What Makes an Excellent Club? Step 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

Excellent Characteristics

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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?

“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

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

Elements to Improve Club Effectiveness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

How Are Your Ratings?

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?

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

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

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?