5 steps to growth through Two For Two

5 steps to growth through Two For Two

Jan 31, 2024 | Club building, General interest | 0 comments

Kiwanis clubs are finding members through our membership program. Here’s a quick way to get your club started. 

By Tony Knoderer 

Have you and your fellow club members heard of Two For Two but don’t know how to begin? Try these five steps: 

  1. Decide to increase your club’s impact. It starts with commitment. After all, membership growth is not a one-time campaign or event. It’s a continuous club operation. Inspire your club to make that commitment — to help more kids in the community.  
  1. Download the Two For Two guide. The guide is filled with pages of information and ideas: who to approach, how to approach them, ways to identify prospects and more. Cards help you follow through on contacts — and they also offer prospect suggestions. Use the guide’s back cover to track your club’s progress.  
  1. Spend a club meeting working the plan. Identify two club members to reach out to two prospects for each of the next several months. Members who work in pairs can support each other and reach more people more rapidly. Refer to the Two For Two guide for help identifying people and personalities your club may be missing.  
  1. Reach out. When recruiting, make an appointment to talk to potential members — rather than “cold calling” or simply showing up at their location. Ask for a date and time.  
  1. Meet with a prospect. While discussing what Kiwanis is about, focus on impact. Potential members need to know what you do, how you do it, why the community needs them and where they can immediately fit. Then invite them to join your club! And remember the key message: Kiwanis is a global organization of members, clubs and partners who are dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. 

Learn more about Two For Two and find helpful materials — including the program guide — at kiwanis.org/twofortwo. 

Can’t find a service project? Just ask.

Can’t find a service project? Just ask.

Dec 21, 2023 | Club building, General interest | 1 comment

Instead of waiting for ideas to come to you, reach out to others who serve. 

By Thomas J. Jankowski, board member, Garden City Kiwanis Club, Michigan, U.S.

Have you looked in your own backyard for hands-on service projects? It’s probably the most overlooked opportunity for clubs!

Our Garden City Kiwanis Club in Michigan, U.S., has partnered with other service clubs, but we were lacking opportunities with other nonprofit charities. That is, until I had a discussion with Dan Layman, community liaison manager for The Blood Cancer Foundation of Michigan — one of the nonprofit vendors at the Kiwanis Michigan District’s Great Lake Conference.

As we talked, I asked if our club members could help with any hands-on projects. In fact, Layman said, we could. The foundation was about to arrange its annual holiday party for the children it serves. (The Blood Cancer Foundation of Michigan addresses the needs of patients and families in Michigan who are affected by blood cancer.) Could our club members inventory and package toys that were donated for the party?

Of course, our members said yes, and a number of us participated. While there, we were asked if we could volunteer at the party itself, so we supervised art and craft projects with children. It was all a very rewarding adventure. Later we were told that the organization could use our help with other events as well.

The Blood Cancer Foundation of Michigan is not located in Garden City, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is making a better life for the children it serves. So don’t limit yourself to helping only in your community — and don’t wait for a service project to come to you. Reach out. Chat with representatives of other organizations that help children and families. Talk with vendors at Kiwanis events and others. Your next service project could be one conversation away.

Working with others to do more good

Working with others to do more good

Oct 31, 2023 | Club building, Leadership, News | 0 comments

Kiwanis clubs around the world joined other service organizations to help even more communities. 

Community service took center stage September 11-17 for the third annual Celebrate Community, a weeklong joint initiative from Kiwanis International, Lions Clubs International, Optimist International and Rotary International. 

Why collaborate with other service organizations? To help even more communities and kids! Plus, members of participating service organizations had the chance to learn more about one another — and see how teamwork, not competition, makes our world better.  

Kiwanis clubs around the world highlighted their projects on social media using the hashtag #CelebrateCommunity. Here are just a few: 

  • The Kiwanis Club of Hendersonville, North Carolina, U.S., collaborated with two Rotary clubs and a Lions club to collect and deliver 3,760 diapers and 136 packs of baby wipes to the Children & Family Resource Center. Aktion Club was involved too. “Children & Family Resource Center is so thankful to be the recipient of such generosity in our community,” says Jamie Wiener, the center’s executive director. “We provide roughly 400 children each month with diapers and formula so moms and dads don’t have to choose between food, utilities and other expenses over the health and safety of their baby.” 
  • Kiwanians in India, a provisional Kiwanis district, joined forces with Lions Clubs International by painting smiles on the faces of children through the distribution of stationery and vibrant painting colors, all in the spirit of spreading boundless joy.  
  • In Evanston, Illinois, U.S., service clubs collaborated to perform a range of community service activities, culminating in a cleanup at the International Friendship Garden. “The International Friendship Garden is a symbol of community unity, and we are eager to make it shine,” says Evanston Rotary Club President Shawn Iles.  
  • The Kiwanis Club of Grand Cayman co-organized a beach walk with Lions, Optimist and Rotary club members, raising more than $1,000 for the Cayman Islands Community Food Bank.   
  • Club Kiwanis Playas in Panama teamed up with a Lions Club to donate food to students at the El Farallón School. “El Farallón is a fishermen community. These kids mostly belong to families whose economy depend on the catch of the day,” says club President Lanny Lowe. “Food insecurity and malnutrition are issues that the school helps solve, and Club Kiwanis Playas looks forward to the school having enough food supply to feed the kids.” 
  • The Kiwanis Club of Lebanon, Indiana, U.S. co-hosted an intergenerational ice cream social for more than 120 senior living community residents, family members and Lebanon High School students. “It was a great night for all involved,” says Amy Hammerle, Lebanon Kiwanis Club president. “Coming together with the Lebanon Lion and Rotary clubs to serve these special seniors was rewarding and so much fun.”  
  • Kiwanis and Circle K International members in Ontario, Canada, collaborated with Rotary Club members to fill backpacks with school supplies for kids in need. “I enjoyed working alongside people I knew who genuinely wanted to help their community,” says University of Windsor CKI member Abdullah Nadeem. “The energy was amazing. I remember how everyone was smiling and trying to match the notebooks with the color of the backpacks, and it was these small gestures that made me realize how much this project meant to the volunteers and how they knew they were making a difference.”

“We are thankful for this wonderful opportunity to have worked with other service clubs to create stronger communities around the world as part of Celebrate Community,” says 2022-23 Kiwanis International President Bert West.

Did you participate in Celebrate Community this year? Don’t forget to submit your joint project for possible inclusion in upcoming Kiwanis communications.