Membership Benefits

Individual member bonus payments

Any member of Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) who helps renew memberships or recruit new members is eligible for the Individual Member Bonus Program. A recruiting member will receive $7.50 for every one-year membership and $12 for every two- or three-year membership. This applies to both new and renewing memberships. To encourage the recruitment of new members, each recruiting member will receive an additional $3 for new members recruited.

Incentive payments are mailed to recruiting members in the spring of the following year after all memberships have been processed and annual MFU membership is certified.

Do you need a membership book? MFU has updated membership slips to include additional information needed to process payments. Please contact the office to receive your up-to-date membership books and track your recruitment.

Rider program

Any recruiting member who accompanies a MFU staff member on recruiting visits is eligible to earn the incentive fees as outlined in the Individual Member Bonus Program. Riding with another MFU member also makes you eligible for the Individual Member Bonus Program. There is nothing better than working with friends, building membership, and getting recognition and some extra cash.

We welcome members to work with staff and other MFU members to recruit new members and to encourage current members to renew.

On the bottom of the membership slip, make sure to add your name as the rider! This is how MFU staff tracks your incentive payments from the Individual Member Bonus Program.

National Farmers Union Membership Awards

MFU members who actively recruit new members are eligible for awards from National Farmers Union: the Blue Star and Silver Star. You can earn points towards these Star awards each time you sign up a new member or get a lapsed member to renew, plus get other gifts along the way. Here are the awards:

• 10 points – Farmers Union logo cap
• 15 points – Farmers Union shirt
• 20 points – $100 credit toward any Farmers Union event registration: state or national convention, camp, Fly-in or other educational program
• 25 points – $200 Cabela’s gift card
• 40 points – The Blue Star Award! Blue Star lapel pin and a $350 Cabela’s gift card
• 50 points – The Silver Star Award! The historic Silver Star lapel pin for outstanding leadership in membership recruitment, plus a $500 credit toward any Farmers Union event registration or $350 Cabela’s gift card.

Here’s how the point system works:
• One-year renewals: 1/2 point
• One-year new memberships: 1 point
• Multi-year membership renewals: 1/2 point per year renewed
• New multi-year membership: 1 point per year signed up for

All awards are based on membership recruitment conducted between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of each year. MFU staff are not eligible to participate in these programs.

More information is available here.

To participate in any of the above programs, please contact Bruce Miller at bruce@mfu.org or Laura Sherar at laura@mfu.org. Membership forms and materials will be sent to you.

For the 2019 recruitment cycle, you must send your form to the MFU State Office by Jan. 3, 2020 to be eligible for awards.