1. What Makes an Excellent Club?
Step 2

2. Determine the characteristics of an excellent club
Objectives of Step 2
Determine the characteristics of an excellent club
Talk about the stumbling blocks that prevent us from achieving excellence
Discuss how to improve your club effectiveness
Find out how your club rates using the How are your Ratings? survey

3. Excellent Characteristics

4. Excellent Characteristics
Service-minded
Good communication
Strong membership program
Retention of members
Effective leadership and club operations

5. What do you think service-minded means?
Providing service projects that are relevant to your community.
We should also take into account our role in global service.

6. What do you think it means to have good communication?
Your community knows about Lions clubs
Every member is informed about projects and meetings
Your club communicates with the district and LCI
Your leaders listen to the concerns of the community and club members

7. Strong Membership Program
What do you think it means to have a strong membership growth program?
Focus efforts on attracting concerned, active and energetic people to join in service
Attract members who understand the need for new Lions to help fill the needs in their community

8. Retention of Members
Why do you think it is important to retain current members? What do you think are some ways we can retain members?
Retention means ensuring that every member enjoys their membership
Clubs should promote involvement, welcome members into meetings and provide opportunities for growth

9. Effective Leadership and Club Operations
Do you know what it means to have effective Leadership?
Effective leadership means clubs should strive to develop any and all Lions that desire to be in a leadership role
What do you think it means to have effective club operations?
Club Operations refers to keeping up to date on reports and other club information.
The purpose of writing a report is to identify your clubs strengths and weaknesses.

10. Group Activity
Make a list of obstacles that prevent you from reaching each excellent characteristic.
What prevents us from:
Providing good service?
Having good communication?
Having a strong membership program?
Keeping members?
Having effective club operations?

11. “We have a very good club and are well thought of in the community.”
Do any of these comments sounds like they could have come from your club members?
“We have a very good club and are well thought of in the community.”
“It is a great organization and my wife and I are both proud to be charter members of our club.”
“I love being a Lion. I think it is a great organization that serves the community in so many ways. It is a very good opportunity to meet new people.”
Satisfaction survey results from new and former Lion club members in Constitutional Area 1

12. Or, do you think comments from your members sound more like this?
“My Lions club experience led me to think this is a good ole’ boys club that does not warmly welcome women or minorities.”
“I am leaving the Lions club. I do not want to spend all of my time fundraising. We had four different fundraisers going at one time.”
“The local Lions club has a lot of talkers, but no doers. They meet once a week to eat supper and talk about the weather.”
Satisfaction survey results from new and former Lion club members in Constitutional Area 1

13. Elements to Improve Club Effectiveness

14. Elements to Improve Club Effectiveness
Service projects
Communication
Membership growth
Club development
Leadership training

15. Work on projects relevant to your community
Service Projects
Work on projects relevant to your community
Conduct a Community Needs Assessment at least every 3 years
Review programs annually to ensure club projects are relevant to the community
Adopt new service projects regularly so members don’t feel burnt out
Balance fund raising and service projects while involving a majority of club members

16. Communication
Communicate regularly with club members, your community, your district and Lions Clubs International
Internal
Maintain club Web site
Publish a club newsletter
Provide a membership directory
Present member recognition and awards
External
Post flyers on community bulletin boards
Place ads in local church or other places of worship’s bulletins
Advertise and promote your club in local media

17. Membership Growth
Implement an ongoing membership program, set goals and elect an active membership committee
Invite new members to join
Establish a club membership committee
Complete a membership report at every meeting
Establish an orientation schedule
Host an annual membership drive
Promote membership retention – care for those who serve as much as those we serve

18. Induction, orientation, mentoring and evaluation
Club Development
Induction, orientation, mentoring and evaluation
Induct, inform, involve and mentor new members
Promote strong and active club administration
Pay dues and club accounts, and file reports in a timely manner
Hold regular, well planned club meetings
Have regular board of directors meetings and report actions to club members

19. Leadership Training
Develop leadership skills by participating in club officer training, forums and conventions
Fill all major offices by qualified Lions
Elect a chairperson for each committee
Rotate leaders each year
Have club leaders attend district leadership training
Encourage club presidents to strive to obtain the President’s Excellence Award

20. Group Activity
Divide into groups. Each group will be assigned one or more elements:
Service projects
Communication
Membership growth
Leadership training
Club development
Make a list of any resources you think would be helpful to support your assigned element.

21. Member Satisfaction Survey Results
Listening to your members can provide your club with ideas on what could use improvement:
Service
“I felt the club was more of a fundraising organization than a real service organization.”
“I would have liked to have been involved in more worthwhile projects.”

22. Member Satisfaction Survey Results
Communication
“There needed to be more direct contact other than at meetings.”
“Our club lacked communication. Every Lion should be informed of all club activities.”
Membership growth
“The club is aging…and not updating itself to appeal to younger members or females.”
“Our club had gotten quite small and had difficulty recruiting new members, so we chose to disband.”

23. Member Satisfaction Survey Results
Leadership
“There was a lack of general guidance and I did not feel that the decisions always reflected what Lionism is all about.”
“Members in my club did not allow other members to become office holders.”
Club development
“My club was is a top-down organization out of touch with today’s leadership best practices.”
“I overheard that I was to be inducted in a ceremony and was never personally asked or informed.”

24. How Are Your Ratings?

25. How Are Your Ratings?
A survey is a good opportunity to signal the most important elements your club can improve on.
Have you administered the How are your Ratings? survey to your club in the past?
What were the results?
Did you make any changes because of these results?

26. How Are Your Ratings? Comparison
Take a few minutes to fill out the How are your Ratings? survey
Fill it in with the responses you think you will get from your club members
After your club completes the survey, compare it to the one you filled out

27. How Are Your Ratings?
The How are your Ratings? survey offers insight into the state of your club, showing both its strengths and weaknesses.
Your results will be reviewed in Module 3

28. This Completes Step 2
In step 3, you will be discussing the results of the Community Needs Assessment, the How Are Your Ratings? Questionnaire and we will be looking at resources that may be of specific interest to your club.
Any Questions?