Welcome to 2014! For some of us, ringing in the New Year is about kicking up our heels and having a great time, while for others it’s a time of reflection and motivation. For most, the thought of a New Year Resolution sweeps through their minds at least once. Whether or not the resolution is actually made (and stuck to!), however, depends on the individual.
But what about your organization? Kicking off the New Year in stellar fashion doesn’t need to be something you only consider for your personal life. You can use the “clean slate” to get things more organized and efficient in a professional sense as well. And, of course, the new year is a great time to set goals – whether you want your organization to hold more fundraisers, or grow your membership, or manage your affairs more efficiently online, now is one of the best times to make a plan and put it in place!
For the next few weeks we’ll be posting suggestions about how to get your organization in tip-top shape for 2014. If you’ve got some comments or tips, feel free to message us on Facebook or Twitter (@pay4schoolstuff)!
Resolution #1: Grow Your Membership
There’s no better time than the new year to grow the membership of your organization! While you might be trying to ramp up the number of fundraisers you can host per year, there are probably members of your community who have resolved to get more involved or be more charitable this year, so it’s a win/win.
Looking for ideas on how to recruit your new members? Host an information session. Select an evening sometime in mid-January, when resolutions to get more involved are still fresh in people’s minds and the holiday rush is beginning to fade to a distant memory, and lure your potential new members with promises of coffee, tea, pastries, and do-good fuzzy feelings. During the info session, be sure to highlight not only the great things your organization has accomplished in the last few years, but any new initiatives you’ll be picking up and, of course, the various ways that the new members can get involved. And let recruits volunteer online for your organization’s positions instead of having them fill out a paper form.
If your members have to pay dues or fill out paperwork, let Pay4SchoolStuff.com make it easier for you – we’ll manage their registration fees and keep your documents orderly, so you don’t need to worry about the extra administrative work it takes to grow. And we’ll also make it easy as 1-2-3 to create a membership directory by generating a report of all of your account holders, downloading this to an Excel file, and sending off to have your directory published.
This hits the nail right on the head, Ron. We need to be focused on grotwh, even small grotwh is better than none. We have a pretty good program to share with others and should be proud to do so. What concerns me is that despite the small grotwh, we are currently second of all the districts in the region in grotwh. We need to do better, here in the Heart of Florida and everywhere. My club is getting readty for a membership event- how about yours? Let me know- I’ll come if I can to support you. As they say, let’s do it!