To All Capital District Kiwanis Leaders!
by Gov. Tom Ganse
To all leaders - right down to the clubs where the rubber meets the road - I offer you a hearty CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU for your efforts! As Growth Team Chairman John Tyner notes below, the District has reversed what was shaping up to be record losses through the first half of the year and put a net gain back within reach. Your efforts, each and every one of you, are not only appreciated, but are paying off in terms of more hands to do more service in *your* hometowns. And that's the bottom line.
I am quite hopeful that we will continue this trend through August, especially due to the two new clubs John mentioned. However, I must remind you that September is the worst month of the year as nearly half of our clubs are called to verify their rosters and weed out the dead wood. Plan for it!
I greatly appreciate your ongoing efforts for these many months, but I must ask you to "kick it out" and keep your stride through the next few months to ensure we truly have reversed this 20-year trend. There are literally dozens of clubs currently showing single-digit negative numbers. You are within reach of net growth! For those already in the plus column, build yourself a pad. What a disappointment it would be, to be in the plus most of the year only to go negative in September due to a thoroughly predictable roster purge!
New Club Building is essential to net growth, but so are increased retention, strengthening existing clubs to make them more relevant and attractive, and bringing in friends, co-workers, relatives and neighbors by the "1's and 2's".
There is one area that I *urge* you to check: Every year, clubs come up short because Kiwanis International doesn't account for dozens of new members that clubs think they've recruited. The biggest reason? Submitting an application isn't the same as submitting the new member add fee. *Please* make sure you submit the application *and* the check, then *call* International (1-800-KIWANIS) and verify their receipt. The second biggest reason is waiting too late. You may think sending this info in on September 29th gets you under the wire, but those members aren't registered until the applications and payments are received *and* processed by International. Don't wait, and don't get an unpleasant surprise!
I am excited to share your many successes with the entire district later this month at the District Convention. You all have done much to be proud of and I look forward to seeing you there. Thank you, thank you, thank you, not only for everything you do for Kiwanis, but for everything you do to make your communities better places to live!
Be sure to read John Tyner's message below.
With a Kiwanis servant's heart,
Tom Ganse
Governor, 2008-2009
Folks,
For the 6th month in a row, we've had a positive gain over the previous month, July being +41 over our June figures. We are now at 6,512, still -166 below our October 1st figure but moving in the right direction. And it is generally because of our 1's and 2's in most clubs.
For July's figures, we have 16 divisions that had an increase over their June figures, only 3 were below their June figures (last month there were 5 divisions under their May figures) and two didn't change at all. Our members, the heart of our clubs, are going out and recruiting their friends. That's why our clubs are growing by 1's and 2's - it's the drips that add up to the torrential stream!
We must realize that the next count in August will include, at the very least, YPE +27 and Farmville +30. If our next planned New Club Building areas of Salisbury, MD and Hilton Village, VA bear fruit this administrative year, we'd have a minimum of another +50 new members.
A word of caution to all our LTGs, as well as all of us -- please ask your clubs to re-double their efforts to recruit new members and to solidify their current membership figures so the Capital District can end the year with a PLUS.
In Kiwanis service,
John Tyner, Growth Team Chair
