RARES Membership and Employee Discounts

Who we are

RARES is a professional, non-profit organization dedicated to education and promoting the concepts of employee services, human resources benefits development, and recreational programs as an integral factor of sound business management principles. Our association seeks to further the advancement of business conditions by providing discounts on area products and services to Upstate New York-based businesses and organizations as part of their benefits package and by providing educational opportunities to assist our members in their workplace duties. The common bond holding our membership together is a commitment to integrating recreation (and the resulting improvement in physical and mental health) as a vital component within employee benefits programs.

The improvement of business conditions in the manufacturing, research, and service sectors of the upstate economy is a prime component of RARES mission and we work cooperatively with organizations such as area chambers of commerce, business organizations, the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Greater Rochester Visitor's Association to actively improve the business climate of upstate NY.

Our association is comprised primarily of two types of membership. Click on one of the links below to learn more about each type of membership level.:

Associate Members or vendors, who provide benefits to the RARES membership, and
General Members who are the businesses that join to obtain and offer these same benefits voluntarily to their employees. Once a company is approved for memberships, any employee may voluntarily become a member of RARES by accepting our membership card.
Individual/Family Memberships are available as well.

For further information on any of these categories of membership. just click on the red highlighted link.

An investment in RARES is an investment in your professional development, your business, and your employees. It's one of the least expensive and most important investments you can make.

General Members

General membership is designed for businesses or community organizations interested in enhancing, developing, or starting employee services programs within their companies. General membership in RARES is held by a company and will provide ALL employees of your company (and their families) who voluntarily wish to be included with discounts on goods and/or services that are provided by our Associate Member vendors. We currently have over 230 General Member companies with a total employee population of over 334,000 people throughout New York State and the Northeast. Applications for membership are available below.

RARES provides access to group discounts on life insurance, workmen's compensation insurance, auto & home insurance as well as long-term care insurance to its General Member organizations through relationships with select companies.

RARES also hosts a number of seminars throughout the year on topics of interest to the Human Resource and Benefits Community as well as seminars devoted to improving business practices. Many of these seminars award continuing education credit to help our membership in maintaining professional certification standards.

As a General Member, you can opt to receive and retain select discounted tickets at your business on consignment. Employees may purchase the tickets at work for maximum convenience and your RARES Representative periodically reconciles sales with our office. Car wash, all movie tickets, and many amusement park tickets are available on consignment. Alternatively, you may also have your employees obtain all discounted tickets directly through the RARES office (or any combination of the two). RARES strives to offer your company the maximum flexibility in administering your benefits programs.

What are your employees worth to you? Well, here's what a typical employee with a wife and child (family of 3) could easily save in a year with RARES:

ACTIVITY

SAVINGS

Entertainment:

3 trips to the movies ($2.25 savings per ticket for a family of 3 = 9 tickets)

1 trip to an amusement park ($13.24 x 2 savings on an adult ticket at Darien Lake and $7.24 savings on a child's ticket)

$20.25

33.72

Home & Clothing purchases:

$75 purchase at Target.com (10%)

$60 purchase at Shoebuy.com (15%)

Floor lamp at Overstock.com (10%)

$7.50
9.00
9.75

Automobiles:

3 oil changes ($4.09 savings)

8 car washes ($3.37 savings on Super Kiss washes)

Insurance (5-10% savings from Liberty Mutual)

$12.27
26.96
67.00

Sporting Events:

3 baseball tickets (Red Wings reserved seating)

$4.50

On the Town:

A night away from home without the kid at Geva (2 of the best Saturday evening tickets at $43 each - 15% savings)

Nice dinner for 2 at over 130 area restaurants honoring the Taste for Independents Dining Gift Card ($80 meal bill and 5% savings with the Taste card)

$12.90

4.00

Electronics:

New desktop PC from Dell (3 to 12% savings)

$56.00

For the kids . . .

Chairs & table rental from Bob Spatola's Party Rental for your daughter's 13th birthday party

Circus at the BC/BS Arena

Rochester Museum & Science Center ($2 off 2 adult admissions, $1 off child)

$24.00

6.00

5.00

Family Pets:

Heartworm medication from 1800PETMEDS

$6.00

Cleaning:

20% discount from any Staub's and Ben Barnet Cleaners

$25.00

Total Savings

$329.85

And of course, if that employee and his or her family took a trip, they could save at over eight dozen out-of-area amusement parks and ski resorts as well as on hotels, car rentals, cruises, etc. And if they decided to buy or sell their house, they could save THOUSANDS of dollars on real estate commissions (and that applies to buyers, not just sellers), hundreds or thousands on their mortgage costs, and other great savings on their legal costs and homeowners insurance. The above figure is conservative. Realistically, your employees can save many hundreds more, even thousands, each and every year. Multiply these savings by the number of individuals in your company and you can see what a spectacular investment as part of your benefits package that RARES truly is.

