Using the NEW News of Mighty Ninth

If you didn't receive the first issue of News of Mighty Ninth for this biennium, please let me know ASAP.

Look! In your inbox! It's a pamphlet! It's a newsletter! NO ... It's a MAGAZINE! That's right, the News of Mighty Ninth, commonly referred to as our District Service Bulletin, took on a new format for the 2013-2015 biennium, and the first issue is out now. Jan Skinner of the Richardson Club is our editor, and she's done a terrific job with coordinating content and making all that news into real information you can use immediately within your Club.


The magazine will be presented in two distinct parts. The first part will be our feature stories, all about a central topic. If you'll take a look at this issue, you'll see that we've announced that this is the SERVICE issue: All the feature stories will relate to taking our service to the next level. (The fall issue will be the COMMUNICATIONS issue, so if you have a good question or topic for that issue, let Jan know!)

This issue's SERVICE articles include:

• Literacy Month 101: Success in September begins now
• Make A Difference Day: How will your Club be making a difference?
• There's No Reason NOT to Submit Award Entries
• 10 No-Cost Service Projects to Implement Now
• Free Money: Making Grants Work for You
• Service on the District Level: What the District Program Team Can Do for Your Club

In most issues (this one is an exception because we have a substantial Conference Wrap-Up in the middle), we will follow the features section with our regular District Nine news. In each issue, you will find short updates from our District Nine committees, a membership report card, a list of new members and their sponsors, and articles from our program team and from our members.

This issue's District News articles include:

• Dallas Club's Project Receives $6,000 Disaster Relief Grant
• Convention Preview: Altrusans on the Move
• Saying Goodbye to Past Governor Fran McDonald
• Member Retention
• The One New Club Initiative
• What Kind of Leader Are You?
• Starting an ASTRA Club Is Easy
• Service Spotlight on several of our clubs (send in yours!)

The District Nine magazine is yours to use any way you wish. Take some time to read through the articles and increase your Altrusa knowledge. Print out a copy or two and lend it to a prospective member, or mail it to a former Altrusan who might consider coming back. Work with your Club to submit articles for the next issue. Adapt one of the articles as an Accent for your next meeting. There are lots of ways to use it!

Update on West, Texas, Library Project

Today I had the pleasure of talking with Jan Hungate, Assistant Superintendent of West ISD.  I explained to her that Altrusa Dallas had undertaken a service project specifically to assist our neighbors in West, Texas, as we understood all too well how devastating the tragedy had been to the local community, and the near-impossible task to try and rebuild. I also advised her that several of our sister clubs were also asking how they could assist.

In truth I think it is fair to say Ms. Hungate was initially wary of our offer of assistance – as it turns out there has been a lot of “talk” by other organizations on how they could help, but most of that had come to nothing. When I told her of the progress we had already made, Ms. Hungate was stunned, to say the least. She asked me to pass on her thanks to all concerned and will assist us in whatever way she can.

We discussed a number of logistical questions, and Ms. Hungate shared the news that they are bringing ALL the local children back to school in the district this fall. There is a site currently under preparation and the children will be taught in portacabins. Two smaller portacabins have been designated for use as libraries. This will fit in very well with our plans to help. Ms. Hungate has a list of all the books that the school previously had in the library, and she is going to ask the teachers if they can prioritize a list which we can then work from.

She also mentioned that one of the suppliers they have used for library services had gifted 24 boxes of books to them. At this time they do not know what books those boxes contain, nor if they are age-appropriate. Until now they have not had the resources to allocate some manpower to this task. I have suggested to Ms. Hungate that we may be able to assist with some woman-power, and we will work to come up with a suitable date and time. Governor Beth Blair has suggested that some of the local clubs may want to assist with this smaller project, and we certainly would welcome them.

I will be in regular contact with Ms. Hungate as our project gathers pace, and will endeavor to keep everyone informed of any needs or areas that require attention, as well as more specific plans for further fund-raising.

On a personal note I wish to thank all those who are helping me with this project – I am humbled by your wealth of knowledge and willingness to give of yourself so graciously.

Gillian Allen7.2.2013

What's Going On in SW Dallas County?

