Your post has selected you as membership chairman to coordinate and direct membership development teams' activities. To build membership, start by creating three membership development teams:
When choosing your New Member and Retention teams, select Legionnaires who are reliable and "go-getters."
Members who are on the two specialty teams are also on the Contact Team. To effectively use the Contact Team, post leadership and you - as membership chairman - should restrict membership development teamwork to the local community area, as applicable.
The geographical borders of the local post community should cover the local business-trading zone, industrial complex zone and immediate residential neighborhoods.
Some features of the area should give it high potential for successful membership development, including:
Post leaders prepare plans and make necessary arrangements for post-sponsored events that are scheduled on the post calendar. Such events could include an Americanism rally or fireworks, a post membership breakfast or dinner, a post open house, an American Legion birthday party, a dance, a children's day, a Halloween carnival, a fun-run marathon competition, a tractor-pull competition, and a talking Christmas Tree or Santa Claus hotline for children.
The membership chairman directs the Contact Teams working the event to identify and attempt to solicit membership from eligible veterans. When a prospective member is hesitant to join, the membership chairman assigns a member or members from one of the specialty teams to personally meet the prospect and give him or her information about joining the post. The prospect who joins is admitted to all future post events free of charge or for a nominal fee, if needed.
The membership chairman and Contact Team build a list of contact methods to locate potential members in the surrounding area. Some might include phone solicitation; door-to-door area canvassing; building relationships with local media, churches, and civic and fraternal clubss to create and share newsletters, posters orcountertop displays; writing letters to the editor of local newspapers; apublic information booth, table or van; sponsoring a local youth sports team; and post-sponsored community service programs such as a community health fair, child abuse/missing children fingerprint program, a civil-defense disaster emergency preparedness test or a teen drug-abuse program.
The membership chairman and Contact Team choose a specific contact method - mail, phone or door-to-door solicitation - and establish a specific calendar schedule for using it, as well as identify where to apply it.
The membership chairman then directs the Contact Team, and as contacts are made, potential members are identified and asked to join the post.
When the Contact Team meets a potential member who is hesitant or has a question about the Legion that it is unable to answer, the membership chairman assigns a member or members of one of the specialty teams to meet and talk with the prospect.
Specialty Team members persuade all eligible prospects they meet to join.
The New Member Team specializes in convincing eligible prospects to join the post. Team members should be persuasive speakers who are comfortable talking with people, especially strangers, and proven "go-getters" with good working knowledge of the Legion, its organization, purpose, history and services.
The New Member Team also compiles a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers for all eligible prospects who would not join the post. The Contact Team uses this list for future contact efforts.
The Retention Team specializes in persuading former Legionnaires to renew membership in the post. The team also develops a list of possible retention methods to be used to build annual membership renewals, as well as member involvement and interest. Among several retention methods are surveys of membership comments/preferences for programs, activities and services; special member coupons; telephone greetings and well-wishing; direct mail; aost newsletter; a ost commander's personal letters; member-only social events; home-bound member visitation; theShare-A-Ride program; post group tours; a member Program Fair; family night dinner; an Auxiliary recognition/appreciation night; aather/son or father/daughter dinner; and a mother/son or mother/daughter dinner.
The success of the team concept in membership building is directly related to post members' willingness to participate and assume the responsibility for planning, organizing and directing post events. Success is measurable by the amount of individual effort, time and concern given to carrying out one's duties.
The team concept is equally adaptable at district and department levels where far greater resources are available for team membership, and where team members can be selected from an array of posts.
District Team efforts should be primarily directed to building membership in the district's weak posts, or in newly chartered posts in need of growth to develop and sustain its programs and the American Legion home.
District officers select the district membership chairman and members for the three district teams. Special attention is given to selecting of the best workers from across the district for District Team membership.
District leaders and district membership chairman choose the posts needing help, the contact method to employ and the calendar of events, as well as planning and organizing the events themselves.
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