How to make your club more visible 

How to make your club more visible 

Nov 19, 2024 | Club building, General interest, Service projects | 0 comments

Use these ACE tools to raise your community profile. 

By Tony Knoderer

Kiwanis clubs should take pride in their service. After all, improving children’s lives is one of the best things people can do. But when you let others know what you do in their community, something more than pride is at stake. 

The more visible your club and its service are, the more clearly nonmembers see what’s possible — and why joining your club is the best way to help make that possibility a reality. 

Kiwanis International has resources that can help your club raise its public profile. Take a look at these three Achieving Club Excellence (ACE) tools:   

  • Evaluate your impact. Start with an accurate sense of the difference you’re actually making. With this tool, your club can make an honest and thorough assessment of each service project and fundraiser. When you increase or expand your club’s impact, you also increase the number of people in your community with firsthand experience of that impact. 
  • Develop partnerships. When your club networks with local businesses, organizations and others, you create multiple avenues to prominence — from sponsorships for service projects and fundraisers to connections with key people in the community. This tool provides the steps to get you started. 
  • Celebrate success. Taking time to acknowledge the club’s work — and individuals’ contributions— makes everyone feel valued. And making your community part of the celebration can add to the excitement around your club. Use this tool to help determine when and how to celebrate with your community. 

Don’t forget: All these resources can be found on the ACE tools webpage, which includes other common concerns clubs face — and pairs them with the tools that help club leaders address them.   

How to contact local media

How to contact local media

Nov 14, 2024 | Club building, General interest, News | 0 comments

Here are 8 tips for getting television, radio and newspaper attention.

By Julie Saetre

You can do a lot to promote your club online, but don’t neglect traditional media such as television, radio and newspapers (both print and digital versions). These longstanding outlets offer powerful ways to communicate what your club is doing — and why others should join. These tips can help get your message out there: 

  • Choose the right stories. A speaker at one of your meetings probably won’t catch the media’s attention. But a fundraiser for children or a service project where club members will be giving items to children in need has a better chance of getting airtime or publication. 
  • Pick three key messages about a club event. It’s enough information to support why the event will make a good media story, but not enough to overwhelm the reporters you are contacting. 
  • Write a media release. For a service project or other club activity, the document should include who you are, what you will be doing, why you will be doing it and where and when it will be. We provide a free media template in our online PR Tips & Tools Guide. When your release is finished, ask another club member, friend or colleague to review it for grammar, spelling and punctuation.  
  • Focus on the beneficiary. When writing your release, your club’s name doesn’t need to be in the first sentence. Who you’ll be helping should be up front. 
  • Identify a spokesperson. Choose someone who is comfortable delivering messages to be your club’s media contact and representing your club in media interviews. 
  • Identify contacts. Look for reporters who cover children’s issues, philanthropy, education or service. Media websites usually include information about each reporter and what areas they cover. 
  • Send your media release via email. Reporters’ email addresses are usually included with their online information. If not, call the outlet and ask for the news desk (for print publications) or assignment editor (for television and radio). Copy the media release into the body of your email. Don’t send it as an attachment. 
  • Provide your club’s links. Include your club’s website and social media pages and make sure those links are up to date. 

These are just a few of the ways Kiwanis International can help your club communicate with the community. For more tips and resources you can use at any time, check in at our branding and marketing webpage on our website. 

5 tips for regaining members

5 tips for regaining members

Nov 11, 2024 | Club building, General interest | 0 comments

By reMembering, your club also can recruit people who have left or drifted away. 

By Tony Knoderer

Clubs lose members. It’s a fact of life. But it’s usually life itself — including busy schedules, family circumstances and career changes — that causes people to leave.  

The good news: Those are also reasons not to give up on them. With reMember recruitment, you can reconnect with former members or even with current members who have drifted away.

It all begins with five commonsense steps. While you’re on our reMember webpage, you’ll also find tips and ideas for getting started — and for keeping former members in mind on an ongoing basis.

Spread the word to your fellow members and club leaders. After all, membership growth should be a club-wide effort — whether you’re recruiting new members or reconnecting with former and “missing” members. And don’t forget to visit our club toolbox, which offers many other resources for retaining members by keeping them engaged in the club experience.