Member Retention Belongs to Everyone

Here are a few tips for officers AND members to help with membership retention. These steps are not just for the Membership Development Committee! Making the effort isn’t hard, and you’ll find it helps with recruiting new members, too!

Nurture new members. They became Altrusans to get involved, so get them involved! Find out what their passion is, and allow them to implement their own ideas on something that interests them. Ideas: Make sure sponsors are educated in how to mentor their new members, and award high-performing sponsors in your club.
Pitfalls to avoid: Don’t burn out your new members with too much too soon. Don’t assume sponsors know how to mentor new members (even if they’ve sponsored new members in the past)—be diligent in training. Don’t neglect new members in favor of those members who seem to be able to do everything—Altrusa is a builder of women, so give those newer members a chance to strut their stuff!

Nurture seasoned members. Just because they’ve “been there, done that” doesn’t mean they just want to fade into the background. Honor those members for their knowledge and experience. Ideas: Form a past presidents’ council or establish another committee composed only of these sage sisters, who can impart their advice. Place a past president as an “advisor” (formal or informal) on every committee.

Make meetings and other events fun. Plan positive, uplifting programs with your members AND guests in mind. Make sure every single attendee, whether a seasoned member or a first-time guest, has a take-away from every single meeting. Ideas for take-aways: A nugget of Altrusa knowledge, a surprise public recognition for their contribution, a save-the-date card or other action-item reminder, or a simple gift box that says “thank you for coming.” Note: This is a function of each meeting’s chair, not always the president or other officer.

Take an interest in every member. All members should make an effort to greet every other meeting or event attendee personally during social hour or afterward. Ask about their family or their hobbies, and make a real effort to get to know each other. Ideas: Set aside another night for Altrusa each month and have dinner/drinks with the girls, host movie night (compete with theme!), start a book club, or have a work night for the next big project. Make it a family event by hosting a chili or soup cook-off and inviting the guys along as judges.

Hold an orientation and/or a midyear evaluation retreat. Let every member have a part in the presentation, and allow their voices to be heard in midyear evaluations. Then charge the committees with implementing the suggestions they’ve received in the second half of the club year. Pitfalls to avoid: Not following up. Why evaluate if you have no intention of making a change? Positive changes will be noted among your membership, especially if you’re making strides toward correcting something the members are unhappy with.

Recognize achievement. Look for ways to recognize members for their contributions, and do so frequently. Ideas: Longevity awards, acknowledgment of contribution at the district or international level, appreciation for successful project chair, Altrusan of the Month, Bright Idea award. Brag on each other during brag jar time.
Pitfalls to avoid: Make sure you’re acknowledging a genuine contribution, not just a reason to give out an award. Meaningful recognition is powerful, but meaningless recognition can be misconstrued—and embarrassing to the recipient.

Keep everyone informed. You can’t over-communicate. Keep the information simple, and read your communications as if you were the audience: Is everything I need to know in this message?
Ideas: Poll your membership to find out what their preferred method of communication is, whether email, paper, or even telephone (remember those?).
Pitfalls to avoid: Don’t assume everyone knows what you know.

What can individual members do to encourage retention?

• Make an effort to sit next to someone you don’t know (or don’t know well) at every meeting. Start a conversation. Make a new friend!
• Inquire after members who miss meetings to let them know they were genuinely missed. If there’s an action item for the next meeting, let them know, or even suggest the two of you work on it together. (“We’ve been asked to bring school supplies to the next meeting. Would you like to come with me to shop on Saturday?”)
• Retention isn’t just about other members; make sure you’re getting the most out of YOUR membership, too! Strive to attend every meeting and project, and to be involved in planning. Stretch your limits and resolve to learn something new. Attend district events so you understand Altrusa from the inside out.
• Squash conflict immediately. If you’re involved, gather up all your tact, swallow your pride, and work to make amends. If you’re not involved but you see it happening, determine whether a tactful conversation could be had with one party to encourage them to work toward a resolution. Think about it: If conflict is not resolved, it only gets worse, and if it gets worse we could lose our club! Remember that our club’s strength comes from the diversity of its members, and that diversity can lead to differences of opinion. Make our club stronger by respecting those differences rather than fighting them.

Beth’s number one membership retention tip: Love Altrusa, and let it show!

Beth BlairGovernor

Please let your voice be heard. Write your ideas, and send them to Governor Beth for publishing on “Thoughts From the Mighty Ninth.”