Here are a few comments from RARES members about our program:

"I have used my RARES card repeatedly from renewing my Sam’s Club membership to just recently saving $50.00 on a nearly $500.00 car repair bill from Monro Muffler. The $50.00 may not seem like much, but in these difficult economic times I am glad that I was able to keep it in my pocket . . . When I showed [the manager on duty] my card he knew immediately what it was. The 10 percent off coupon from the RARES site was a big help! Thanks again, every few dollars counts." - David Bulin, Globalinx/5Linx Enterprises, Inc.

"I just wanted to thank you for pulling my name out to win the vacation trip to Caesar’s Paradise Stream Resort. I went with a friend last week for our 3 day, 2 night getaway and we had such a wonderful time. The weather was fantastic while we were there. Played golf in our shorts and it was just so beautiful out there on the golf course. So quiet, you could hear the leaves fall off the trees and the colors were wonderful. We did find the outlet mall and the casino. The food was great and all you could eat. So once again I just wanted to thank you for making this trip possible for us." - Rose Martin, Strong Hospital

"We will be renewing for 2010, can’t imagine not having RARES!!!" - Nancy Thompson, Assistant VP Payroll and Benefits, Canandaigua National Bank

"Hi! I just wanted to let you know that by using the link and the discount codes from this email yesterday, I bought $138 dollars worth of items from Old Navy that came to $78.97 with FREE SHIPPING!!!! I just wanted to thank thank thank you! What an awesome deal! Thanks again!" - Caren Epps, Bausch & Lomb

"I really appreciate the follow up on this. You do an amazing job and should be commended for your hard work. I know my little nephews also appreciate it as well J. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!" - Nicholas Schulmerich, Staples NAD

"PS. we booked a hotel room through RARES in the Buffalo area and it was less expensive than Priceline.com, now that's impressive!!!!!" - Donna Pascarella, ACM Medical Labs/Unity Health

General Membership for 2010 is available for a small investment starting at just $85 annually depending upon company size That's just pennies per employee for most organizations to offer your employees dozens of money-saving discounts on area products and services. For smaller organizations, we have kept our dues level the same since 2003 and for all organizations, our dues level has not changed since 2004.

Company Size

2010 Annual Dues (Jan – Dec)

1-25 employees

$85

26 – 349

$235

350 – 999

$250

1,000 - 1,999

$300

2,000 - 2,999

$400

3,000 - 4,999

$450

5,000+ available upon request

Dues may be prorated depending upon the time of year your company joins. See the General Membership Application below for further information.

Fill out the Online General Membership Application here.

General Membership Application - Word .pdf

General Membership Brochure - Word .pdf

RARES Policies & Procedures - Word .pdf

In many instances, all RARES members need to do to receive their discount is show their RARES Membership ID Card (available at no cost from their RARES Representative) at the box office or retail counter. RARES members can save by showing your ID card at over 75 locations - more.

Other discounts require an advance phone call, reservations, online purchases, or purchase of tickets/coupons in advance. Our members are encouraged to consult the RARES web site, contact your company's RARES Representative, or the RARES office on when to obtain discounted tickets or services BEFORE visiting - more.

Please note that the participation of the above organizations and their discounts may change at any time. The RARES web site lists all companies who are presently members of RARES and the current discounts they offer. New members are added frequently so please check the web site for further information on Associate Member Vendors who offer discounts through RARES.

In 2004, RARES entered into a partnership with Iroquois Healthcare and now provides access to RARES discounts to all Iroquois ESP members throughout eastern and southern NY State (approximately 35,000 members).

What follows is a partial listing of those organizations making up the current RARES and Iroquois ESP General Membership. Employees of these organizations are eligible to receive all of the benefits RARES offers including access to all RARES discounts. Please note that this list may not be complete. If you are a member searching for discounts, please utilize the categories you'll find to your right on every page or search alphabetically.

General Member Benefits & Services

Employee discount ticket and consignment programs for a variety of cost-saving services provided for member companies.
Combined strength of a professional organization with goals, interests, and influence in the employee services and recreation field. Networking opportunities.
Seminars featuring presentations by employee services experts and associate members on a variety of issues and trends - more.
Newsletters featuring upcoming events, General and Associate member news and other timely articles.
Increased buying power by representing over 300,000 employees in the Rochester and upstate NY area.
Membership Directory of all General and Associate members.

