The OGSA is an all-volunteer 501c3 non-profit association, and membership dues are the primary source of support for the OGSA's operations, research library, quarterly journals and other member benefits. Some of those include:
• Free access to the Minnesota Genealogical Society Library, containing OGSA's collection
• Discounts on Ostfriesen Ortsippenbuchs (OSBs) and other research materials, some that are solely distributed in the US by OGSA
• Discounts on many resources developed by or translated by our members, exclusively available through the OGSA
• Opportunities to participate in OGSA social and educational activities throughout the year and at our conferences
• Discounted rates on research requests
• Support for the development and preservation of information about our ancestral Ostfriesen heritage and culture
We strive to keep our membership costs low through volunteers' efforts and good organizational oversight. To help accomplish this, we offer membership options that allow online journal access or postal mailed options. The online journals are provided in pdf format, allowing the use of color photos while mailed journals are printed in black and white.
Membership renewals are due by December 1 to allow timely issuance of new year mailings and the first quarter journal. Please pay early, if possible, and contact us if paying for your renewal would be a hardship this year.
We offer new and renewed
memberships on-line. You can also download our membership form as a
fillable pdf and mail it to us here if you prefer.
Membership Options
Our membership options include:
1. Membership with electronic journals which can be downloaded from this website, USA or worldwide - $22 annually.
2. Membership with mailed journals within the USA and online access - $32 annually.
3. Joint memberships with two people in a household. We will only mail one copy of printed journals if you select this option but either member can download them.
Quarterly journals are scheduled to be available the first of January, April, July, and October. Click on the Journals link to access the editions stored on the site.
You can check the
Surname Research database in the Members section of this website to identify other researchers who may have a shared interest in your families or communities.
Membership in OGSA is not just for you, it is also for your friends and family. A membership makes a great birthday or holiday gift, and your generosity will be appreciated throughout the year.
Membership Renewals
This system will automatically provide a prompt for your membership renewal 60 days in advance of the expiration date when you log into your account. We will also send you an email in advance as a reminder. You can renew online if desired or mail your renewal to us.
We are cancelling the PayPal autopay renewals since this new system also uses PayPal but it automates the manual steps in the renewal process. This should help us to reduce the possibility for errors to occur in the process so that we can more effectively support you.
Thank you for supporting the OGSA!
