I belong to 2 guilds, one with about 125 members the other with about 30 members. The smaller guild is more to my liking. They quilt together every meeting and someone presents a new item and then they make it. The have an informal day retreat about every six months. It is a very productive meeting. The larger guild has a formal meeting every month and it is a business meeting with a paid speaker for a program. Often the next day is a workshop on the speakers topic. These cost somewhere in the range of $40. There are two retreats a year costing between $140 and $170 for two days. I can buy a lot of material and supplies for that money. We are retired and the fixed income is shrinking by the day. The smaller guild is $18 per year and the larger guild is $30. The smaller guild uses the county fairground buildings for meetings and retreats at $0 cost to the member.