ENGAGE CURRENT MEMBERS

Engage Existing Members

The key to keeping members engaged is making them feel valued and appreciated. Clarify expectations from members. Assess your club experience by asking members questions such as:

• “What do you enjoy most about being a member of our club?”
• “What is our club’s greatest strength?”
• “If you could change one thing about our club, what would it be and why?”

Rediscover your community’s needs and clarify how your Kiwanis club can help. Your local nonprofit organizations or school associations are a great place to start. Use the community needs analysis tool to analyze your impact on the community. Seek feedback from members about the types of service projects they are interested in and what local organizations they are interested in serving. SurveyMonkey and Google Forms are a few useful tools.

Here are 12 steps to excite your members, impress your prospects, and enhance everyone’s Kiwanis experience.

Welcoming New Members

Once a member has joined your club, provide orientation as soon as possible. Get to know them. Discover their interests. Assign them a role within the club. Communicate. And follow up on expectations to keep them engaged.

Here is a new-member orientation checklist and presentation to get you started.

New Member Opportunities

As a member of a Kiwanis club, there are so many ways to get involved:

• Attend club meetings
• Participate in service and fundraising projects
• Attend district conferences
• Visit other club meetings
• Serve on committees
• Run for office

Creating an Events Calendar

Your club meetings, service activities and networking events are your best source for engagement with members.

Develop an events calendar that lives on your website. The key is to keep it updated regularly. You want your members to know they can easily find all the details to stay engaged with your club. You can also include a list of upcoming events in your club communications (an email newsletter, for example). This calendar can serve as a source of social media content as well.