James (Jim) Davis Jan 17, 2012:

:)) ...

irenef (asker) Jan 17, 2012:

How about "membership dues"? Short and sweet. :-)

Adrian MM. (X) Jan 16, 2012:

voluntary membership fee I pay a VMF - voluntary membership fee - myself to an orgnisation in London, suggesting fee in 3 letters is not necessarily compulsory www.aydc.org/documents/AYDC_membership_dues_form.pdf

James (Jim) Davis Jan 16, 2012:

The problem isn't with contributo in Italian Tom but with "contribution" in English. Here "a carico" means it is compulsory. With the word contribution in English you would have to make sure "a carico" was translated in such a way as to make the complusory nature of the payment clear. The term fee does it all in three letters, pay up or lose membership. Of course, it has to be checked against the context.

Adrian MM. (X) Jan 16, 2012:

Reply to Jim - compulsory contributions OK. Italian isn't one of my core-lingos, so I'm afraid I use - not rely on - Dizionario Garzanti as a crutch in affirming that a contribution can be compulsorily chargeable to the members: contributo: somma dovuta a un ente pubblico o *privato*- Contributi obbligatori vs. voluntari: *compulsory* vs. voluntary contribs.; - previdenziale: soc. sec. contrib. - contributi *a carico del* datore di lavore vs. lavoratore: employer's vs. employee's contribs. ; contributi sindacali: union dues. PS contribuzione (contributo) imposta - levy, tax, tribute.

James (Jim) Davis Jan 16, 2012:

Hi Tom Contribution is almost a way out, but here we have "a carico degli associati" which meant that they *must* pay, while a contribution or a donation is voluntary, this contributo is not. Financially I'd say its a fee, a price to be paid for something which looks like membership.

Adrian MM. (X) Jan 16, 2012:

Contributo Should mean contribution and not really fee. Coincidentally, there is in the UK doubt about the legal status of contributions to an unincorporated association. On disappearance or dissolution of the assoc., the funds contributed belong either to 1. (non-proprietary) the assoc. itself 2. (proprietary) the members at the time of the demise 3. the head (Chairman/woman) of the Assoc.

James (Jim) Davis Jan 16, 2012:

Prego :) ..,

irenef (asker) Jan 16, 2012:

They organise awareness-raising and lobbying campaigns.
As for "contributo", I think they refer to membership fees so I'll either use the actual term "fees" or just be vague and leave it as "contribution". Cheers

James (Jim) Davis Jan 16, 2012:

Then it is a voluntary organisation which is predominantly operational and does not have any substantial capital assets (there is actually a term for these in Italian which escapes me right now) and any money donated is immediately put to good use. This "contributo" is probably better translated by "donation". However, you can't translate this blind. You need to know what they do. Looks like they do soup kitchens for the homeless, but could even be a chess club.

irenef (asker) Jan 16, 2012:

Jim, I'll paste a a few more paragraphs, FYI.

L’Associazione non ha fini di lucro neppure indiretto e si propone di svolgere attività di utilità sociale a favore degli associati e di terzi nel pieno rispetto della libertà e dignità degli associati.

L’Associazione per il perseguimento dei propri fini istituzionali si avvale prevalentemente delle attività prestate in forma volontaria, libera e gratuita dagli associati.

E' vietata la distribuzione anche indiretta di proventi delle attività tra gli associati, nonché di avanzi di gestione, fondi o riserve durante la vita dell’associazione.

If there is an "operational surplus", it will NOT be distributed among members. Do members receive services from the organisation? They could do, I guess. However, most members contribute their services on a voluntary basis.

Thanks so much for your help.

James (Jim) Davis Jan 16, 2012:

Hi Irene The phrase "non ha carattere patrimoniale" simply means it is current and not long term. It will get spent. It goes into profit and loss accounts. That is why I asked what kind of association it is, what do they spend the money on. Who are the members? If the members receive services from the organisation and their fees pay for the services, then this makes near perfect sense. That would mean that any profit remaining at the end of the year could not go into capital account, but would have to be spent in some way. It could be distributed as a discount of future services or even in cash or something. Perhaps they just mean that it does not constitute a capital investment for the members, but I would understand it as not constituting capital for both members and the organisation too.

irenef (asker) Jan 16, 2012:

Hi Jim, this seems to be a standard paragraph used in many by-laws of non-profit organisations. I suspect it has to do with fiscal matters (issuing invoices for or payint tax on membership fees, for example). Here, "contributo" seems to refer to membership fees. I just can't get round this one. Do you think it means that these fees are not part of the association's assets?
I hope I'm making sense.

James (Jim) Davis Jan 16, 2012:

More context would be useful. What does the organisation do? Who are the members?. This "contributo" must consist of payments made by members. What is the money used for?