Altrusa International of Southwest Dallas County will partnership with our adopted school, Cockrell Hill Elementary in DeSoto, Texas this 2013-2014 school year.  Starting this August our plans are to keep students and parents involved with a service literacy project or service literacy activities every month.  We will be doing Parents Night at the school, where Altrusa will introduce a different literacy activity to be done for grades K-5^th.  A record will be kept on the student’s performance.  At the end of December and May Altrusa will give away something, for example a bicycle or a gift card to a student with the highest points.  If a tie, the names will go into a pot and one name will be pulled.   We intend to focus our effort on LITERACY!

Versie Lusk
2013-2014 President
Altrusa International Inc. of Southwest Dallas County

Get your Club featured on the District Nine blog; just send something to Governor Beth!

June Top Ten: Ways to Make Every Day "Add an Altrusan Day"

From our fabulous Membership Development Committee comes this month's Top Ten list:

Ways to Make Every Day "Add an Altrusan Day"

1. Wear your Altrusa pin every day for a month, and have your elevator speech ready!
2. Write your own Top Ten list about why you love being an Altrusan, and post it to your Facebook page. (It is Facebook Friday, after all!)
3. Choose someone from your office to invite to your next meeting or service project, and keep going until you get a "YES!"
4. Make donations to the International (or your Club) Foundation in honor of friends' and family's birthdays and other special occasions.
5. Add a great Altrusa signature to your personal email.
6. Create an "Altrusa" board on your Pinterest account, and pin great ideas for service projects, meeting decorations, or anything else that sparks your fancy.
7. Look up old friends and make an Altrusa meeting or other event the place where you reconnect.
8. Ask your spouse to invite a potential Altrusan to join you at the next meeting.
9. Put a collection box--for pop tabs, books, toys, or whatever your Club is collecting--in your office at work with a sign that clearly shows Altrusa.
10. Have Altrusa business cards made, and give them to every person you meet for the first time.

Do you have an idea individual members can use to make every day "Add an Altrusan Day"? Send them to Governor Beth. And keep your eyes open for a kit of materials that will help you plan for and celebrate "Add an Altrusan Month" (April) like never before.

Fundraising Q&A

Here’s a few questions (and answers) for you about fundraising…

Why do we need to fundraise?  Fundraising is an essential part of service. Your club will have to have money to do the wonderful service projects it wants to do. Start early and remember no idea is a bad idea. Know your goal and your purpose for the funds you are raising and know your limits. Tell people what service project(s) the funds provide. Make your event unique. Provide a quality service or product so people will remember your club and ask you to participate next time! Be sure to thank those who helped you and patronize the businesses of donors and suppliers.  Then the next time you ask them, they will want to help!

Our club is raising funds through an event open and advertised to people other than our club members. Does this mean all the money we raise has to be used only for our club’s service projects or can we use it for our operating expenses or even to send delegates to District Conference?

Any funds raised from outside the club’s members must be used for Service projects, none can go to club’s operating expenses.

Our club wants to have a raffle. Can the prize be money?
No. Any other prize is acceptable according to Texas laws, just not cash.

For more details go to Texas Attorney General’s website at www.oag.state.tx.us.

Make your fundraising event profitable for your club in more ways than one.  Consider making your fundraising event a way to meet and recruit new Altrusans.  Make it a FUN event, introduce guests to Altrusa and your club members, learn more about your guests and ask if they would be interested in becoming Altrusans. Have club info available and include upcoming events. Be sure to follow up with them to answer any questions they have. Invite them to your meetings and service projects as well and soon you will have more Altrusans in your club!

Make your fundraiser a success.  The more people who know about your club, what you are raising the funds for, the better! Publicize your fundraisers in the local newspaper, local magazines, local radio stations, local cable stations, set up a separate Fundraising Facebook page, other Altrusa clubs.  Get your communications committee to help. Be sure to send your fundraising event dates and info to District Nine so we can also help you get the word out. Email your fundraising event dates and stories (with photos/videos) to me at janelle@apextrading.com and I’ll help get the word out by sharing them with Governor Beth, the District Nine board, past governors and current club presidents. The District Nine Communications Committee is working on YouTube videos, Facebook posts, and helping with local club and district publicity.

