SPRING IS THE TIME FOR CLUB REVITALIZATION AND GROWTH!!!

Membership is always a concern with many of our clubs. We must grow our clubs in order to survive and in order to find new projects and ideas for serving our communities. Clubs that complete the Club Analysis or Assessment and the Community Analysis each year, AND hold a least one Special Guest Day each year will continue to grow and find new members. New members will result in more people to help with projects and many new ideas. It is a vicious circle but a reality within the Kiwanis world.

The first step is to perform a Club Analysis – checking on the “health” of your club and seeing if it is a group that someone would join. If our clubs are healthy, they will grow; but we need to evaluate our performance each year to see how we are doing. A detailed Assessment form is available in the Kiwanis Membership Development Manual – online at www.kiwanisone.org .

Then clubs should perform a Community Analysis – getting the pulse of the needs in your community. Kiwanis clubs are great for filling the “gaps” in governmental agencies; but we will not know the needs; or the “gaps” needing filling; if we do not poll the community leaders each year. The Community Analysis is a great tool for membership too. Often we find a group needing help and we can get a new members from the group we assist. This information is found in Chapter 4 of the Membership Development Manual.

The final step is to conduct a Membership Roundup or Special Guest Day. Details of how to conduct a Special Guest Day are included in the Membership Development Manual – available from Kiwanis; as well as in information found on the Kiwanis International and CNH District websites. The detailed procedures – if followed – are proven to bring new members to those clubs who hold this special day.

Consider now when your club could schedule a Special Guest Day. Allow at least 6-8 weeks for planning and executing this event properly. Let other clubs know of your date, and ask them to bring an interclub.

As clubs schedule dates, please share them with other clubs in the division – so they can plan to interclub on these dates.

OUR CLUBS CAN GROW . . . . .IF WE FOCUS ON MEMBERSHIP AND INVITE FOLKS TO JOIN US IN “Serving the Children of the World”.

KIWANIS Resources to Help Your Club Grow!!

We are moving ahead into another year; and this is a great time to remind clubs on the resources available to them for Club Growth. Our dues pay for these and clubs should be sure to avail themselves of these tools.

New Kiwanis International Websites . . . . YES, there are two! If you surf to www.kiwanis.org; first you will see a great new look and feel to this website. This will become the portal for the public to find out about what Kiwanis does and how they can support our efforts. It will focus on our projects and our mission as an organization. This is a great place to refer folks to for info on Kiwanis.

For Kiwanis members, the NEW website is www.kiwanisone.org. You can connect to this new site from www.kiwanis.org ; by clicking on Member Resources. No password or User Name is needed and you will find Downloads, Blogs, and other resources available on this site.

Make sure you surf through the Downloads section since there are many resources there for your use. These even include audio and video versions of convention seminars. Many of the membership programs, new member orientation , brochures, PSAs and other items are available for easy download.
Don’t be dismayed if you are familiar with the old website. Temporarily you can connect to it from the new site – under Member Resources . . or go direct to the old site via this URL – http://classic.kiwanis.org . All of the old pages are still there for your use.

CAL-NEV-HA Kiwanis website . . . www.cnhkiwanis.org continues to support us locally and this site is due to be revamped with a new look and feel in the next quarter. Currently, it has many of the club resources also available for download and review.

CAL-NEV-HA Membership Blog . . . This is a new resource created by TAG (Together Achieving Growth) Team Leaders Lynn Seeden, Roy Talley, Ken Umbarger, Steve Dreyer and myself. Find it at www.cnhtag.blogspot.com . It is intended to provide a forum for membership and marketing postings; and links to many of the resources available for Club Growth. So . . if you can’t find something at the Kiwanis or district websites; connect to this blog and you will find links to many of these items.

Membership Growth Literature . . . . Reminder . . each club . . each year . . can order membership materials from Kiwanis International to support your Special Guest Days and overall membership programs. Go to the Kiwanis website; click on the Kiwanis store, look for membership materials and with your club KEY # you can order materials for FREE! This even includes shipping to you!

So . . as you plan your membership goals for the next year; remember that these resources are available for you! Together . . our clubs can grow and continue to provide service to the children of our local communities and the world.

Dave Schmitt - CNH TAG Team

Who’s volunteering in America

Two recent studies from U.C. Berkeley and from the University of Chicago reveal volunteer trends that can help you recruit new Kiwanis members.

“Volunteering in America: State Trends and Rankings” is the first study to give a detailed breakdown of America’s volunteering habits and patterns by state and region.

Here’s a glance:

--Nationwide, volunteerism is on the rise, as 65.4 million (or 28.8 percent) of American adults volunteered in 2005, an increase of 6 million volunteers since 2002.

--Volunteers spend a median of 50 hours a year volunteering.

--Women volunteer at significantly higher rates than males nationwide.

--Working women (36.1 percent) volunteer more than non-working women (27.2 percent).

--Women with young children volunteer at a higher rate (39.9%) than do women without young children (29%).

--61.2 million Americans volunteered in 2006 to help others by mentoring students, restoring homes after disasters, assisting children.

--The major volunteer groups in 2006 were late teens, Baby Boomers and those older than 65.

--A significant number of teens are turning into volunteers because of school-based service programs (like Key Club).

For Kiwanis clubs, this means pay more attention to your teen members (Key Club, etc.), grow your teens into Kiwanians, and look to working women (and more so, working moms), Baby Boomers and retirees as your target groups for new membership.

The full survey, including profiles of volunteering in each region and state, is available at http://www.nationalservice.org/

Eight keys to a healthy Kiwanis club

UC Berkeley's 2007 study on volunteerism in America cited these eight characteristics of a healthy, active, volunteer membership organization:

1. A mission and purpose(s) that are clearly defined and supported by the Board and membership.

2. Members who understand the benefits and responsibilities of membership in the organization.

3. The work of the organization is effectively shared through an active Board or committee.

4. Strong, rotating leadership.

5. Timely and clear communication at all levels of the organization.

6. Planned, effective outreach and integration (orientation) of new members.

7. Programs and activities that meet the needs of the membership and are well planned and attended.

8. Effective utilization and appreciation of the rich mix of resources that individual members bring to the group.
--UC Berkeley