Variable Pricing Guidelines for Chapters

Page last updated April 2026

General Information

Based on a Variable Pricing Pilot conducted with six VMN chapters in 2025, the VMN State Office has determined that Variable Pricing is a viable means for reducing financial barriers to participation in the VMN Program. For this reason, the VMN State Office is implementing Variable Pricing statewide and will help chapters to make this a success.

The general process includes these main steps:

1. Recruitment: Chapters will include information about the standard registration fee and the option to pay different fees as part of their recruitment information.

2. Application and questionnaire completion: After completing the application, each applicant will complete a separate registration fee questionnaire to indicate the training fee they are able to pay.

3. Registration fee communication and collection: Once chapters have screened the applicants and determined who will be accepted into the program, the VMN State Office will share the registraton fee questionnaire data for accepted applicants in the form of a Google Sheet, and the chapters will collect the training course fees based on those data.

4. Reporting and Reconciling: After the course is complete, chapters will complete the Google Sheet with graduation and fee collection/refund data.

On this page, we have details about each of these steps and information about the responsibilities of the chapters and the VMN State Office. Please refer to this page to know what to do before, during, and after the application period and screening process, including steps in Better Impact, to ensure the process goes smoothly for the applicants and for the chapter.

Recruitment

When creating recruitment materials, chapters need to add information about the course fee to make sure potential recruits know about the variable pricing structure. Depending on the chapter’s recruitment methods, these materials may include the chapter website, flyers, social media posts, the public page on Better Impact, and/or emails.

This is a suggested statement to include on these recruitment materials, but your precise wording may vary:

“We are committed to reducing financial barriers to participation in the VMN program. The standard fee for the training course is [COURSE FEE]. The option to select a different registration fee based on your need is available as part of the volunteer application process.”

Chapter Responsibilities for Recruitment Phase:

1.  Update all recruitment materials to indicate that applicants will be able to choose a registration fee to fit their financial situation.

Application and Questionnaire

Potential trainees will complete an application form in Better Impact as they normally would. They will also need to complete an online questionnaire once they have submitted their Better Impact application. To let them know to do this, the chapter needs to update the automated confirmation email in Better Impact (called the “New Volunteer Email Message” in the Application Form Settings under Configuration). In addition, the VMN State Office will add a checkbox question to the chapter’s application form in Better Impact where the applicant will acknowledge that they understand they will need to complete a separate questionnaire to determine their training fee.

Language for "New Volunteer Email Message"

The chapter will need to add information to the “New Volunteer Email Message”, found under Configuration, Recruitment, Application Form Settings:

This is a suggested statement to include in the email, but your precise wording may vary:

“Now that you have completed the application, please take one more step by completing our registration fee questionnaire by [ENTER DEADLINE (We suggest it be 2-3 days after your application deadline)]. We have multiple registration fee options available in order to reduce financial barriers. Your answers on this questionnaire will not impact your potential acceptance. Your answers on the questionnaire will only determine your registration fee, should you be accepted into the program.”

The bolded text in the previous paragraph will be a hyperlink to the registration fee questionnaire. The chapter will create the hyperlink by removing the bold from the text and adding the URL to the chapter’s individual registration fee questionnaire. This URL will be sent to the chapter by the State Office.

The registration fee questionnaire gives applicants an opportunity to indicate that the standard basic training fee is a financial hardship for them and to choose to pay a lower fee. It also gives applicants the opportunity to indicate that they would like to pay more than the standard fee in order to help others. We have structured the questionnaire to be specific to your chapter and to make it clear that the choices applicants make on the questionnaire will only determine their registration fee, even if it is just the standard fee. If an individual does not fill out the online questionnaire it will be assumed that they are able to pay the standard fee.

Screening Applicants

Chapters should review applications from Better Impact and screen individuals as they normally would. Once the chapter has determined who will be accepted into the training class, they should send the VMN State Office the list of accepted applicants. The VMN State Office will send the chapter the information from the registration fee questionnaire so that the chapter knows how much to charge each applicant.

Chapter Responsibilities for Application/Questionnaire Phase

1. Update the New Volunteer Email Message before opening the application period.

2. Screen applicants as normal and provide a list of accepted applicants to the VMN State Office.

VMN State Office Responsibilities for Application/Questionnaire Phase

1. The VMN State Office will add a question to the chapter’s application on Better Impact that asks the applicant to acknowledge that they understand they will need to complete a separate questionnaire related to the course fee.

2. The VMN State Office will create and maintain an online registration fee questionnaire for each chapter that applicants will fill out to determine their individual training fees.

3. The VMN State Office will share data from the online questionnaire with each chapter in a timely manner as needed during their application period and screening process.

Registration Fee Collection

Fees should be collected after an individual has been accepted as a Trainee or at the first class session, not when the application is filled out. Once an individual is accepted, their acceptance notification should include instructions for how to make their payment and the amount they need to pay based on what they entered in the online questionnaire.

Language for Acceptance emails

Once the chapter has screened applicants and decided who to accept, they can send acceptance emails worded as they normally would. However, the chapter will need to adjust the payment section of the email to include language similar to this suggested statement, but your precise wording may vary:

“Your training course fee will be $XX. The fee needs to be paid by [INSERT DATE] and you can pay that by [INSERT INSTRUCTIONS].”

Ensuring Privacy and Equal Treatment

The basic training fee paid by an individual, whether lower or higher than the standard fee, should not be shared among chapter members. The only people who really need to know are the selection committee and the treasurer. The selection committee will know because they have to include the amount in the applicant’s acceptance email and the Treasurer will need to know the amounts to expect from each person to be able to mark them paid.

Once the fees are paid and the class comes together, there is no need to discuss how much anyone paid. Everyone in the class should be treated equally as current trainees for the chapter.

Chapter Responsibilities for Registration Fee Collection Phase

1. Include the training fee amount due in the acceptance email, personalized for each accepted applicant based on the questionnaire data.

2. Collect the training fee from accepted individuals.

3. Ensure privacy and equal treatment; do not share information about what applicants indicated they could or could not pay.

Reporting and Reconciling

Once the chapter has completed their basic training course, the State Office asks that the chapter complete the Google Sheet that was originally provided to the chapter with the trainee’s chosen fees. This Google Sheet collects several pieces of data:

• Did each trainee graduate?

• Did everyone pay their fees?

• If an individual didn’t finish the course, was a refund issued?

• If an individual didn’t finish the course, do we know why?

Collecting this data will help the State Office track if Variable Pricing is helping reduce financial barriers. If a chapter feels that they have incurred a significant loss due to too many trainees choosing to pay lower fees, then a conversation with the State Office will be scheduled to discuss next steps and the chapter will be required to fill out the Google Sheet before that meeting.

Chapter Responsibilities for the Reporting Phase

1. Fill out the Google Sheet with graduation and fee collection and/or refund information.

2. Inform the State Office if they want to have a meeting to discuss a significant financial loss.

VMN State Office Responsibilities for the Reporting Phase

1. Review the chapter’s Google Sheet data.

2. Schedule and attend any meeting requested by a chapter.