Janelle Williamson
Second Vice Governor/Fundraising Committee Chair

Let your voice be heard! Guest blogs are always welcome, so write about an Altrusa topic that is dear to you and send it to Governor Beth at bethelene@tx.rr.com.

Books for West: A Districtwide Service Project

On June 24, Governor Beth Blair received word from International Foundation Board of Trustees Chair Ann Marie Snyer that the Altrusa Club of Dallas Foundation had received a $6,000 grant for its library book project for the schools in West, Texas, that were destroyed in the horrific explosion there on the Thursday night before our 2013 District Nine Conference.
 
Dallas' newest member, Gillian Allen, was already thinking and formulated a fabulous service project on her own. With the seed money from the International, Gillian is leading the Dallas Club and all District Nine Clubs in a two-year project that will make an enormous impact. Here are Gillian's thoughts about the vision for the project.

"Two days before my first conference, a deadly explosion ripped through the town of West, Texas. I have been to that town to work. I know some of the people there. As I sat through various seminars and gatherings at Conference, my mind frequently returned to thoughts of the area. But what could I do? I am one person. I am not wealthy. Yet the one gift that I myself received early in life was the joy of reading. I can remember visiting my local libraries, both at school and in my community, and the joy, the peace, the contentment I found in books. To this day I am a bookworm. I make no apology for it. So on my way home from conference I decided I had to do something. I had listened to many speakers talk about service projects and the idea that had sparked them, and thought to myself “How do I do this?” I called Beth and asked the question. I told her I knew there had been significant damage to the schools, and I wanted to find some way to help. Over the next few days and then weeks, we learned that two schools would require complete demolition, and a substantial portion of a third would need to be razed to the ground and then rebuilt.

My vision for this project is, first and foremost, to give books to the library of the Intermediate school. I want the children to know that people in their wider community are still thinking of them, and to give them a refuge in books. We can give them that escape into books that I cherish to this day.

I intend to utilize every resource and personal contact we can to obtain corporate matching of our funds. I believe that success in our group fund-raising efforts will fuel further success and help us give more to the school.

I am also very cognizant of the fact that our clubs need members. To encourage people to look at our organization as an endeavor worthy of their time, talents and potential monetary contributions, we have to let them know we exist. By going into our communities and talking about how we intend to help our neighbors, we demonstrate by our actions what we are: who we are.

 

I also think that one of our greatest strengths is our network of clubs. Alone, I can do very little; together we can do mighty works. I love that other clubs have heard of our project and asked to share in it. We are united in our intent to help our neighbors, and it unites us as clubs, as districts, as a national organization too.

Gillian is a visionary. It's our hope that you will catch the vision, too. To help, email Governor Beth Blair (bethelene@tx.rr.com).

More Thoughts on Retention

Some thoughts on member retention:  Most clubs have (or should have) a process to determine why members fail to renew, but does yours have a process to evaluate why people remain members? Do you do a survey of your members every year to evaluate how your club is doing in the member’s eyes? To evaluate projects? To suggest new projects? Clubs are only as strong as their members. To keep your club strong you need to understand why it is strong, and if it’s not a strong as you’d like do you know why it’s not?

Members remain Altrusans because Altrusa fills a need (often many needs) in the member’s mind and heart.  Some of these reasons are a sense of belonging to something worthwhile, having a feeling of accomplishment and having other women to relate to and rely on…a sisterhood. Building that feeling of sisterhood can strengthen your club. And while doing service together certainly can accomplish that to a certain extent, having a chance to know your members as friends can add a different dimension to the relationships among members.

So how do you encourage that feeling of sisterhood? How about having activities that you do together just because you like each other and want to be together? How about arranging a quarterly lunch (or dinner) that is available to whoever is available to come.? How about a book club? How about a shopping trip? Or visiting a museum or concert together? Or whatever else you and your Altrusa sisters like to do! Maybe even look at forming a “committee” just to plan those fun things for your club to do, which gives you a chance to get to know your Altrusa sisters as people, without the pressure of having to perform some service. This is a wonderful accomplishment in itself.

I look forward to sharing ideas with you about what your club does or could do to build another dimension of your Altrusa bond. Contact me at bobbiklein@gmail.com.

Altrusa Hugs,

Bobbi Klein
Membership Development Committee Co-Chair (Retention)