Women Lions Recruitment and Retention

2 PURPOSE AND GOALS What’s Past is Past – Looking at the Future Most clubs with women grow in size, have more new diversified service activities, and embrace more new fund-raising efforts.

3 Why Focus on Women? Amendment passed in 1987 Today - 229,469 women Lions (as of June 30, 2004) % of Lions membership Comparison: - Lions – 16.8% women - World – 52% women

4 WOMEN LIONS RECRUITED IN Worldwide60,182U.S.18,213Other41,569 Percent NET INCREASE IN VIRGINIA 24-A6224-B-1 24-C3524-D12 24-E2024-F25

5 JUNE 30, 2004 MEMBERSHIP IN VIRGINIA DistrictWomenMenTotal 24-A 4571,5692, B 2481,3371, C 4281,5071, D 3771,4661, E 2051,0671, F ,187

6 PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN LIONS IN MD A JUNE JUNE B JUNE JUNE C JUNE JUNE D JUNE JUNE E JUNE JUNE F JUNE JUNE MD 24 JUNE JUNE

7 MEMBERSHIP STATS VIRGINIA WOMEN – Net increase of 153 MEN – Net decrease of 277 TOTAL MEMBERSHIP – Net decrease of 124

8 Membership July 1- August 30, 2004 DistrictWomenMenWomenMen 24-A B C D E F MD

9 Number of Clubs No Female Members District 24-A9 District 24-B9 District 24-C 10 District 24-D5 District 24-E9 District 24-F9 WHAT IS YOUR CLUB’S PROFILE/IMAGE?

10 Tools Used to Succeed in “I am a Lion” Brochure District Governor’s Award Women Chairpersons Waiver of entrance fee

11 “I am a Lion” Purpose - Used by Lions to recruit women members Function - Development, content, tone, and emphasis guided strongly by results of Lions Women’s Workshop Communicating to Women: Brochure

12 “I am a Lion” (Continued) Design - High impact  Strong visual presence  Appeals to quality women Lions seek Over 170,000 brochures were distributed in Fiscal Year

13 District Governor Award for Recruiting Women Sponsored by International President Lee Pin: Emphasized women and men united in service Rules: District had to show net increase of 25 women versus same period year ago to qualify.

14 Women’s Membership Development and Participation Chairpersons 401 chairpersons appointed in Position: 3-year term 77% of districts had Women Chairperson Average net increase of 23.8 women members for districts with Women Chairpersons

15 Results Over 60,000 women recruited as Lions in A net increase of more than 25,000 women Lions

16 MD Women Chairpersons What worked Working as member of MERL team Appointing sub-district Women’s Chairperson Working closely with the two to develop strategic plans and improve current activities Presenting programs and conducting seminars Publicity Booths at health fairs and other public events Social/informal meetings, inviting community women leaders to participate

17 Women Chairpersons Challenges and Solutions Providing information and presentions to clubs, districts and multiple districts Changing mind set of male clubs to add women Encouraging new clubs to be formed Cliques in Clubs – rotate seating Lack of club leadership – organizing leadership training

18 Women Chairpersons What is being done differently this year? Expand on the work done last year Increase number of club visits to raise awareness and initiate plan for women growth Conduct more panels at conferences/conventions, featuring new women Lions

19 Women Chairpersons What is being done differently this year? (Continued) Increase focus on retention of current and new members Encourage all MERL teams to include women chairperson

20 POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES FOR MAINTAINING INVOLVEMENT AND INTEREST Strong leadership at club and district levels Effective orientation sessions Great meetings – interesting Efficiency (no time wasted) New/innovative ideas Community-oriented fund raisers Hands-on community service Acceptance by all members Sponsor fulfillment of responsibilities Immediate involvement in areas of interest

21 Positive Attributes Open/friendly, no cliques Cost – dues are a bargain Open to family/spouse participation Value added training in useful skills Fun Solid Budget/Finance Members treated like family

22 What Do You Think? Is your club better off today, than a year ago? If more women were in leadership positions… would more women become Lions? How do we attract more individuals, regardless of gender, to be Lions? What should the goals of Lions Clubs International be?

23 What’s New in International Officers’ Growth Initiative (IOGI) Symposium Continuation of District Governor and Women Chair Recognition

24 IOGI = International Officers Growth Initiative Created to increase membership worldwide by 5% (68,400 net gain) Team – 6 Lion Leaders (IOGI officers), all (33) members of International Board, 746 district governors, 46,000 club presidents, and 1.4 million Lions IOGI goal will be surpassed if every Lions club has net gain of two

25 Lions Women’s Worldwide Symposium The purpose of the Lions Women’s Worldwide Symposium Program is three-fold: 1)to identify new community projects that are of interest to women; 2)to identify potential members; and 3)to promote Lions clubs within the community.

26 Lions Symposium Partnering with the Community Chamber of Commerce American Red Cross Junior Women’s Clubs Americorps Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association of Trial Lawyers of America United Way Girl Scouts American Association of University Women Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) Nurses and Physicians’ associations Holding a symposium offers Lions clubs the chance to partner with other service groups in the community, such as:

27 Symposium Funding Component The Lions Worldwide Women’s Symposium program funding component Up to $2,000 to help defer symposium costs  14 symposiums are budgeted for FY

28 How to apply To receive LCI funding: Women Chairpersons may apply according to application guidelines and the Rules of Audit outlined in the Symposium Planning Guide (MP101). or , ext.  The guide contains complete details regarding the funding aspect of the program as well as a grant application.  To receive funding, Symposium must be pre-approved by LCI Extension and Membership Division.

29 Symposium Guide Lions Symposium Guide (MP101) The guide offers step-by-step suggestions for:  determining an event theme  choosing a partner organization  setting a date  finding a location  planning the presentation  inviting speakers  inviting participants  adding additional elements to the event  publicizing the event.

30 Symposium Guide (Continued) The guide also contains: an event planning timeline/checklist suggested presentation schedule sample publicity materials an action plan form to help set goals and design programs to meet the needs identified during the symposium

31 What Do You Think? What is the next step for LCI? What are you going to do? What are you waiting for?

32 Thank You