Associate Members

Associate Membership was created for businesses that offer discounted goods and/or services as well as value added items that benefit or enhance employee programs. These discounts or value adds are offered to the RARES General Membership. For a small annual fee and a discount that you set to drive business, Associate Members can promote their products or services to our more than 334,000 General Members through this web site, a monthly newsletter, and special events such as our annual Vendor Fair (Spring. Applications for membership are available below. Dues paid by associates fund many of our activities including ongoing educational seminars and charitable contributions supporting the local community and activities benefiting children.

It is the goal of RARES to utilize its collective "buying power" to maximize the savings available to its members. Associate Members (also referred to as Vendors) agree to offer RARES members a discount on their goods or services which is greater than the price offered to the general public. In return, Associate members who take advantage of our membership network receive a very attractive marketing opportunity and potential return on their investment.

Please note that RARES accepts NO outside advertising. Any promotions on this web site are placed by and for the benefit of our members only.

RARES is an extremely effective, low-cost method for reaching thousands of individuals in the Rochester area with information about your product or service. In 2010, Associate Membership in RARES is available for just $250 annually. Where else can you reach tens of thousands of individuals on a regular basis with information about your products or services for just a few hundred dollars? RARES membership dues remain at the same level since 2004.

RARES offers you the following a-la-carte membership levels beginning with our preferred Profile Page membership level that will drive hundreds of interested discount seekers to your web page each month by virtue of our ongoing monthly prize giveaway program.

Membership Level

2010 Annual Dues (Jan – Dec)

Associate Membership - Rotating banner ad on the RARES web site (your furnish 460 x 60 pixels), ongoing listing on the RARES web site, periodically featured in the monthly newsletter/and or weekly e-mail communications, plus a Profile Page where appropriate (includes 1-2 pages of dedicated web pages on the RARES web site devoted to your products and services and highlighting your RARES discount).

$250

Entertainment Membership - RARES offers a special rate to restaurants and bed and breakfasts that will accept the RARES ID card at their establishment and another rate for restaurants that publish online coupons on the RARES web site. Please note that this rate is subject to change in the future. $0

Non-Profit/Small Business Associate Membership - (special rate for our not-for-profit members or for small businesses within the geographic area we serve) ongoing listing in the RARES monthly newsletter, featured notice in the newsletter of new or enhanced discounts, standard category listings for your discount along with contact information and links to your web site where applicable

$175

A la carte services . . .
General Membership Directory - Available only to our associate member companies for a small additional fee. The perfect way to reach those company reps in Benefits and HR you want to make contact with. Includes current contact name, CEO name, # of employees, address, telephone, fax & E-mail addresses). The file is available electronically in Microsoft Access, Excel, and HTML formats. Updated regularly. This list is the most up-to-date and well-maintained membership list you will ever purchase.

$75

Our monthly online newsletter is published at the beginning of each month with a distribution of 24,000+ and is available (space permitting) for promoting your program at no extra charge.

The RARES "Consignment Corner Newsletter" is published in the middle of each month and is made available only to RARES Representatives in each member company. This publication allows you to target your promotions directly to HR/Benefits personnel.

RARES web site activity 2005- Present (in millions of hits bi-monthly)
Sep-Oct 2005	Nov-Dec 2005	Jan-Feb 2006	Mar-Apr 2006	May-June 2006	July-Aug 2006	Sep-Oct 2006	Nov-Dec 2006
2.62	3.21	4.41	4.00	4.25	3.59	2.84	3.20

Jan-Feb 2007	Mar-Apr 2007	May-Jun 2007	Jun-July 2007	Aug-Sep 2007	Oct-Nov 2007	Dec-Jan 07/08	Feb-Mar 2008
3.78	2.84	3.2	4.46	3.12	2.92	3.19	3.89

Apr-May 2008	Jun-July 208	Aug-Sep 2008	Oct-Nov 2008	Dec-Jan 08/09	Feb-Mar 2009	Apr-May 2009	Jun-July 2009
4.86	3.25	2.92	3.04	3.19	4.28	3.82	4.92

Aug-Sep 2009	Oct-Nov 2009	Dec-Jan 09/10	Feb-Mar 2010	Apr-May 2010	Jun-July 2010	Aug-Sep 2010	Oct-Nov 2010
3.64	3.18	4.29

Rares membership isn't for everyone, but here are a few comments from RARES Associate Members about our program:

"OMG, my phone rang off the hook today thanks for sending it out so soon. What a great investment!!!" - sent from my Verizon Wireless Blackberry, Tina Servis, Maid 2 Clean Rochester

"I wanted to thank you for your help . . .. We have seen a good number of people come through with the rares cards. It has helped our sales and I would like to thank you for contacting us so we could work together." - Wayne Brockman, Jr., Haunted Houses of Rochester

"I wanted to let you know that I have been invited to the benefits fair at Rotork Controls. I have been pushing [them] to pick up my program for a year and a half, and thanks to RARES, I was finally able to move forward. Your help is greatly appreciated." - Joseph Condidorio, Rochester Optical

"Well I am sure glad we went to the Spring Vendor Fair. I was very surprised. I had no idea what a great partner we had in RARES. I was able to make a lot of great contacts, now we will have to see how it pays off. I am sure we will be a lot more involved with your organization now that I have seen the power you have to generate contacts for us." - Carl Lester, Victor Uno Chicago Grill

"You do such a great job with this! Our [information] looks awesome….thanks for all your help." Elaine Rallo, Corporate Sales Manager, Rochester/Syracuse, Delta Sonic Car Wash Systems

Fill out the Online Associate Membership Application here.

