October Message to the Leaders
Heading into the autumn as the planning for success for the year continues at all levels.
Follow the Vision for the Year
The District vision for the year is 1/80/100:
- 1 educational goal per member
- 80% membership retention
- 100% of clubs with 20+ members
Pause for a moment and think about your club the current members, the opportunity for growing the club – will your club achieve, 1/80/100?
Focus on Finances
In posing the question thinking about the recent renewals period, how did your club fair? It’s timely to review your club success plan for the year and importantly the budget, focus on the finances.
As we have opened back up, many of our members have asked their club committees to support facilitating in person meetings. Others have sought the hybrid approach and others have opted to stay online. For some of our clubs, the venue hire costs have increased dramatically, meaning they are not affordable as before. Instead, clubs are opting for two meetings per month, of which one is in person and the other online. Those opting for hybrid meetings have indicated there is an increase in costs, for equipment alongside the venue costs and video conferencing costs. Depending on the renewals at your club, those with reduced income, will have to make further choices on the frequency of their in-person meetings and for the club to be sustainable, i.e., consideration of an increase in members fees.
By focusing on the club’s financial situation now, there is time for adjustments to be made and to engage with members so that they are full informed of what the position is within their clubs. Steadying the ship now, will assist in supporting members continued personal development, being part of a vibrant club, attracting guests and showing them the benefits of Toastmasters.
30 is the new 20
For all clubs, the mantra of ‘30 is the new 20’ for club membership numbers is one to aim for. Why? From experience clubs with 30+ members, on average has more members attend meetings, which means meeting slots are filled in advance of the meeting, making the VPEs life easier. For members, they have the opportunity achieve their education goals, set new personal goals and stay active within the club.
Another way to involve all members, consider running a Moments of Truth session. Materials are available to download from the Toastmasters website.
Planning starts now for new membership drives: open house meetings, offering Speechcraft courses, putting on events to attract guest, MC-ing at a work event to showcase what we offer. Resources are available to support your activities, on the District 91 website, the District 91 You Tube channel where our webinars are posted and the Toastmasters International website.
Ask all your members for help, to get involved and support the club success plan i.e., by completing their educational awards. This supports their club and ensures longevity and hopefully the club achieving Distinguished or higher in the Distinguished Club Program. All this links to the 1/80/100 vision we have as a District.
Take the opportunity to review your club success plan, what new membership growth activities are you planning and review your club’s financial situation until the end of this program year, 30 June 2022.
Helena Boden-Brewer,
District 91 Director 2021-2022