Welcome to the only people-powered ecosocialist, feminist, anti-racist, and anticapitalist political party and membership organization in North Carolina. The Green Party refuses all corporate contributions, so dues-paying members play a vital role ensuring our state and local organizations have the resources needed to build the party. We hope you consider becoming a member.
Who Can Become a Member of the North Carolina Green Party (NCGP)?
North Carolina residents who are registered to vote as "Green" are eligible to become members of the NCGP if they have (1) affirmed Green Party principles (see our 10 Key Values and Platform), and (2) initiated payment of dues, setting their own dues rate using a budget-friendly sliding scale. You choose your own dues level on the honor system, based on what you can pay. Note: Residents who are ineligible to vote due to state disenfranchisement (including but not limited to reasons such as age, criminal record, or noncitizen/undocumented status) may also become members. If you feel you are ineligible to vote due to disenfranchisement, please email the NCGP Membership Chair at [email protected] .
All NCGP members, with the exception of noncitizens, shall pay modest annual dues. The minimum dues required are $12 a year ($1 a month), per Section III.c.i. of the NCGP Bylaws. The NCGP recommends $12 a year for those experiencing extraordinary financial hardship.
How Do I Sign Up?
We’ve set up the following options to make participation as easy as possible. Click on one of the following three:
1. Monthly Online Payment (click here): Register online and set up an online recurring dues payment. Monthly online payments are our preferred method of dues. It's easier this way for you to keep current and for us to forecast our income.
2. Onetime Online Payment (click here): Register online and set up an online onetime dues payment.
3. Onetime Mail-In Payment (click here): Download a PDF form and mail in your registration with a check or money order.
Please check our FAQ section below, or contact the NCGP treasurer at [email protected].
NCGP Dues Tiers
Members determine their own level of dues based on income or ability to pay. Our suggested dues rates are as follows:
• $5 a month or $60 a year (for annual incomes under $30K)
• $10 a month or $120 a year (for annual incomes from $30K to $50K)
• $15 a month or $180 a year (for annual incomes from $50K to $100K)
• $20 a month or $240 a year (for annual incomes over $100K)
NCGP on Social Media
Connect with us on our Official Facebook Page and Twitter for our events and news
- North Carolina Green Party (our main statewide NCGP Facebook group)
- Charlotte Area (Charlotte, Gastonia, Salisbury, Mooresville, Concord)
- Eastern NC (Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, Greenville, Wilmington/Cape Fear, Outer Banks)
- Triad (Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, Burlington)
- Triangle (Chapel Hill/Orange County, Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest)
- Western NC (Asheville, Hendersonville, Boone, Cullowhee)
Frequently Asked Questions About NCGP Membership
1. Why dues? Why require them? Being a Green isn’t about money.
We created a separate page called Why Does the NCGP Require Dues? for this very question. But to summarize: In order to budget what’s needed for strong Green campaigns and activism—web hosting, printed literature, design and tech support staff, transportation, event space—we need Greens to step up and commit to paying dues. Time and again, dues have been the means through which organized labor and other people-powered movements have pulled together the resources to make serious change happen. This is a chance for Greens to affirm their values beyond checking a box on their voter registration forms. And finally, you set your own dues level according to what you can pay. Our minimum dues requirements are very modest.
2. What happens with my dues? Who gets the cash?
Your dues go toward the operating budget of the NCGP, which is overseen by the party treasurers and the NCGP Coordinating Committee—and the operating budget is voted on once a year by party members at our statewide meetings. These dues will be used to pay NCGP expenses such as meeting venues, online infrastructure, activism and campaign initiatives, flyers and publications for Green outreach, educational initiatives, and the funding and growth of local chapters. Our party officers are all volunteers—dues don't go into their wallets. But we do need to be able to pay NCGP members for certain work occasionally. In the past, we've paid members to perform phonebanking, organizing, and other party-building work. When you pay dues, you’re supporting the Green movement at the state and local levels.
3. What authorizes you to set up this program?
NCGP members affirmed party Bylaws at a statewide meeting in December 2016 that include a provision for a dues/membership program. Contrary to what some people might tell you, dues are perfectly legal for a political party.
