We are working diligently to ensure our club delivers a quality program to every member, and hook the hearts of every guest.
We also want to make sure that we receive the accolades due to us for our hard work.
Well, why wouldn’t we, you ask?
Are you aware that to be eligible for recognition in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) you must meet the membership criteria?
So, what is the membership criteria for your club? It tells you on the Toastmasters International dashboard. Find your club in the list and click on the club name. This will take you directly to the Club Status page for your club. At the top, in the Membership box, it gives you 3 numbers. These 3 numbers tell you everything you need to know.
- Base: The number of paid members that you had on July 1, 2017
- To Date: The number of paid members that you have right now
- Required: The number of paid members that you need in order to be eligible for DCP recognition
If you have 20 or more members, you don’t have to figure anything out… you’re automatically eligible and your “required” shows as 20. If you don’t have at least 20 members, you need to have a net growth of at least 5 new members… calculated from your BASE.
So what is net growth? Net growth means that if you lose any members, you have to add 5 new members, PLUS however many members you lost.
This means that if you had a base of 12 paid members on July 1, 2017, a net growth of 5 new members equals 17 members. If you currently have 11 paid members, you need 6 more to reach the “required” number of 17. But if you lose another member before the end of the year, you’ll need to add 7 new members in order to reach the “required” 17 members.
There are a lot of clubs, according to the dashboard, that have achieved the required number of goals, but do not currently meet the membership requirement. There is still plenty of time to make this a priority for your club… and here are some ideas.
- hold an open house…and then advertise it!
- call past members and invite them to come back
- invite a friend (best way to get visitors is a personal invitation)
- showcase a guest speaker… and advertise it as a special event
- start a “Beat the Clock” contest between members… and give some sort of prize to the member who brings the most guests and also to the one who gets the most members
- celebrate a “Toastmaster of the Year” from your club, and advertise the meeting as a special event
- do extra “stuff” on social media
- make a flyer and put one on everyone’s desk at work
- take your flyer to the HR department of your company, or if you’re an open club, to the HR people of companies near you
- post something about a member’s achievement on your company intranet or in a newsletter
- challenge a club near you to a membership building contest
- where your Toastmasters pin everywhere you go, and be ready when someone asks you what it is
- Invite your friend to lunch, and bring them to your club meeting (bring quiet, non-crunchy food); but make sure you tell them where you’re going AFTER they say they’re free for lunch that day!
If you’re having a special event, and you want the District to know about it, get it added to the District event calendar on the District 60 website. And then be sure to share your success with us so we can celebrate with you.
-Dawn
