Happy New Year from the D91 Club Growth Team.
A new year, A new beginning, A new focus.
Thanks to all volunteer members of the D91 Club Growth team Emmanuel Karamagi, Ron Mayne, John Drinkwater, Sadiq Owo and Andrew Deer who have contributed immensely towards our District mission in the first half of the Toastmasters year.
History has shown that January of each Toastmaster year, is the best time to attract new members.
Many people begin a new year with resolutions for personal development. The start of 2024 presents us with an opportunity to renew our membership and club building focus and to engage guests by sharing the many successful Toastmasters stories with a view to bringing the best of Toastmasters to many more by actively supporting each clubs’ growth initiatives.
How can we strive for a more successful second half of the Toastmasters year? Reflecting reasons, relationships and respect.? Asking questions to focus our actions?
Reasons are the foundation of commitment, focus and success. I consistently ask our existing members why they joined, how have they benefited and what’s next. The answers to these questions highlight the 100-year growth of Toastmasters International and the 10-year success story of our district. The many reasons why we joined Toastmasters have or changed over the years and perhaps opportunities for the organisation to grow and impact many more people is increasing with advancing technologies and population trends.
Relationships are fundamental to successful teams and even more so in a volunteer organisation like Toastmasters. The focus on teamwork, team building, using the wealth of knowledge available within the Clubs/Areas/Divisions, encouraging going beyond our clubs to network and build new relationships is an opportunity available to all our members. There are tremendous benefits to learning and practicing how to win new friends and influence new members to join your clubs or building new clubs.
Respect is the Toastmasters International core value that underpins good relationships and effective teamwork. The diversity our members and their aspirations are a unique opportunity to learn and grow as Toastmasters.
What will define success for you as a Club or member? Do you want to organise an open house event to grow your club’s membership? Do you want to achieve Distinguished status? Do you want to organise anniversary celebration or special event or learn a new skill?
What will define success for you going beyond your club? Do you want to organise an Area open house? Do you want to setup a new Toastmasters club or support a prospective club?
Our district thanks to our members has made significant progress with membership growth this year and as we start the 2024 calendar year to celebrate the centenary or Toastmasters International and the 10th anniversary of District 91, I look forward to supporting you to ensure we make the second half of the Toastmasters year a greater success by focusing on building our average club membership base and building new clubs to share the benefits of Toastmasters to others.
Mo Dawodu
D91 Club Growth Director 2023/2024