Membership levels of the Church of Satan are hard to determine, as the organisation has not released such information. During its early years, the church claimed a membership of around 10,000, although defectors subsequently claimed that the number was only in the hundreds. Membership was largely, although not exclusively, white. LaVey recognised this, suggesting that the church appealed particularly to white Americans because they lacked the strong sense of ethnic identity displayed by African-Americans and Hispanic Americans. The historian of religion Massimo Introvigne suggested that it had never had more than 1000 or 2000 members at its height, but that LaVeyan ideas had had a far greater influence through LaVey's books. Membership is gained by paying $225 and filling out a registration statement, and thus initiates are bestowed with lifetime memberships and not charged annual fees.