On Monday Susan Fox, the founder and director of Park Slope Parents, sent out an FAQ about the group's recent decision to institute a yearly membership fee of $25 per year.

Sad to say it's just more fodder for the snarky bloggers at Gawker to have fun at Park Slope Parent's expense. See Park Slope Parents Fee Battle Threatens to Spiral Into All Out Yuppie War.

Members of Park Slope Parents have had a mixed reaction to the fee. There has been much heated debate about this on the list serve. Some members don't like the idea of having to pay to be part of an online community saying that it's the members that make it what it is. But it does take time and money to run an online community like PSP. Since its inception, PSP has been an extremely labor-intensive, all-volunteer effort by Fox and other key players. They have considered advertising and sponsorship but have concluded that that is more invasive than asking the membership to pitch in. 

To explain PSP's reasons for wanting to institute a fee, Fox decided it was time to answer the questions that were being fired her way. The entire FAQ is too long to post here but this excerpt will give you an idea of what's there.

I will, however, include her answer to one question: How will the money be spent: "The primary use of the money we raise through membership fees will be used to pay salaries for the current Park Slope Parents staff (Susan Fox and Rachel Maurer as well as other staff whom we hope will be hired),and to pay for the website fees and for costs associated with in-person events."

Sounds reasonable to me. And $2 a month isn't a lot to ask for the resource that Park Slope Parents is.

Dear PSP Members,

We'd like to thank the members of Park Slope Parents for their support,
patience, and tough questions during this time of transition. One of the
things that Park Slope Parents has been known for is our ability to
disagree without name-calling and personal attacks.  Many of you have
been taken aback by the news of the membership fee. Many of you are
angry and would imagine from the posts that some of you feel hurt as
well. For that we are sorry, since as fellow parents (and in many cases
friends) our desire is to be ever-supportive of each other.

We've incorporated your questions, concerns and ideas into the following
FAQ to help you better understand our thinking behind the decisions
we've made. We want to assure you that the decision to have a membership
fee was not one that was taken lightly. We understand and accept that
not everyone agrees with our decision, and, in fact, the Park Slope
Parents Advisory group was not unanimous about this decision either.
With a group as large as ours we had to come up with a workable
solution, which meant making tough choices. We spent over 3 years
deliberating it, trying other options, doing research, reading articles,
and looking at other models that do and don't work.

It is clear from the number of posts about the fee that the organizers
of Park Slope Parents have done a great job of making the day to day
operations of Park Slope Parents appear effortless. In general,
potential members apply, get accepted, send and receive emails with very
little contact from those who keep the list moving and messages flowing.
Why, if done mostly by volunteers, does this need to be financially
supported? We hope this document will help answer that question.

To move the discussion forward on the list we that people carefully read
the FAQs before commenting further. Also feel free to email us at our
feedback [at] parkslopeparents.com address if you want to send us a
personal message. If you do post to the list, please indicate that you
have read the FAQs.

We cannot stress enough that we feel the new membership fee will allow
Park Slope Parents to continue to thrive with the high level of
integrity and professionalism that Park Slope Parents members have come
to know.

FAQs TABLE OF CONTENTS
-How is the money going to be spent?
-Why not just have a big fundraiser instead of a fee?
-Why not just sell advertising, sell more commercial posts, or charge
more for commercial posts?
-Why isn't Park Slope Parents a not-for-profit entity?
-Why $25?
-How many will join?  Doesn't 13,000 members = $325,000?
-Why not just do less?
-Online communities should be free. It's the members that make it what
it is. Why are you charging for something that someone else will provide
for free?
-Will the new membership fee change the character of Park Slope Parents?
-What about a Trial membership for new members who do not know the value
of the NEW Park Slope Parents?
-Can I volunteer instead of paying a fee?
-What do I get for my membership?
-What about Yahoo! Groups Terms of Service? Do they allow us to charge?
-What about my posts?  Don't I own all my posts?
-How will this new membership fee work?
-What if the membership fee doesn't ultimately work?