Clubs boost membership

Many Kiwanis clubs made significant increases in membership over the past few years.

Membership in the Southport-Oak Island, North Carolina, Kiwanis club ballooned, going from 10 members in 2001 to 62 today. According to club president Dick Stover, the gains can be accredited to the club taking advantage of growth in its community.

“We live in a retirement community,” Dick says. “For a number of years we have sponsored an open house, which has been quite successful in gaining new members. Each of our members is encouraged to invite at least one potential new member. The informal invitation is followed up by a formal invitation in the mail.”

One of the main selling points, according to Dick, is that they have young people at the open house to answer questions from the potential members.

Another club that recently increased membership dramatically is the Kiwanis Club of Tyler, Minnesota. With only 19 members in 2001, today there are 32 Tyler Kiwanians.

“We basically sat down, thought of people in the community who would make good members, and sent them a letter,” says past president Chuck Hunt. “The letter was followed by an invitation to a meeting, and we gave them information about our club and about Kiwanis. Then we just invited them to join.

“Several of the people told us they’d thought about joining Kiwanis but had just never acted on it.”