Leading the Way - A How To Guide for Chapter Leaders
Chapter Leader Positions - Membership

Leading the Way Guide Contents

Other Chapter Positions

Position Description
The key function of the membership committee chair is to keep the chapter vibrant and strong by promoting chapter membership. This is done through the recruitment and prospecting of new members, as well as the retention and renewal of existing members.

Membership is central to your chapter’s success. By developing a plan that spans more than one year, you will focus your chapter’s efforts and have the greatest impact on the membership areas that need development.

There is a national campaign, Cultivating Connections, that will provide tools to help make local recruitment more effective. These tools will include folded “business” cards for prospects to mark their next chapter meeting, flyers and an expanded recruitment brochure. These tools will be sent to you in August and are also available on the Leading the Way CD and at www.nama.org.

Goals
Goals are a measurable objective that the chapter wants to attain. Goals should not be pie in the sky but attainable…by stretching. These can include goals such as:

• Grow membership by 3%.
• Recruit 20 new members.
• Recruit new members from two businesses that currently do not have NAMA members.
• Maintain 95% of current members.

Choose your goals carefully. Don’t overload on goals, but look at what will benefit membership recruitment and retention within your chapter. Focus your goals where they will do the most good.

Strategies
Strategies are the tactics you are going to use to attain your goals. For the goal, “Grow Membership by 3%,” the following could be used:

• Utilize the national membership incentives to recruit new members.
• Direct mail campaign to a list of prospective members by October 15.
• Cash award of $25.00 to any member bringing a prospective member to the meeting.

After you have the goals and strategies developed
As a member of the chapter board, there is a great deal you can do to strengthen membership. These things are not necessarily time-consuming, they just require that you make the effort.

• As a chapter board member, you are a walking example to current and potential members of the benefits NAMA membership provides. Don’t be afraid to share how you have grown personally and professionally due to your involvement with NAMA. Your input does carry clout, don’t discount it.
• Share with other companies the value of having employees involved with the NAMA chapter. You will have many opportunities to share how it has benefited your organization. You are a visible connection to the chapter you represent.
• Involve less active members in the chapter work. Involved members realize the greatest value and are more apt to continue their membership.
• As a chapter board member, contact chapter members who have not renewed their membership. They are host to a great deal of information. Contacting a member whose membership has lapsed allows them the opportunity to share why they have decided not to renew. You may change the direction of their decision and improve membership for your chapter as a whole.

A healthy membership base is an investment in your chapter’s future. This investment doesn’t grow overnight with the efforts of only a membership chair. Membership is the job of the chapter board, the membership chair and all chapter members.