Attracting New Members To Your Service Club or Volunteer Group

Before we get into the tips for attracting new members, it's important to sit down and define exactly who it is your club wants to attract. For example, are you seeking to attract more young people to your group? Or perhaps professional people? Maybe you're after family orientated people, or retirees. You may find that your potential members fall into more than one category.

It's important to define the type of people you wish to attract so that you can tailor your marketing methods to them. For instance, it's no use trying to attract retirees by putting up advertising flyers around a university campus!

Take Action:

Take a look at your current club membership - how would you define your current members?
Are you seeking to attract more of the same, or do you need to diversify a little?
Can you think of some completely new potential member sources?

An area where a lot of clubs fall down is in remaining relevant to their community. It's very easy to get caught up in the same old routine and run the same kinds of projects and events year after year. Over time the needs of the community change though and what might have been a very relevant event in the 1950's may no longer carry the same relevancy in the 2000's.

This is an equally important point for new member attraction. Potential members are not going to be attracted to a club that performs projects that are completely irrelevant or unimportant to them. The question then is how do you determine what is relevant to them?

If you have defined exactly who you are trying to attract then you need only look at what issues are currently important to that group. For example, if you are trying to attract men and women with young families, then projects centring around children are likely to be highly relevant. On the other hand, if you are trying to attract young people then perhaps something eco-friendly or a green project would be more likely to interest them.

Take Action:

Take a look at the projects your club currently does.
Are they relevant to the audience you are trying to attract?
Can you think of some project ideas that might appeal to them more?

You won't attract too many new members if information about your club is not easily accessible. The two most likely methods of delivering this information are regular newsletters and a website.

In today's world most people will jump online to find out further information on something they are interested in. It's important then that your club has a clear and up to date website for them to view. This website should contain the answers to the questions they are most likely to ask. At a minimum it should provide information on:

• What your club is about - What is your mission statement? What future goals are you aiming for? What past achievements are you proud of?
  
• Where your club is located - What area do you service?
  
• Your club's membership requirements - Are there any restrictions on who can join? What is expected of a member? Are there attendance requirements? What does it cost to be a member?
  
• Club project details - What projects are coming up on your club's calendar? What is involved in these projects?
  
• Club meeting details - When and where does your club meet? How long do meetings run for? What can a visitor expect at a club meeting?
  
• Club contact details - Who should a potential member contact to attend a meeting or get involved in a project?
  

A regular newsletter also enhances your club's accessibility. As well as being mailed or emailed out to all current members, copies can be left in relevant places as advertising for your club. Newsletters can also be added to your club's website to provide visitors with an idea on what activities your club has been up to recently. Potential visitors can be sent a copy of the latest newsletter when they make contact to attend a meeting. Copies can also be kept on hand to pass out to guests at meetings and projects.

As with the website, each issue of your club's newsletter should provide the answers to the questions potential members are most likely to ask. In most cases this information should not take up too much space in your newsletter. It can also refer readers to your website should they require more details.

Take Action:

Does your club have a website?
When was the last time it was updated?
Is it easy for visitors to find the information they need?
Does it contain all of the information outlined above?

Does your club have a regular newsletter?
Does it too contain all of the information outlined above?

First impressions ALWAYS count. It's important that a potential member's first impression of your club is a good one.

Being professional doesn't necessarily mean that members should be attending meetings in suits and business attire, or that the club should run out and purchase an expensive uniform shirt for everyone - it's more to do with how the club conducts itself.

Depending on the type of club and it's culture, these points may or may not be relevant:

• Member's appearance - Does your club have a dress code (eg. shirt and tie) or uniform (eg. club polo shirt)? Are your members wearing it?
  
• Member's conduct - Do your members conduct themselves in a respectful manner?
  
• Website and newsletter content - Does the content of your club's website or newsletter show respect for your members and guests?
  
• Project management - Are your club projects well organised and managed?
  
• Club communication - Are there clear and open lines of communication within the club? For example, how would you communicate a project change or cancellation to members at the last minute?
  

Take Action:

How does your club score against the above points?
What would your first impression of your club be?
What's an area that you can improve on straight away?

Once you've managed to entice a potential member along to a club meeting or event it's very important to make them feel welcome and part of the team. Acknowledge their presence, extend a friendly welcome to them and make them feel a part of what's going on. It can be very helpful to assign a "buddy" to each guest who can answer any questions or explain things as they come up.

As for the meeting itself, it's important to keep the meeting vibrant and flowing. This is just as important for the retention of existing members as for the attraction of new ones. All business meetings can get quite boring and may put visitors off. Try to keep the business moving and perhaps have a guest speaker along to talk on an interesting topic. Be sure to include time for socialising, whether before, after or during breaks in the meeting.

It's important to keep service projects interesting as well. Make sure your club offers a diverse range of activities for members to get involved with and try not to get too repetitive with your projects.

Take Action:

How does your club make a guest feel welcome at a meeting?
Are your meetings interesting, or do you think that even existing members may be finding the format a little boring?
When did you last have a guest speaker along to a meeting?

You may think that this tip is not important, but it's surprising how many club's are holding back their potential member numbers simply by excluding whole groups of people.

The most obvious form of exclusion is that based on age or gender. While in most cases this will be for specific reasons, such as legal age requirements or a gender restriction enforced by the club's larger organisation, it still pays to investigate whether these are really necessary. Removing exclusions such as these can open up a huge new potential member market.

A not so obvious exclusion is that of handicapped people. This is usually an unintentional exclusion, perhaps the club's preferred meeting venue is not wheelchair friendly or maybe the way the club operates makes it difficult for those with a sight or hearing impairment to get involved.

A final form of exclusion can be more subtle. A potential membership source could be being excluded because of pre-conceived ideas or stereotyping. For example, you may be excluding university students because they are too transient. Another common one is not chasing more older, experienced members because you are worried that they would take over and make it difficult for younger members to take on leadership roles within the club.

Take Action:

Is your club excluding any obvious sources of potential members?
Do you have any membership restrictions that are holding the club back?
Could your membership be more open?

There is a saying that no man is an island, and no club should be either.

Networking is one of the most important things for a person or club to do. To start with it's important to maintain contact with your club's past members. Do this whether they have retired, resigned or relocated. These members have been there and done it, they can often be the best advertising for your club. They are also an invaluable resource - they are experienced and they have contacts.

Build working relationships with other service clubs and community groups in your area. If you're the local Apex club, start communications with the local Lions group. Share contacts, knowledge and possibly resources. Build partnerships that allow you to enhance each others skills and resources and thus take on larger projects. A particulary good example of this I know of is a club of young people who have partnered with the local Senior Citizens group. The two clubs are able to take advantage of each other strengths and they now run a number of projects together.

If your club is part of a larger association build relationships with other clubs within that association. Become affiliated with community bodies and local councils. Get your local member of government onside.

Take Action:

Does your local area have a community directory? Is your club listed in it?
How well do you know the other service clubs in your area? Perhaps arrange for an interclub visit.
Does your local member of government know about your club? If not, introduce yourselves to them.