Club Growth Director

What will your club look like in July 2021?

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What will your club look like in July 2021? Fellow members, as we roll in to the final couple of months of this Toastmasters year, take a look at the faces of your club members at your next club meeting. Are they largely the same as they were a few months ago? To what extent … Read more

Demystifying the role of the Club Growth Director

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Demystifying the role of the Club Growth Director Having read a number of Area Director visit reports, one of the things that struck a chord with me is that many of you may not know what the District Leadership Team does and what other roles are available within our great organisation. I thought I’d focus … Read more

Growth Together

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Growth Together We were delighted so many of our members renewed and we were fortunate enough to attract new members as well We have already started planning for next March’s renewals! Firstly we are always looking for ways to attract and retain members to give ourselves a solid base. Our team ensures at least one … Read more

The power of an invitation

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Do you remember receiving invitations to birthday parties when you were younger or a ‘save the date’ card through the post for a wedding or other function? Do you remember how that made you feel? In an age where everything is digital, it’s hard for us to cut through the noise. Perhaps this is even more so, as clubs are operations have moved online. To that end, personalisation may be that much more important.

Reflecting on some invitations this month:

  • I’d been invited to serve as General Evaluator at a club other than my own – which I’d accepted. A role that continues to be a privilege and an honour to undertake
  • As a District, we’d been invited to participate in a marketing festival. We accepted this and ran a demo session for their audience – another way to promote Toastmasters to an external audience
  • We concluded our first virtual Speechcraft in the District – in the final session, it is customary to invite participants to join Toastmasters if they would like to continue their learning journey

There are many reasons to extend an invitation and most would graciously accept. Sadly, I’ve also had to turn down a few invitations to attend contests in the last few weeks. However, on the subject of contests, let’s check in on David and Carmen. Both actually had a go at competing in their club contests because the Contest Chair invited them to do so! David went on to win Table Topics!

This month, I’d like to introduce a returning member. Rob was a member of a community club and served on its committee about 5 years ago. He then went on to serve on the committee at his workplace club for a year or two and then had a break due to other commitments. He’s recently rejoined and getting back into the swing of things.

Whether it be responding to a guest enquiry, asking for someone to help with a project or an event at your club, or asking a guest if they’d like to return or join your club – most of us take the next step when invited to do so. Who will you next extend an invitation to?

Rupa Datta
District 91 Club Growth Director 2020-2021

Do you remember David and Carmen?

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Let’s see how they are getting on. Carmen thoroughly enjoyed her first meeting at Club X. She did a table topic and signed up that day! David did almost slip through the cracks, however as the committee of the club did a full audit of the club tools, his email was found and the VP Public Relations of that club followed up with him and invited him as a guest to their next meeting. Because their VP Membership followed up appropriately with him thereafter, he too has since signed up.

When times are tough or disruption occurs, it helps to be reminded about our ‘WHY’ and core reason for being. Sometimes all it takes it a return to some fundamental, often basic processes to get things back on track again. District 91 now launches the ‘Lead to Achieve’ initiative -mainly focusing on those who are trying to contact us via toastmasters.org but giving us all the opportunity to review and ensure that we are doing the ‘hygiene’ things that make our club successful.

The way we do things may be reviewed and changed and some clubs have adapted very to being able to bring members on board in this new environment. At the time of writing, 6 clubs have achieved the covered Smedley Award.

You can hear from the President of one of those clubs, Dan Magill – Society Speakers about their ‘how’.

Our 80/20 challenge for the October 2020 renewal period is on. At the time of writing, 16 clubs have so far retained 20+ members and I’ll be calculating those with 80%+ at the end of the period. We recognise that some of our members may move on at this time for a host of reasons. It’s important for us to understand why and that our doors or virtual platforms remain open to those that want to return when they are ready.

I’d like to conclude this month by remembering our organisational mission:

‘We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.’

We’ll explore leadership a little more next month along with seeing how a returner to toastmasters is getting on after a breakaway as well as David and Carmen.

The types of communication channels we have are numerous and ever-changing and every now and again it doesn’t hurt to take stock of what they are. I hope you’ll continue to utilise your Toastmasters journey to flex and refine your communication skills.

Rupa Datta – District 91 Club Growth Director 2020-2021