Recruiting New Members

Every Lion shares a responsibility for identifying and inviting prospective members to join the association. Indeed, the association's future depends on the fulfillment of that responsibility. So we must all be salespersons, and like good salespersons everywhere we must identify our prospects, communicate the benefits of our product (membership) to them, then close the sale to everyone's satisfaction.

Do you have a name in mind? Why not make that contact now?
 
Every Lions club needs a consistent influx of new members if it is to maintain its current  membership level, much less grow.

In addition to providing willing hands for service and fund-raising projects, new members bring new ideas, new outlooks and new enthusiasm to your club. A club that is satisfied with an ageing and declining membership may stagnate, or even die.

Fortunately, its a rare community that doesn't have a substantial pool of prospective members:
a new business moves into the community...an existing business brings in a new executive...a doctor sets up practice...a new superintendent of schools is hired...or a neighbor's work schedule changes so that more time is available for community service. In fact, your club may never actually have done a thorough job of surveying the community to uncover existing prospective members. Do so, and you'll find a constant supply of Lions to not only maintain your club, but to help it grow.

Sometimes progress comes with the infusion of new ideas. Try any or all of the following, they can help members communicate with one another.

1. Develop a mailing list of potential members

Get to know as much about potential members as you can before you approach them. Every current member knows a lot of people through daily or weekly contact. We encourage you to key on information that will tell you how these individuals fit into the community.  Gather this information and put it to work: name...home and business address...email address... telephone numbers, including FAX...age range...family status... occupation...organization affiliations...interests...children's schools. The more you know about an individual, the easier it is to customize an approach to sell the benefits of being a Lion and serving the community.

2. Computerize your club

• Prepare a birthday list of your club members. Publish it in your newsletter.

• Computerize your mailing list and keep it up to date.

3. Set up two Orientation Meetings for potential members - possibly one in April, and another in October

• Process
   - mail invitations in appropriate amount of time
  - follow up with a telephone call
  - pick them up and bring them to the meeting
  - buy their dinner
  - ask them to bring a friend

4. Meetings

• Present your best image

• Invite a charismatic leader to do the orientation  meeting

• Keep the meetings light

• PLAN - Know what you are going to do at each and every meeting. If you wing it, your potential members may wing it, too!

5. Develop an image

• FAMILY...FAMILY...FAMILY If you want someone to participate, include a lot of events for the whole family.

• Get the family involved. Plan low cost activities around holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, Valentines Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. Don't forget summer picnics and minor league ball games.

• Talk about the hours of commitment to a potential member in terms of one to two hours per week on average. Don't scare them off before they even give it a try.

• Stress the advantages of networking to business people. Remember, Melvin Jones advertised his business in THE LION magazine for years.

• Have the club give out awards to:
  1) town mayor
  2) business owner of the year
  3) boss of the year
  4) minister of the year
  5) student of the year
  6) athlete of the year
  7) Lion of the year
  All of these awards generate good publicity as well as generate local enthusiasm for the club and the honorees.

• Stress the value of Individuals to the community. People need to feel needed and appreciated. A letter of commendation costs very little, but pays big rewards.

6. Goals

• Set up a three-year plan of action. . set long-range goals.
  A. base year
  B. 2nd year + 10 percent
  C. 3rd year + 20 percent

• Spell out your goals on all aspects of Lions and then measure your successes. Stick to your goals. Keep your officers, directors and committee chairpersons in place during this initial phase of building your club. Let your members get better at what they do before you give them another lob. GET BETTER AT ALL YOU DO. Success will attract more member prospects.

7. Have fun 

Why would anyone want to do what we do if we aren't having fun? Plan social events and outings that are enjoyable.

8. Have PRIDE

• We need to have pride in ourselves as Lions, as well as pride in our club and in our district. This is possibly the most important aspect of what we do.

• Make a list of your accomplishments. Go back to your Activity reports. Study them and make a list of what you did in the past. You will be amazed at what you really accomplished. Say "thank you" to yourself because you really deserve it. You are providing a service to your community -- be proud of it. and let your pride show in everything you do.

• Publish the highlights of your Activity reports in your monthly newsletter.

9. Publicize

• Do a club brochure.

• Work with your local newspaper editors in learning how to get the most out of your press releases. Find out how they want them written and where and when delivered.

• Put notices up on bulletin boards in local stores and churches. Let the people in your community know that Lions are responsible for White Cane and Candy Days, bloodmobiles, etc.

• Make your Lions calendar of community events available to as many individuals and businesses as possible.

• Post names and addresses of collection points for eyeglasses and stamps.

10. Rethink Yourself

Is it time for a change?  We are in the 21st Century.  Times are changing.  Our neighborhoods are rapidly becoming more diverse.  If you don't adapt, you won't be around for long.  Just because something worked in a certain way in the "good old days," it doesn't mean it will work just as well today. 

Change your meeting structure. Make your meetings more interesting. Get excitement into your meetings. More prospects will want to join a thriving club. 

Decide where you, as a Lion, want to go.  Decide where you want your club to go.  Remember the old saying "once you say yes, you're no longer a volunteer."  Commitment to what you really believe in is so important.  Without commitment, you're like a boat without a rudder. You have no sense of direction...you become frustrated...you become irritated with other members you stop trying ...you leave...you become known as a-former member," dropped from the rolls because of non-attendance.

But if you are committed, and you put your heart and soul into Lions, things happen. You go to meetings and have fun...you bring in new members...you become more involved.  I've even heard of circumstances where Lions have actually volunteered to chair a committee or participate in a contested election.  It is really amazing what happens when you really commit to something.
Use these ideas as a stepping stone for discussion, and begin the process of building up your club. What works for one club may not work for another, so talk about what's right for your club.

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