4. How are members counted toward representation in the NCGP?
While anyone can donate to the party and observe our statewide meetings, only members are allowed to vote at the statewide meetings of the NCGP, in local chapters of the NCGP, and on statewide proposals brought before members via our email list. Only party members can become officers of the NCGP's Coordinating Committee. Only NCGP members can in turn become members and officers of local/regional chapters.
5. How is being a member different from donating?
We appreciate and need donations in addition to dues, but becoming a member is a greater commitment. We're asking Greens to come together as an organized base and build a party that can fight against the two major capitalist parties and their corporate donors who are violating our neighborhoods, our economies, and the environment. We’re asking you to commit to a regular dues payment so we can rely on funding from the 99% to build a party of the 99%. We hope you'll consider donating to NCGP and candidate fundraising drives as well, but your dues are the bedrock of the NCGP budget.
6. Aren’t you worried about people buying influence in the party?
We limit membership to Greens. By setting up a broad base of working-class, dues-paying Greens, we'll never be dependent on big-money donors. Look at the two major parties: We all know influence is bought and sold in those parties, but it's not because of dues; they don't have dues. The two capitalist parties have no true membership structure, and without a membership base, their party officers and their candidates aren't accountable to the rank-and-file; instead they're accountable to big-money and corporate interests. Dues ensure that each member has an equal stake and an equal voice in the Green Party, no matter the amount of dues they're paying.
7. My local chapter of the NCGP requires dues, and so I'm already paying dues there. Am I still required to pay dues to the state party? Why?
Yes, even if you already pay dues to a local chapter of the NCGP, it's required that you also pay dues to the NCGP to become an NCGP member. In fact, you must be a member of the NCGP to become a member of a local chapter. Here's why: For one, the state party helps fund the local chapters. So we need local chapters committed to our state party's principles and goals—such as achieving ballot access and running candidates at all levels, including president—so that as we grow we remain focused on building the type of party we set out to create in the first place. When you're deciding how much dues to pay to the NCGP, please take into consideration how much you pay to your local chapter, then pay an amount to the NCGP that works for you.
8. I am registered to vote for the Green Party in North Carolina. So now I'm an NCGP member, right?
Thank you for registering to vote Green! Green voter registration and Green Party membership are separate things, though, so a registered Green voter is not necessarily an NCGP member. Green voter registration is classified and governed by the state, while Green Party membership is classified and governed by us, the members of the North Carolina Green Party. 🌻 We believe that party membership in a grassroots, people-powered party has got to entail more than simply registering to vote a particular way. Members of the NCGP pay party dues and affirm party values, while people who register to vote Green with the state do not necessarily affirm our party values or pay dues, and we have no control over that. Are you ready to go from registered Green voter to dues-paying NCGP member? You can sign up to be a member and pay dues above on this page. Note: You can register to vote Green only at times during which the State Board of Elections has recognized the Green Party as an official party. (When the State Board of Elections does not recognize the Green Party as an official party, NCGP members eligible to vote must be registered as Unaffiliated.) As of August 2022, the State Board recognizes the Green Party after we successfully sued them, and so you can register Green at this time.
9. I want to register to vote Green so I can become a member of the NCGP. How can I register for the first time or change my voter registration?
Whether you're registering to vote for the first time or modifying your current registration, you can register to vote Green only at times during which the State Board of Elections has recognized the Green Party as an official party. As of August 2022, the State Board recognizes the Green Party, so you can register Green at this time.
10. I'm not eligible to vote. Can I still be an NCGP member?
The short answer is yes—even if you are ineligible to vote due to laws that disenfranchise people (including but not limited to age, criminal record, and noncitizen / undocumented status) of that right, you may still become an NCGP member, provided that you are a North Carolina resident and affirm Green principles and pay dues. However, if you are a youth, you must be at least 14 to join the NCGP, and if you are not a US citizen, you can become of member but cannot legally pay dues or donate to the NCGP, so your dues are waived. Email the NCGP Membership Chair at [email protected] if you are ineligible to vote due to state disenfranchisement and would like to be a member.