How Can My Lions Club Grow?

It’s hard to find someone to join a Lions Club. Here is a question. Is it harder to find one new Lions Club member or two new Lions Club members? In some instances, it is harder to find rather than two. Why is that? 

FVDG/DGE Andy Kalinowski
A goal of the North American Membership Initiative (NAMI) is to increase membership by one for each Lions Club in District 30-M by June 30, 2021. That seems achievable on the surface. There are some challenges to finding one new Lion. 

Many people do not want to join anything unless they realize they share a common interest with the existing members. If Abe and Bob are friends, it makes sense to speak to both of them about joining a Lions Club at the same time. If they accept, they know right from the beginning they will know someone. 

Like most service organizations, Lions serve a community. That community could be a large city like Tupelo, or a small community such as Mantachie, Marietta or Dorsey. But there is another way to interpret the word community. 

Several Lions Club have found success by forming a branch club. A branch can exist with as few as five members. The key factor is all those members share something in common. 

One such commonality could be their occupation. The interest needs to be broad enough to include many facets of the common occupation. As an example, a number of healthcare professionals could form a branch Lions Club. A doctors-only club would exclude nurses, technicians, pharmacists, administrators or home healthcare workers. A financial branch could include bank employees, insurance agents, realtors, investment counselors, etc. Keep the branch broad. 

There is another type of branch club to consider. This one involves a common hobby. Motor cycle riders, hunters, military veterans and gardening are some examples. Some Lions Clubs have very active cyber clubs. Those clubs meet exclusively on the Internet to plan service projects. They meet face-to-face for service. 

Forming a branch club only takes five men or women with a common interest. That interest can be an isolated rural community, an occupation or a hobby. Achieving the NAMI goal of a net membership increase still takes work. That work may be easier than you think.

We Serve because Kindness Matters 

Lion Andy Kalinowski (Andy K)
First Vice District Governor / District Governor Elect
662.549.3421
http://www.mississippilions.org/ 

https://www.facebook.com/Lions30M

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