It goes
without saying that none of us want to see our membership continue
to decline as it has in the last 10 years. The first issue to be
addressed, therefore, is a recognition that our preferred choice of
action is to rejuvenate our organisation. This can be achieved by
each club going through a process of renewal. It is suggested that
the following program of action can achieve that aim:-
(a)
Have a Membership Drive on a regular basis, using the Multiple
District " Club Growth " program, as well as constant recruiting by
existing club members. (b) Start active Retention Program using the Multiple
District " Club Care " program. (c) Review all facets of club procedures using the Multiple
District " Club Care " program. (d) Review community knowledge of your Club and set about
raising profile. (e) Assimilate new members as quickly as possible. Seek ideas
from them about running of the club, and encourage them to volunteer
suggestions for new projects. (f) Bring the new members through as board members, at
appropriate levels to begin with. (g) Encourage a change of generational control of the club
over a period of two or three years. This will involve long standing
members relinguishing control and supporting the new board.
Over a
two or three year period the above action should not only increase
membership, and retain existing members, but rejuvenate the club so
that it is exciting and satisfying for members to be involved in our
organisation.
Strategy
to implement process of renewal
We would
all like to be able to recruit new members in great numbers and
reduce the number of our good friends who leave Lions. Sometimes,
however, we just don't know how to do this. To assist us, the
Multiple District has introduced " Project Refresh ", a focus on
club renewal. The program has two elements to it, a " Club Growth "
program focusing on membership recruitment, and a " Club Care "
program, concentrating on processes to rejuvenate the operations of
clubs, which will have a positive impact on retention of existing
members. Both programs are set out with practical step by step
procedures so members will able to implement them and experience
positive results.
The Club
Growth program is a refinement of a proven recruitment program that
has been used for many years by a number of Districts in Australia.
At this point, I would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance
given by Lion Ken Mulcahy of The Lions Club of Brisbane Macgregor,
who has been implementing this program very successfully since the
early 1980's, both to recruit new members and to form new clubs. His
experiences have been made freely available to assist in drawing up
this Multiple District program.
The Club
Care program has been formulated after evaluation of International
President J.Frank Moore III's LCI Retention program and the
retention programs being used by various Districts throughout
Australia. Lion Peter Jones has been of great assistance in this
process and I gratefully acknowledge his contribution.
To
achieve the best results, the Multiple District Development Group
consisting of PCC Lindsay Marsden (Extension), PDG Greg Tutt
(Leadership) and myself as Membership Chairman, encouraged and
advised by International Representative PDG Bede Long, is
co-ordinating its strategy. Our aims are as follows:-
To
recruit large numbers of new members ( using the Club Growth
program )
To
inform those new members ( holding New Member information
seminars )
To
retain our members ( using the Club Care program )
To
expand by forming new clubs ( using MD Extension program "
Growth - Our Future " )
We
believe we have the necessary programs in place to achieve our aims
and, with your help, look forward to positive results.
If you
have and queries please do not hesitate to contact the Development
Team