Associate Membership Brochure - Word .pdf

Associate Membership Application - Word .pdf

Membership into RARES puts you among some of the finest corporations in upstate New York. Over 230 General member companies with 334,000+ employees, more than 160 Associate Members, and the numbers are growing rapidly!

For a small additional fee, your company may also become a General Member, whereby your employees also become eligible to receive all of the discounts offered by other RARES Associate Members - allowing you to enhance your own employee benefits and services.

Here is a listing of many of our current Associate Members (Vendors) that offer discounts to RARES members. Please note that you should NOT use this list to avail yourself of current discounts as all links may not connect to the discount offer in question. For information on current discounts, consult the alphabetical listing or search by discount category in the list to your right.

We have removed Golf Rochester Guide from our membership due to inappropriate business practices.

Associate Member Benefits & Services

Membership Directory

The RARES Service Directory is published annually (updated regularly) and available to all General Members. It contains information about each of our Associate Members (vendors) programs and is used as a resource by the General Member Representatives members when they are promoting your program or service to their employees or need answers to often asked questions concerning your program or service (i.e., costs, hours, limitations, etc.)
A complete mailing, e-mail, and telephone list of the RARES representatives within our General Membership population (typically Human Resource Directors and Benefits Specialists) is also available for a small charge to our Associate Members - providing you with an excellent means for creating the opportunity for one-on-one contact.

Newsletters

Our online newsletter is published at the beginning of each month with a distribution of 24,000+ and is available (space permitting) for promoting your program at no extra charge.

The RARES "Consignment Corner Newsletter" is published in the middle of each month and is made available only to RARES Representatives in each member company. This publication allows you to target your promotions directly to HR/Benefits personnel.

Web Site Marketing

RARES also helps you promote your products through our web site. Banner ads, vendor profiles and links to your company's web site are all available. If a RARES member agrees to offer your program they will distribute promotional materials and sell the program to their employees and their families.

We have consistently received over 1.5 hits on our web site each month!

The most successful Associate Members in RARES are those who truly offer a real value and significant discount on their product or service coupled with a good promotional program and a strong desire to work closely with the RARES association and its members.

Vendor Fairs

At least one Vendor Fair is held each year. One is always held in the Spring and one may be held in the Fall, depending upon member demand. This year's Spring Vendor Fair is scheduled for April 2009, at the RIT Inn & Conference Center, and will feature a casino event with The Dealers and educational and professional development seminars for our General Member Representatives. These popular events are an opportunity for Associate Members to showcase their program to our General Members and provide the opportunity to network with General Representatives face-to-face. There is a small fee for participating vendors. The exhibition fee in 2009 is $110 ($85 to early registrants).

Individual/Family General Members

The best way for you to be a member of RARES is to convince the Benefits Manager at your employer to join. In that fashion, you obtain all of the benefits of RARES, don't have to pay, and can enjoy the convenience of purchasing many tickets right at your work place.

But if your employer is not a member of RARES, our Association makes available to individuals and families who are desirous of the educational activities of RARES and of the other employee benefits offered, the chance to join and enjoy all of the benefits for a reasonable price.

Individual/Family General Membership is designed for persons who may be a student in the field of Recreation or Employee Services or for an individual who may work for an employer who is not yet a member of RARES and who can show an affiliation or a relationship with the field of recreation, employee services, or benefits. For one small annual fee, you receive a RARES membership card and ID # which will provide you with access to all of the educational activities that RARES sponsors, more than 380 discounts that RARES members enjoy, and the chance to order discounted attraction tickets directly from the RARES office.

Individual/Family (it's one and the same) General Membership for 2010 is available for just $10. Membership runs from January 1 to December 31 and is not pro-rated (the cost is the same for joining at any time during the year).

Individual Membership Application - Word .pdf

To print this screen correctly, you'll need to set your page layout to landscape by right clicking on your mouse, select the print option, click on the properties button, and then select the page tab.

Brian Mount, Chief Executive Officer

RARES accepts the following types of payment for its online ticket purchases:

	"A non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the buying power of its members."	GoodSearch keywords to search for Web This Site