Membership Tiers — Detail

How to read this document. Subscription and dues run through WooCommerce; what's described below is (a) which subscription tier each member buys and (b) the profile-role attributes the BuddyBoss/member system layers on top. The two are independent: subscription tier governs billing and entitlements; profile role controls public-directory visibility, post-nominal display, and program access. See programs/certification/README.md for the full Student / Certified Member / GPS L1 milestone framing and programs/certification/appeals-and-revocation.md for what changes when a sanction modifies either.

Friend of the Guild

• Audience: Anyone interested in the Guild's mission
• WooCommerce subscription tier: None (free, no member account required)
• Profile role: Friend of the Guild
• Benefits: Newsletter, public articles, podcast
• Public directory listing: No
• Co-op (Guild Collective) eligibility: No
• Voting rights: None

Community Education tier

• Audience: Working professionals, students, and anyone pursuing cannabis education
• WooCommerce subscription tier: Community Education ($49/month or $499/year)
• Profile role: Student. Members on this tier may additionally hold the GPS L1 milestone badge on their profile if they have completed the Guild's GPS L1 verification (see milestone note below).
• Eligibility: 18+, attestation of interest in the cannabis profession
• Benefits: Coursework access, member events, member Zoom, quarterly virtual meetups, community forum
• Public directory listing: No (internal directory only)
• Co-op (Guild Collective) eligibility: No (reserved for Full Membership)
• Voting rights: Limited (attend AGM, advisory voice)

Full Membership tier

• Audience: Credentialed, verified Certified Ganjier (CG) holders
• WooCommerce subscription tier: Full Membership ($49/month or $499/year)
• Profile role: Certified Member
• Eligibility: Hold a current, verified Certified Ganjier credential (issued by the Ganjier program, recognized by the Guild — see decisions/ADR-0008-guild-does-not-issue-credentials.md) + active Full Membership subscription in WooCommerce + attest to the Guild Code of Ethics + complete Guild onboarding.
• Benefits: Public-directory listing (opt-in), voting rights, post-nominal "CG" within Guild contexts, advanced CE, regional chapters, member referral network, eligibility for the Guild Collective (the Maine cooperative).
• Public directory listing: Yes — opt-in (members choose whether to be listed publicly; the internal directory always lists everyone regardless)
• Co-op (Guild Collective) eligibility: Yes
• Voting rights: Full (vote in board elections; eligible to run after 1 year)

Additional tiers (educator, business, industry partner) are under consideration but not yet adopted. Final tier structure and pricing is decided by the founding board.

GPS L1 milestone badge

GPS L1 is a milestone badge displayed on a member's profile, not a credential class and not a subscription product. It signifies that the Guild has verified the member's completion of the Ganjier Profile Standard Level 1 assessment.

• Who can hold it: Anyone on the Community Education tier (Student) or the Full Membership tier (Certified Member). A Friend of the Guild does not hold the badge because they don't have a member profile.
• What it changes: Profile display only — the badge appears next to the member's name in the internal directory, in member hubs, and (for Certified Members who opt in) in the public directory.
• What it does NOT change: subscription tier, dues, voting rights, public-directory eligibility, or Co-op eligibility. A Student with a GPS L1 badge is still a Student.
• Persistence: A member who later earns CG and moves to the Full Membership tier keeps the GPS L1 badge as a historical milestone — it is not replaced or hidden.
• Removal: Only through the appeals/revocation process (see programs/certification/appeals-and-revocation.md §5, sanction S4) or voluntarily by request. Routine subscription lapse does not remove the badge.

Continuing education for Certified Members

Certified Members on the Full Membership tier complete a 2-year recertification cycle of 20 CE hours, distributed across categories. See programs/certification/recertification.md for the full SOP including grace periods, lapse handling, and reinstatement.

Category	Minimum hours per 24-month cycle
Ethics	4
Sensory	4
Cultivation / processing	4
Hospitality / retail	4
Elective	4
Total	20

Plus an annual ethics attestation.

Lapsed Full Membership subscriptions enter a 90-day grace period during which Certified Member benefits remain active. After grace, the member's WooCommerce subscription downgrades and their profile role moves to Student per the recertification SOP. Reinstatement to Certified Member requires Institute confirmation that the underlying CG credential is still in good standing plus Guild-side recertification.