Red Hat Society

Who Are We?

What is the Red Hat Society?

The Red Hat Society is the largest international social organization for women, dedicated to making the world a better place for our members by actively promoting and supporting fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment and fitness for each individual, as well as demonstrating the value and contributions of women to society at large. Together Red Hat Society (RHS) Members are reshaping the way women are viewed in today's culture. RHS is a place where women are royalty every day, a place where women open their hearts to share, support and care for one another and a place where fun reigns supreme.

While we value the individuality of every woman, we also recognize that each of us is an essential part of something larger - a movement that is opening the doors to a better tomorrow for women of all ages. We are committed to helping each Member discover the joyful freedom to be found in womanhood. Every Member enters a community that will be there for her as she enters a new stage in life. Every Member can expect to be welcomed into our sisterhood, and together we will extend a hand of friendship to women around the globe.

Mission Statement

We are a global society that connects, supports and encourages women in their pursuit of fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment and fitness.

• Fun - we celebrate life at every age and stage
• Friendship - we solidify and support the expansion of the bonds of sisterhood
• Freedom - we discover and explore new interests and renew abandoned ones
• Fulfillment – we realize our personal potential
• Fitness - we embrace healthy, life-lengthening lifestyles

By maintaining a thriving social networking community, and offering a variety of services and group experiences, the Red Hat Society supports our Members to get the most out of life.

What do Members of the Red Hat Society do?

We enjoy a variety of fun connections online and gather in groups called chapters. With a wink in their eye, our leaders claim the royal title of Queen. We choose clever nicknames for ourselves, don regalia of red hats and purple attire for those ladies 50 and above or pink hats and lavender attire for those ladies under 50 and do exactly whatever it is that we want to do! We go to movies, the theater, window-shopping or grape stomping. We attend the RHS International Convention and events put on by other chapters. We do lunch, have teas or gather in our homes. We dress up or down. We do any activity we find interesting from NASCAR to Pirate parties.

There are as many different kinds of chapters as there are women in the society. Some may meet in the daytime, other working members may choose to gather on the weekends or at night. If you wish, once you are a member of the RHS, you may find a local chapter at your leisure.

An Overview of our Membership

Our membership model is simple. Chapter Queen Membership is $39 per year (US dollars), which gives her entitlement to have a RHS Chapter and be the Queen, complete with a charter, inclusion on the Queen to Queens Newsletter email list, access to online chapter management tools, and includes her own Supporting Membership. Each Hatter becomes a Supporting Member for $20 a year (US dollars), which includes these Hatquarters, provided benefits:

• One full year of membership in the best women's group ever, the Red Hat Society!
• One personalized Supporting Membership card
• A unique custom RHS keepsake
• Regular communication from Hatquarters, including, but not limited to:
  • Weekly Friday broadcast email
  • Quarterly digital Red Hatter Matters magazine
• 10% Discount at the redhatsocietystore.com
• All pertinent benefits and discounts available
• Full access to various website features, such as:
  • Activities Collection
  • Contact Chapter
  • Event Calendar
  • Friday Broadcast archive
  • Fun downloads
  • Generations of Hatters
  • Grand Online Magazine
  • Invite-a-Friend
  • Past Event Photos
  • Queen Member Board and QMB2
  • Question of the month
  • REDuation Class
  • Smart Hatter Guide to the Website
  • Virtual Tour of Hatquarters
• Other privileges and promotions which may be subject to change
• Royal invitation to all Red Hat Society sponsored events
• The right to use the Red Hat Society chapter logo on member materials (subject to guidelines in the Red Hat Society Logo Usage Policy)
• A year's worth of unlimited support from Hatquarters and Members, ideas, and connections with thousands of like-minded women, worldwide, for fun and friendship

All membership fees are invested back into the society to provide unique custom member materials, to run the day-to-day operations, and promote our member mission of Fun, Friendship, Freedom, Fulfillment and Fitness. Due to these circumstances, RHS membership fees are non-refundable.

How To Get Started:

To Future Queens:
Once your chapter is registered, you'll gather your court. It's easy to attract members to your chapter. If you select your chapter to be "open to new members," we will automatically forward emails from Supporting Members wishing to join your group. Kindly answer these requests promptly. These referrals may be stopped at any time by a selection in your profile.

Another way to attract Supporting Members is through personal referrals. Let's say you meet a lady that you wish to add to your chapter. Simply give her your chapter ID number and direct her to sign up online under HOW TO JOIN on the homepage of the RHS website. More options to add members are explained in our Queen Handbook which you will receive as part of your start-up information.

Most Supporting Members of the RHS start hatting online as part of our Hatquarters virtual Chapter ID #1 – Ruby RedHat's Ramblers (Ruby's). Some will choose to remain as a Ruby's member and take advantage of many of our online connections and events. They may also choose to align with a local chapter and play with other chapters at their events which are found on our website. Their membership covers it all!

To Future Supporting Members:
Finding a chapter: Once you are a Supporting Member, you have choices! You may choose to remain as a Supporting Member of the main RHS Chapter ID #1 Ruby's RedHat Ramblers (Ruby's) and enjoy online connections and events or you may align with a local chapter. You may also enjoy a combination of both by aligning with a local chapter and playing with other chapters at their events which may be found on our website. The choice is yours!

Before you join, please take the opportunity to check our website to see how many "open to new members" chapters are available in your area. Click here or this information may also be found on the RHS Homepage under Getting Started.

If there are no open chapters for you to join that means your area needs a new chapter. Please consider starting your own chapter. When the RHS started and had only fifty chapters worldwide, everyone started their own chapters. That's the way we got started then and that's the way that it still works! Don't worry about finding members, they find you through our email referrals and will approach you at your gatherings. You'll receive all the information you need to start a chapter in our handy Queen Handbook. It's fun to be Queen!

Supporting Membership gives full access to all the tools of the RHS website and to local chapter information. Chapter information is found by clicking on the CONTACT CHAPTER feature. This feature allows you to see all "open to new members" chapters in your area. Chapter Queens are contacted by email. They will contact you in return to set up a visit at their next chapter gathering.

Please note that contact with "open" chapters in your area, may take a few weeks to complete due to the cycle of gatherings. (That is why it's smart – and more fun – to get started right away using the online part of your membership.) Online, you may talk to local members and those from all over the world on our message boards. You may select multi-chapter events to attend that you'll find on the Online Event Calendar.

Email is our primary mode of communication. We would so appreciate if you would provide us with yours when you register. It's great to receive the latest news directly.

Hatquarters is here to serve all Red Hat Society Members and ensure that you enjoy your membership to the fullest. If you have any questions at all, we are here for you. Please contact us at memberservices@redhatsociety.com or call 1-866-386-2850 (toll-free from within the US). All other may email us at askruby@redhatsociety.com or call directly to 714-738-0001.

We would love to have you as a cherished Member of this one of a kind sisterhood, and we look forward to sharing your journey with the Red Hat Society.

Happy Hatting!
All of us at Red Hat Society Hatquarters
There's Only One, Join the fun!