If you’re struggling to find prospective members, reach out to these groups in your community.

By Erin Chandler

You’ve recruited family, friends and coworkers to join the Kiwanis family — but your Kiwanis club is always looking for new members to serve the children of the world! Here are five ideas to jumpstart your club’s recruitment efforts outside of your immediate circle.

1. Partner organizations. Think about companies and organizations that believe in your club’s mission and support you throughout the year. Get in touch with their leaders and ask if they would be interested in taking your partnership to the next level by sponsoring a corporate membership in your club — or if they would be interested in joining themselves.

2. Diverse groups and businesses. It’s important to seek a diverse membership, so you get a wide range of service ideas that enrich your club’s impact. Research various business groups and nonprofits — including minority-owned businesses and organizations — that represent the demographics of your community. Seek opportunities to speak during one of their membership or board meetings to promote your club’s contributions to the community. Invite representatives from these groups to speak during one of your upcoming club meetings as well. You can find resources for diversity, equity and inclusion in our club toolbox.

3. New businesses and nonprofits. Scan the local business news and think about inviting owners of recently opened businesses and new nonprofit executives to attend a club meeting. Allow them to make a two-minute plug for their business — and make sure you provide them with Kiwanis membership information.

4. Retired teachers. Invite local teachers who have recently retired to a Kiwanis meeting or service project. These individuals have spent their lives working with kids and might be looking for a new way to continue mentoring young people.

5. Former members. Sometimes Kiwanians leave clubs when they are not fully engaged in activities, when life circumstances do not allow time for Kiwanis — or simply when no one attempts to reinvolve them. However, circumstances can change over time. You can “reMember” people by inviting them to attend a meeting or event, and to follow up with any concerns they might have about the club. Remind them that kids still need Kiwanis in your community and ask them to rejoin.

For more membership resources, visit our club toolbox.

Use these steps to create an efficient club process for finding potential members.  

By Tony Knoderer

Every Kiwanis member plays a role in recruitment. After all, inviting people to club meetings and events is something any member can do. But the strongest Kiwanis clubs support those efforts, making recruitment a part of club culture rather than a collection of individual acts. 

If your club needs to start the work of finding and meeting with people — or needs to refresh everyone’s enthusiasm for it — Kiwanis International can help. We have five steps for creating an efficient recruiting process. Share them and start a discussion in your club: 

1. Develop “cold” and “warm” prospect lists. Your cold list will be made of people you don’t know. Your warm list will consist of people you have a connection with. Fill out index cards with prospects’ names, email addresses, home addresses, telephone numbers and any other information you feel is important.  
2. Assign teams. Teamwork is a successful approach to recruiting because it helps reach more people in more places, more quickly than individuals can. (And you never know who a prospective member will relate to better.) Remember to assemble your teams so each one has a mix of skills, personalities and backgrounds. 
3. Explore the “Community Survey” tool. Part of our suite of Achieving Club Excellence (ACE) tools, the community survey provides you with more ideas on what to say and do. (You can find more information about all the ACE tools in our club toobox.) 
4. Use the roster analysis worksheet. This downloadable resource provides prompts to help you think about people you know in various careers.  
5. Remind members why recruiting matters. Continuing inspiration is one of the most important resources for any club. From club meetings to casual conversations, help your fellow members keep in mind that the larger your club is, the more connections, ideas and skillsets it has — and the more it can do for kids in the community. 

Together, the steps above are a way to plan the work of recruiting. After that, your club can start working the plan. And we have tips for that too! In fact, they’re all in a handy, one-page resource available for viewing or download through our Build. Nurture. Retain. page. You’ll even find tips and tactics for making meetings with potential members successful. 

Want to find even more ways to grow your club? Check out our set of club-strengthening resources