membership of its members, so long as this is offered to everyone in the affiliate.
An affiliate for example could say members who pay 3 months in advance get HEMA Alliance Membership.
There are many other rules; when in doubt, feel free to contact the Governing Council at gc@hemaalliance.com.
The gist: Think about what is being spent. Does it have receipt? Does it benefit the majority of the club? If yes- it’s probably ok. Does it benefit one member or a few members? Does it lack a receipt? If yes- it is probably not ok.
Leaving the Alliance
If an affiliate lapses, is suspended, or decides it wants to become its own non-profit, it should contact the HEMA Alliance to ensure they follow all Federal laws in regards to a 501c3.
An affiliate cannot directly transition to a for-profit entity or 'lapse out' of the Alliance. An affiliate can form a separate for-profit entity and purchase gear from the group operating as a non-profit.
When in doubt, feel free to contact the Governing Council at gc@hemaalliance.com.
Insurance and Maintaining Coverage
Every member of an Affiliate club/school/organization must be a HEMA Alliance member. New visitors are permitted 1 free visit. For unique events (like a tournament), the HEMAA policy will cover guests. Please keep in mind individuals who attend an Affiliate on a regular basis must be paying HEMAA members. Repeated violations could result in the Affiliate losing its status. If your affiliate has an intro-program we have another option: insurance can be provided for 2 months for your intro-students. Register them at Tidyclub under "Intro Class Coverage". As soon as they are registered, they will be covered for the 2 months. After that time, they need to join as HEMA Alliance members.
Using TidyHQ to track HEMAA Membership
HEMAA Membership Discounts
All members of an Affiliate pay only $26 per year to be a HEMA Alliance member! Remember, all members of an Affiliate must be paying HEMA Alliance members.
Other Considerations
Branches of affiliates must be within driving range. This means an entire state and all of its clubs and schools could not claim it was one affiliate. However, three clubs in the same city could. The Hema Alliance reserves the right to make determinations of what is a HEMA Alliance Affiliate and if one or multiple Affiliates are needed.
Affiliates must follow the safety policy at all practices and events, and have at least one HEMAA member on site.
An affiliate that does not follow the rules set down by the HEMA Alliance can be suspended and/or disbarred.