A Winning Membership
Campaign from District 32
Many of you will remember
that around this time last year, the
newsletter included info
about "Membership Monopoly" - one of the Top 10 Membership Campaigns for
1998/99. Well, CHRISTINE HALL of Talking Rain TM in Dupont WA will be onstage
at the Hall of Fame for the 2nd year in a row, to accept a Top 10 membership
Campaign plaque for Talking Rain's 1999/2000 program called "Traveling
The World With Toastmasters!. Here's how Christine described it to me:
"This was a 6 week membership
drive that invited our members to Travel the World. The week before the
kick-off meeting, each member was given a boarding pass for "Toastmasters
Air". At the kick-off meeting, everyone received a travel bag containing
a hand-made Passport, a blow up world globe to hang at their desk with
a sign that said "I'm traveling the world - Ask how to join me!", guest
invitations, and airline-type snacks. Members traveled around the world
by earning mileage points - getting signatures in the passport - for bringing
travel companions (guests) to meetings, turning guests to members, and
more. The Club members were divided into 2 teams - the Eiffel Tower Team
& the Stonehenge Team, and 2 game pieces - an Eiffel Tower statue &
picture of Stonehenge - tracked their travels on a big world map posted
at every week's meeting. Points were determined by actual miles between
destinations. The team that traveled the most miles won. The non-winning
team had to provide the ethnic food for the pot luck lunch, the week after
the membership campaign ended."
Sure ... it was a Ton of
Fun ... but check out these numbers:
* 81 Passport Signatures
* 36 Guests
* 10 New Members ... all
in 6 weeks!
Thanks, Christine, for sharing
this great idea - and Congratulations !!!
**********
Lots of Clubs create Membership
Building Contests. Others put up posters at every meeting to keep track
of which members have invited guests ... and which of those guests have
joined the Club. Whether there is a formal contest going on, or a more
loosely-defined ongoing membership drive, there are some features
that describe the most successful
strategies. Some of those
are:
* Every member in the Club
knows that inviting Guests is important!
* Every member is committed
to the necessity of bringing in new members
* Every member knows how
to be successful with their invitations
* The Club has some helpful
written materials to give to Guests
* The Club keeps track of
Guests, and contacts them about coming back
* Everyone makes Guests
feel welcome
* Program participants explain
their roles, so that Guests can follow the meeting
* Guests are invited to
join!
Exerpt
from Region I Newsletter, August 2000, past International Director Susan
Niven, Editor.
