What is a Club? 

It is an association of people united 

by a common interest or goal.

What Makes A Club Successful?

Club leaders should challenge people to be their best, build trust, earn loyalty, be a mentor, and be approachable. Good leaders create and maintain relationships with all of the people they work and interact with.

How Can I Make My Club Better?

1. Understand Your Members.

2. Make Them Feel Welcome!

3. Add a Personal Touch.

4. Engage Others in Thoughtful, Positive Conversation.

5. Give Them Something to Look Forward To.

6. Create Mentoring and Educational Opportunities.

How Do You Motivate Club Members?

Use every opportunity to build up in members a desire never to stop learning. Give members goals, a sense of direction, and something to strive for and to achieve. Allow people to do a variety of tasks. Give them a chance to change and grow as they participate.

How Do I Help a Club Thrive?

What do you say when someone asks you why you attend club meetings? Most likely, a few things immediately come to mind, like the encouragement you get from fellow members and the camaraderie you experience during each meeting.  It’s the quality of the club that keeps you.

A thriving club encourages and celebrates member achievement, provides a supportive and fun environment, and offers a professionally organized meeting with variety. In those clubs, officers ensure members have access to formal mentoring programs and are provided with information that helps them grow and succeed.

1. First Impressions

The most important thing you can do to recruit new members is to create a good first impression. New members breathe new life into a club. Visitors are drawn to clubs that generate excitement and enthusiasm.People are excited about being there when the room is infused with energy, which keeps visitors and members coming back.

Introduce visitors to club officers and other members.  When the meeting comes to order, build the energy in the room! Energy is created when members know the meeting will be fun, friendly, and a safe place to learn about the breed and participate in club activities. Treat potential members like they are already valued members.

2. Strong Mentoring Provides Clubs with a Vital Boost

Mentoring greatly benefits the new member, the mentor, and the club as a whole. It improves the quality of meetings, helps retain members, and intangibly and noticeably contributes to a warm, supportive atmosphere. To ensure that new members have a good club experience, it’s essential to create a mentoring mindset.

3. Achievement Recognition

A common trait among successful clubs is that their officers tune in to the members’ goals, help them achieve them, and formally celebrate their successes.

Make it your club’s priority always to acknowledge and applaud members and club accomplishments.

4. Identifying Problems That Diminish Club Participation

It’s not always easy, but leaders should monitor club discussions and encourage the calm and respectful dialog of differing opinions.  Although anyone can have a bad day now and then, discussions that repeatedly become argumentative can lead to:

-General unrest and dissatisfaction among members

-Decreased participation of volunteers

-Declining membership

-Difficulty attracting new members

When there is a controversial topic of discussion that may lead to an argument between members; is is beneficial that this discussion be held in private with the board of directors and not with the general membership until a decision has been made on how the club would like to handle the situation best.

To sum it up, clubs should never forget that visitors are drawn to clubs that generate positive excitement and enthusiasm. When the room is infused with energy, people are excited about being there, and that’s what keeps members and visitors coming back!

* The information above was taken from a Toastmasters article.  It’s timeless principles apply well to any club!