Have a one-day attendance boost. Call it BAG Day…for Bring-A-Guest Day. To promote BAG Day, give each club member three posters to be displayed at work or other noticeable venues about three or four weeks ahead of the event. Two weeks before BAG Day, mail reminder letters or postcards to each member. Be sure to talk about the upcoming date at every meeting.
Get creative with some of these ideas!
1) Theme meetings
Themed events can be fun and help develop comradeship…plus some friends and spouses may choose to join! Invite members and guests to get into the spirit by dressing up, according to the theme.
October.....................
|
Officer Installation Dinner—make this a high priority |
November/January......
|
Holiday Party |
| February.................... |
Valentine’s Dinner |
April/May...................
|
Mystery Dinner Theater—with local drama group, very popular |
June–August..............
|
Club Picnic and Auction—have everyone bring something “nearly new” to auction off, with proceeds
going to your administration fund or toward a special need for the club |
2) Prospective member focus day
Focus on inviting a particular group of prospective members to come and plan a fun meeting around it:
New Year’s..............
|
bring a new acquaintance to the meeting |
St. Patrick’s Day......
|
bring an Irish friend |
Memorial Day...........
|
bring a longtime friend |
Labor Day................
|
bring a co-worker |
Boss’s Day..............
|
bring your boss |
Thanksgiving............
|
bring someone you are thankful is in your life |
Everyone should be bringing someone to every meeting, but sometimes a special focus on guests reminds your members to extend that invitation. Just break the routine and make it fun and exciting!
3) Membership contests
Focus on these fundamentals:
- Be brief. The contest should last no longer than a month—that’s just four meetings if you are meeting weekly.
- Be competitive. Divide into two or four teams of 10–12 members. Let each team pick a name.
- Keep score.
| |
Member attends = 1 point
|
| |
Visitor attends = 2 points |
| |
New member joins = 3 points |
| |
Make a huge scoreboard and update it weekly. |
- Be loud. Have mailings to every member every week. Announce scores.
- Be creative. Come up with a theme:
| |
“Cream Puff Bowl,” like the Super Bowl, with the losing team providing homemade ice cream to the winners.
|
| |
“Steak Out Contest,” stake out new members, with losers providing grilled steaks for the group.
|
| |
Any sports theme, such as a “Baseball Tourney,” like Cards vs. Cubs, with losers providing a hot dog feast. |
- Be friendly, and then some. Make sure every visitor is greeted by every member and made to feel like royalty. Greet them at the first of the meeting and again right before you close your meeting, encouraging every member to shake their hand. Never let a visitor sit by themselves for more than 30 seconds. Emphasize this with your club over and over before you start the contest.
- Be good sports. Remind your club that the whole purpose of this contest is to get new members. It doesn’t really matter which team wins—everyone wins when the club grows. Have fun!
- Be timely. There is no bad time to have an attendance contest, but during the winter seems best, before fishing, golfing, planting, etc. starts.
Remember to promote, remind, reward, and have fun!