American Legion member Ventura “Ace” Tounsel of Texas presented during the June virtual Training Tuesday session on best practices for welcoming new members.
American Legion member Ventura “Ace” Tounsel of Texas presented during the June virtual Training Tuesday session on best practices for welcoming new members. He provided strategies for making all members feel valued; addressed common issues and ensure inclusivity; provided ways to engage new members through events, websites and social media; and explored training resources. He also discussed the importance of traditions and ceremonies for welcoming new members and provided tips for involving new members in programs and activities.
“We want to make sure we welcome our prospective new members no matter how the inside of our post looks,” he said. “One of the things that we can be uniform on is how we welcome people in.”
Watch the Training Tuesday video.
A few best practices he provided for welcoming new members include:
- Creating a pamphlet that highlights programs the post is active with along with community events.
- Encouraging American Legion Basic Training course
- Educating new members on the different color of Legion caps
- Conducting a new member initiation ceremony with a new member kit (available through Emblem Sales, No. 735.501)
With a new member kit, “They get something in their hand tangible that they can take home and say, ‘Look, I’m a member of The American Legion,’” Tounsel said.
“When I talk about adding value, I’m talking about that new Legionnaire who hasn’t had any training, does not realize the legislative benefits of The American Legion, the folks that are on the Hill fighting for the things that we need to make our quality of life better as veterans. All they know is they paid the dues for their first year and now what? Invest in the initiation certificates and performing an initiation ceremony during your monthly post meeting.”
See page 45 of the 2024 Officer’s Guide on how to conduct an initiation ceremony.
Tounsel also advised to get new members engaged by:
- Having the post commander call new members and introduce to all officers
- Sitting with them at a post meeting
- Inviting them to participate in an upcoming post activity
- Explaining the Legion’s renewal system and how to log in to mylegion.org
- Dispatch