Membership Building Ideas-deprecated
Basic Membership Building Ideas:
1. Provide a great club atmosphere (fun, dynamic, energetic, organized, educational, etc.)
- having an organized, energetic, and welcoming meeting will be appealing to attracting new members and retainng current members
2. Complete a “Moments of Truth” evaluation on your club
3. Have an Open House (Open House Tips)
- Have a Special Guest Speaker
- Invite friends, co-workers, and family to the open house
- Send a press release about the open house to local media
4. Advertise your club meetings through flyers, press releases, ads, etc. in your local community
5. Create a club website with pictures of current members that you can direct interested and current members to that is appealling, full of good information, and provides directions.
6. Create a Facebook page with pictures of current members, information about club meetings, contest winners, open houses, special guests, weekly ribbon winners, etc.
- Encourage your membership to “like” your club Facebook page and share it with friends and co-workers
7. Have a “Bring a Friend to Toastmasters” day at your club
8. Advertise to local businesses and colleges/universities especially to communication, eduction, and business majors
9. Regularly send press releases to local media about upcoming events, open houses, officer elections, speech contests, special presentations, special guests, etc.
10. Have an Open House during the Governor of Washington’s Proclamation of “Toastmasters Week” in early February (try to get your mayor to proclaim “Toastmaster Week” in your town)
Helping your guests feel at home in your club:
1. Be welcoming
2. Help answer any questions they might have
3. Help them have a good time
4. Provide a Guest Packet
5. Introduce them to a club member
6. Follow up with them after the meeting
What to do when your guest wants to join your club:
- Have the guest fill out a Toastmasters International application (make sure they fill the form out clearly and sign the back of the form)
- Let the new member know how much membership dues (both TI and club dues) will be and pro-rate it if needed
- Review the completed application to make sure it is fully completed and then sign and date it on the back as the club officer verifying completion of application.
- Collect cash or check (some clubs take PayPal) and attach to application.
- Give to Treasurer who will deposit the money and enroll the member into Toastmasters
- Go into your club FreeToastHost website and sign them up as a new member and send them a “New Member Welcome Letter” (once member is entered, they then can sign up for roles on the agenda)
Other Strategies:
- Periodically send an email to former members and guests about what the club is up to and invite them to a meeting
- Send a touch base email to members who have missed a couple of meetings and let them know you miss their prescence (they do matter to your meetings and club)
- Follow-up with guests and let them know how TM will benefit them and their participation will benefit the club
