Club Growth

The Spring Season of Renewal

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The mid year District officer training event did allow me time to reflect on my leadership journey. Not many organisations have their mid year at the start of a new calendar year.

The genius of the Toastmasters year finally dawned on me, can you imagine all the chaos of June and July being in December and January? However it’s the opportunity to have a new beginning twice a year that really excited me. The season of Spring is upon us and we have to take advantage of it.

During my reflection at the Heathrow departure lounge, I was approached by Elizabeth Jordan, the D71 District Director and we had an insightful conversation about the history of D91 which was formed out of D71 a decade ago. I am enriched by our time together discussing Toastmasters leadership and my recent trip to her home county of Barbados to surprise my sister during her birthday celebrations.

I was adopted as an honorary member of D71 during the two day training, we shared a taxi from the airport after waiting for other member of the D71 leadership team Daniel Banks, Programme Quality Director and Mairead Dillon Club Growth Director to arrive from other airports. Great team planning and coordination I thought. I was glad to learn from Mairead that the District 91 aspiration for 18 new clubs this Toastmasters year was not too ambitious with D71 setting a goal for 25. Danny who I shared a cab back to the airport with was modest about is knowledge of many things.

All our leadership teams have face intended challenges that the Toastmasters programme presents at all levels of leadership from club to the international board. I am proud of the work our District D91 leaders are doing to support our members to grow their clubs and grow the Toastmasters community of clubs. We have added 1445 new members, the 3rd highest out of 130 Districts globally this Toastmasters year.

We have chartered 3 new clubs this Toastmasters year and added 6 new prospective clubs bringing our prospective club list to 9 with a promising new club leads.

It is our District 10th anniversary and Toastmasters Centenary celebration year. We have a tried and tested development programme, I will like to encourage you to share the benefits of our organisation and win some of the incentives our District has on offer.

  • Talk up Toastmasters Award by signing up 5 new members between 1st of February and 31 March
  • Net growth of 4 members on July base numbers after April renewals first 50 win £40.00
  • Net growth of 8 members on July base numbers after April renewals first 30 win £40.00
  • 20 + 80 Challenge Renew 20+ July base members and retain July base members 80%+ after April renewals first 25 clubs win £30.00

Open house boxes are available for your clubs to run a membership growth.  Contact me to request a box.

The above incentives can be won if you renew your membership early. It is time to take advantage of the Spring, It is the season of opportunity and as we look forward to our Bristol Spring Conference. Let us put a spring in our Toastmaster journey.

We can celebrate our 10th anniversary by each bringing a friend, colleague or family member to join the Toastmaster community or start a club where you work to bring the benefits we enjoy at Toastmasters to others.

Mo Dawodu

D91 Club Growth Director

A new year. A new beginning. A new focus.

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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

Club Growth Newsletter – May 2023

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Eight Weeks to go: Let’s Finish Strong!

We are just eight weeks away from the end of the Toastmasters year, and I want to encourage you all to finish strong.

District 91 is currently sitting at an impressive number four in the world for member payments and with Select Distinguished status, which is a testament to the hard work and determination of all clubs in recruiting new members and renewing existing ones.

I am pleased to announce that we have welcomed almost 2000 new members since July 1st, 2022, and I want to extend a warm welcome to you all.

We’ve accomplished so much already, but there’s still work to be done when it comes to the number of paid clubs.

To ensure that we end the year on a high note, I would like to ask for your help in completing any outstanding renewals as soon as possible. Every renewal counts towards our overall success, and with your support, we can achieve our goals.

Additionally, if you or anyone you know is interested in starting a new club in the community or within your workplace, then please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. This is a fantastic opportunity to expand our reach and make Toastmasters accessible to even more people.

I want to share with you my top tips to help you finish strong.

1. Don’t give up on your goals. Even if progress has been slower than you had hoped, keep pushing forward and identify what you can do in the next eight weeks to achieve them.

2. Use this time to make a final push to bring in new members. Invite friends, family, and colleagues to attend meetings and experience Toastmasters.

3. Encourage members in your clubs to work together to achieve their goals and finish the year strong for added motivation.

4. While growth is important, it’s equally important to focus on the quality of your meetings and the experience your members are having. Ensure your meetings are engaging, interactive, and fun, and encourage your members to take on leadership roles and give feedback to improve the club experience. This will also motivate guests to become members.

Finally, take a moment to reflect on what you and your club have achieved this year so far, whether it’s a successful speech contest, a new member achieving their goals, or a great meeting. Celebrate your successes and use them as motivation to keep going.

To further motivate you, here is a reminder of incentives still to be won:

Net Growth 10

The first 20 clubs who, by the 15th of June 2023, achieve a net growth of ten new members from their 1st July 2022 base number will win £100 to boost their club’s funds. Will your club win?

Beat the Clock

Clubs adding five new, dual, or reinstated members with a join date between May 1 and June 30 receive a Beat the Clock ribbon to display on the club’s banner.

District 91 will offer an additional monetary incentive for unique new and reinstated members only of £30.

Phoenix Award

This is an award to any club that started the year with 12 or fewer members and throughout the same Toastmaster year built their membership to charter strength (20 members) by 30th April 2023. Three clubs were so close to achieving this award but sadly missed out on this deadline.

So, to give everyone a fighting chance, we are extending the deadline to 15th June.

Let’s use the next eight weeks to complete our goals and finish strong.  I look forward to seeing you at the finish line, I’ll be holding a virtual (sustainable and reusable) bottle of water for you for the final month in the next newsletter.  Let’s keep going and let’s win together!

Debbie Williams
Club Growth Director, 2022-2023