I would have the board vote on $5 Not $25 Thats a lot of money!!!

If someone makes a deposit and doesn't show who gets the deposit...organizer or shop or the teacher who prepared but has one less student.

The quilt guild that I belong to requires a $10 deposit, which you lose if you don't show up and fail to cancel within one week. There are very good reasons for this requirement. Teachers cost a lot of $$, which is paid by the guild. The deposit guarantees people will show up to justify the cost to the guild. It seems fair to me.

I'm not understanding what kind of 'classes' have no limits and don't need preregistration? Are these lectures or trunk shows, not hands-on sewing? Even if the teacher is a guild member, they still need a minimum number of people there to run the class. ALL of our guild workshops have fees (minimum $25) and require preregistration - and it works very well!

There usually is a waiting list and if the next person on the list can take your place perhaps you could negotiate the deposit issue with her.

To pay a deposit not to get back for a free class with no limited seating? It seems the program chair is a little too full of herself.

Most teachers require a fee and travel expenses, as someone said this can be quite expensive for a guild to put on and have no shows, this guarantees they are not out a lot of money paying for the teacher. 25 dollars is really not that much as some teachers fees can be into the hundreds and if they are traveling out of state you also have to pay travel fees if its a well known teacher. I have seen some of the fees of some of my favorite quilters to teach workshops and guilds, they can be even in the thousands. Believe me there are expenses they can't recoup if you and several others decide not to show, and what is the true likelihood of an emergency. Even at a quilt show there is a date you can get a refund by, but it is not the day of and then you are out even more than 25 dollars

This is a good plan, but if everyone did this, then the class would not be held, because no one made a commitment to attend. I am not sure what the solution is. It sounds like scheduling classes and getting people to show up for them has been a problem with this guild, as it is in our guild and so many others. The reality of it is, that the only way to get people to commit to showing up for something, is to involve money. There is a lot of work involved in prepping to teach a class. For guild member who is not getting paid to teach, their only reward is to have other members show up and enjoy the day.

Money that is non-refundable is a fee. A deposit is returned if criteria is met.

I totally agree with the fee. My Guild does the same thing, No refunds. Too many people want to hold a spot then, there isn't enough to pay for the space or the speaker or to find someone else to fill the spot. It blocks others out of attending. If the fee is non refundable, only those that are truly interested in showing up sign up. I have heard of people getting their fee back if they cancel well ahead of the class time and there is a waiting list. But that's a rare exception, not a rule. That way the Guild doesn't have to pay for the empty spots.