When I was the VP for Membership…

 

Few days ago, I just turned two years with Toastmasters. I could say, it's been a colorful and an eventful two years of my life. My home club, the PICPA Riyadh Toastmasters Club (PRTC), not only gave a good spring board to develop my communication skills, but more importantly the club gave me the opportunity to practice leadership skills. I have served as Sgt-at-Arms, VP for Membership, and just recently finish serving as President. Among the position I held in the club, I find the VP for Membership the most challenging.

The eager learner inside of me, help made the decision for me to run for VP Membership. Honestly, I felt I was not prepared to do the job. Deep inside of me I thought, I don't have experience how to perform the job. When asked the senior members and for tips, they simply replied: The primary function of the VP Membership are

• Recruit New Members
  
• Retain Active Members
  
• Return Inactive Members
  

That was easy, I thought, but I realize later that in reality, these are quite "challenging" to achieve.

Let me share to you some of the tips and tricks that I've gathered when I was the VP for Membership.

Starting from Scratch: Recruit New Members

How do we recruit new members? To do that, you need to make a plan, a roadmap, a guide that will be your basis on recruiting new members.

1^st: Set your Goals

As VP for membership, you need to understand that bringing in new members has a direct impact on the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) goals of your club. Bringing in four (4) new members allows you to receive 1 DCP point for the club. If you bring in an additional four (4) new members, you are entitled to received another 1 DCP point.

Set your goal to eight (8) new members in the club for a maximum 2 DCP points. How about bringing in more than 8 new members? Well, you may receive a thunderous applause from the club but not a DCP point (pun intended).

Now that you know the magic numbers : 4 new members + additional 4 new members! But how do we deliver the numbers?

2^nd: Plan a Membership Building Program

You need to plan a membership building program. Some of the noted strategies are:

• Have a contest to invite guest
  

In PRTC, we launch a promo "Bring-a-Friend, Win-an-IPod". The response was overwhelming that in the period of six months, we were able to invite 225 unique guests, 180 returning guests, and converted 22 new members. We admit, we have to work on our conversion rate with is just 9%, but 22 new member is 22 far greater than our target of 8. Agree?

• Club Membership
  

If you are a member of an organization outside of Toastmasters, use your connection to invite and bring them in to Toastmasters meeting. I am an Electronics & Communication Engineer and a member of Association of Value Engineering; I brought in 12 engineers as guest and converted 1 as new member. I joined in an MBA Crash Course; I brought in 7 managers and converted 1 new members. As a badminton aficionado, I invited 5 guests and converted 3 as new members. As a professional photographer, I invited 1 guest and successfully converted him a new member.

The point here is that, you don't need to be a member of a formal club to invite guests. Your sports buddies, your friends, even your relatives can be a good source as guest in your club.

• Public Relation
  

Without argument, the media – both print and TV is the most powerful tool to excite guest to visit our club. With close coordination with the VP-PR and through the help of our friends in the media, we posted our activities in local newspaper – Arab News and Saudi Gazette; and of course, in the local Filipino TV Channel. It was so successful, my friends starts asking me if I have plans of inviting them to our club. You too can do the same with your local newspaper and TV channel.

• Special Meeting / Show Case
  

Have you ever attended a PRTC induction program? We also do a show case meeting during induction. Why? Because this is the best time to give our guest an idea how we conduct meetings in PRTC. Of course, we always "show case" our best speakers, best meeting masters, and best table topics speakers. The objective is to give a "wow" effect to the uninitiated.

We have conducted demo meeting in a restaurant, in a school, and function rooms. Meetings should not be confined in the four walls of your home club. Get out and explore.

3^rd: Encourage Guest to Join

Now that you have successfully enticed your guest to visit your club, what shall you do? Obvious of course:

• Greet them in friendly manner and pay attention to them. Never leave a guest "orphaned" in one corner
  
• As much as possible, get to know each guest.
  
• Get guest comments. However, be sensitive if the guests doesn't want to speak, lest you scare him/her off
  
• Follow up your guest. Giving a call after the meeting is a good start.
  

4^th: Complete Membership Application

You bring in a guest, managed to bring him again, and you convinced him/her to join the Toastmasters. Now, you have a new member. Is that enough? As VP Membership, it is your duty to guide and assist the new member on how to familiarize the environment and the culture in Toastmasters.

• Fill up the membership application form with the member. This will give an impression that he/she is important to you and to the club. Make copies of the application: one for the club file and one for the member.
  
• If the new member is ready, collect appropriate dues & taxes
  
• Promptly update the TI website with the new application. If you still use snail mail, send it immediately.
  

5^th: Formally Induct the New Member

And yes, make sure that you formally induct the new member. Who among you was not inducted properly? What would you feel if you are not inducted properly?

 

Keep the Fire Burning: Retain Active Member

In all the clubs that I have been in Riyadh, Singapore and Philippines, I have observed the club always exert most of its effort in bringing in new members. It is a common sight that members withers and fades away. We don't notice this because we got too engrossed with the new members hence neglect our existing members.

As VP for Membership, it is your duty to ensure that the active members stay in the club. Here are some tips on to pull this off.

1st: Keep in Tune with Member's Needs

Be attentive to all members in the club. Try this in your next meeting. I am sure, you will find at least one member who will opt to stay in the corner, avoid other members, or slip in/out of the meeting. These are the "ghost" members who may prefer not to be seen or heard.

Talk to them. If you can talk to a total stranger, there should be no problem for you talking to a familiar faces.

2^nd: Establish a Membership Committee

Did you know that as an Executive Officer of the club, you are allowed to form a committee under your function? And another trivia, you're the only committee that is allowed to recruit more than 2 members? Yes! It is even possible to get all members in the club under your committee. Hah! That's what we called "huge" committee.

Remember your goals? Share it with your committee. Strategize with your member, and allow the member to get deeply involved. You'll be surprised how easy it is to be a VP for Membership

3rd: Perform your VP Membership Responsibilities

Although it is given that as VP for Membership, you are expected to perform your responsibilities, reality bites and we have to admit that some VP Membership may have neglected or forgotten his/her responsibilities.

Ask yourself: Have you…

• Prepared an Annual/Semiannual Membership Report?
  
• Attend Executive Committee meetings?
  
• Attend and vote at Area Council meetings?
  
• Promote the Distinguished Club (Club Excellence) Program?
  

Changes are, you have only accomplished one out of the four responsibilities.

 

Rekindle the Light: Return Inactive Members

1^st: Keep in touch With Inactive Members

Convincing an inactive members to return is a serious job. You need tons of patience, wide avenue for understanding, a soft disarming voice, and more importantly you need to have good listening ear.

Here are some strategies that is worth trying:

• Call or write them
  

Calling them personally is highly suggested. If the person cannot be reached, send him email. Use social networking sites such as Facebook or Friendster to get in touch with these people. Do not limit the effort of reaching the inactive members to yourself. Get everyone involved, especially those who personally knew the member.

• Work with Membership Committee
  
• Stress benefits of Toastmasters
  

You may not believe, stressing the benefit of Toastmasters still works.

2^nd: Help Inactive Members Stay in Toastmasters

3^rd: Find Them Other Clubs That Meet Their Need

Time, schedules, call of work, and other priorities are the main reasons why member become inactive. As VP Membership, try to understand the need of the member and find a way to insert Toastmaster in that mesh. As last resort, find another club for the inactive member that may address or meet his/her need.