Corporate Structure

CI Corporate Structure
STRUCTURE OF THE CRYONICS INSTITUTE

CHARTER: The Cryonics Institute was chartered as a Michigan nonprofit corporation in 1976. Its term of existence is “perpetual” – long-term stability is a fundamental objective.

The Articles of Incorporation plainly state that we cryopreserve people in hope of eventual revival. These Articles were reviewed and subsequently approved by the Michigan Attorney General’s office.

CI representatives organized meetings with Clinton Township officials, with our activities clearly understood and approved before purchasing our facility building there.

CI has operated openly for over 40 years, originally in Detroit and now at our secure facility in Clinton Township, MI. Our facility, records and operations are open to the public. Membership information and individual contracts, however, are private based on the individual member’s preferences.

NONPROFIT COOPERATIVE: CI is a membership organization — a cooperative in which the members work together for mutual benefit, with the welfare of patients and prospective patients the paramount concern. The members set basic policy, and elect directors and officers. CI hosts, at a minimum, one Annual General Meeting (AGM) per year open to all Members. Additional meetings may be called for specific purposes by the Board of Directors. Members also receive annual financial statements and other updates and reports from the organization.

Officers and Directors have never been paid for being Officers or Directors, in line with our policy of getting maximum benefit from volunteer help. We hope for, and encourage, any assistance members can provide; but no member is compelled or required to contribute work. If the patient load and general work load become too heavy, our reliance on unpaid help could be modified. Currently we have two full time paid employees.

FEES, DUES, RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES: The membership fee for Lifetime Membership remains at $1,250 for an individual, or $1,875 for two in the same household — additional close family members at $625 each if they join at the same time. There is no additional fee for minor children. For Yearly Membership, dues are $120 per year or $35 per quarter after a $75 initiation fee. Every member of a household, whatever age, must become a Yearly CI Member if a family desires that all family members are to be Yearly Members of the Cryonics Institute.

The membership fees confer eligibility to execute a Cryonic Suspension Agreement for human cryopreservation as well as eligibility to cryopreserve a pet or tissue/DNA sample. Membership fees are not refundable, whether paid in whole or in part; they constitute one of CI’s’s sources of capital, used for such things as equipment and research.

For voting rights, a member must have a contract executed and funded. Yearly members have voting rights after three years, as long as their dues are up to date.

For information about becoming a Lifetime or Yearly Cryonics Institute Member, see Membership.