District 30-M Lions Blog

The previous blog entry introduced the concept of forming a branch Lions Club. Let’s delve into that concept a bit deeper. There are some interesting reasons to consider why a branch club can revitalize an existing club. Organizing and chartering a Lions Club requires a minimum of 20 people. A branch club needs a minimum of five people willing to join an existing Lions Club. That’s one main reason to form a branch. There is no such thing as membership in a branch Lions Club. The members of that branch belong to the parent club. It’s the parent’s club membership that grows. The branch has the option to serve independently of the parent club, providing they abide by the Lions Club constitution and by-laws. This is a real advantage to the smaller group. They need someone to act as the branch club president. The branch retains the ability to have other officers but that is optional and discretionary. The secretary for the parent club provides the administrative support for the bran...

A goal of the North American Membership Initiative (NAMI) is to boost membership in each Lions Club. One way to increase membership is through a fairly new concept. The new concept brings together as few as five individuals to form a branch club. Let’s discuss why this is a great idea for any club. As stated above, it takes just five individuals to form a branch to an existing club. The branch club is legally part of the parent club. The branch has the option to operate independently of the parent club with one caveat. The branch must adhere to the constitution and by-laws as well as the code of ethics of Lions Club International. Members of a branch club still pay international dues ($43 a year or $21.50 billed every six months). They still pay district dues ($52 a year or $26 billed every six months). That’s because the branch club is part of Lions Club International. There are many types of branch clubs. Most Lions Clubs have a home within a community, village or city. A branc...

Lions Clubs in the United States have a simultaneous membership campaign this year. Every successful membership campaign requires one thing. A Lion must ask someone to join their club. Let’s discuss reasons why someone would join a Lions Club. The Lions motto is “We Serve”. It only makes sense to ask someone to join who wants to serve others. Serving may be the main reason. There are dozens of reasons why someone joins a Lions Club. Belonging to an internationally recognized organization automatically brings a sense of credibility. Lions have a 103-year reputation of service. When the public sees that large L on the Lions logo, they see a person who cares about the visually impaired. Others join a Lions club for the friendship aspect. People want to feel part of a team. They want to meet others who share similar common interests. They want to make friends while working toward a common goal. Personal enrichment is another reason to belong to a local Lions Club. This is a way to ...

Society faces an interesting dilemma. Most see the coronavirus as infringing of a normal life. A true servant realizes the lockdowns and social distance create an opportunity to serve. Let’s explain. It’s true that the coronavirus caused businesses to closed or reduce operating hours. Some people lost their job. Some lost their second job. Most saw their business reduce hours of operation. These reductions resulted in ordinary people needing help. Lions have a tradition of helping those in need. That tradition dates back to the association’s founding in June 1919. Yes, Lions help the visually impaired. That one unifying service project did not negate the other community service projects. Providing meaningful service to the community does more than help the community. It fulfills the basic needs inside the heart of every Lion. In helping others, we help ourselves. But how can Lions help those in need while maintaining social distancing. Lions in many communities have partnered w...

It does not matter who the actual person is. It does not matter what the organization is. Everyone wants to feel needed and wanted to continue their membership. Lions Clubs are no different. Let’s examine why a person joins an organization and why they continue their membership. The application to Lions Clubs is the same. Everyone wants to feel needed. Everyone wants to feel they belong. Everyone wants to feel their time on Earth makes a difference. That’s why they join an organization. That organization could be a church. That organization could be a professional one. That organization could be social. That organization could be service minded. Paying dues is the cost of membership. Some may disagree with the next sentence. A church member pays dues during the offering. The reason is simple. They feel that particular church fills a void in their life. They want to belong to that church. Let’s state it in another way. A Methodist derives no benefit by contributing to a Baptist Chur...

There is good news and there is bad news with respect to Lions membership. These numbers are very important to the success of the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ). Let’s delve into them. Lions Club International (LCI) reported that District 30-M had 913 Lions on June 30, 2020. A year ago, the District had 1028 Lions. How did we lose over a hundred Lions in a year? Our May 31, 2020 membership stood at 969 Lions. We lost about 60 Lions over an 11-month period. Why did we lose 56 in June? Lions in state leadership positions knew about the financial situation of the Mississippi Lions Eye Bank (MLEB). The MLEB is the only certified eye bank in the state of Mississippi. We had to protect it. At one point, Mississippi had more than 7000 Lions. Today that number is below 2000. The only way to keep the MLEB open was to increase membership dues. After much discussion, a dollar a month per Lion seemed the most logical. State leaders recognized a dues increase would adversely ...

Lions feel the impact of the coronavirus. It’s changed the way we live. It’s changed the way we serve. It’s changed the way interact with others. It’s even changed the way we meet. Lions from the northern half of Mississippi planned to meet in Greenwood tomorrow. The coronavirus forces us to change the meeting format. Lions from the northern half of Mississippi meet quarterly to discuss Lions business. The first two meetings generally last about two hours. These are the July and October meetings. The January and May meetings are in a convention format. Conventions usually begin with supper on Friday night. They end with a banquet on Saturday night. Conventions have the two-hour business meeting. They also include small training seminars. Tomorrow’s meeting has some very important objectives. The meeting minutes must reflect those objectives. Corinth received a $100,000 LionsClub International Foundation (LCIF) grant. That grant helped build a walking track in a public park. ...

Lions love service. Different types of service dates back to the very first Lions meeting. Lions Club International chartered in June 1919. Business leaders then had a broad scope of serving others in the community. That broad scope continues to this day. It’s true that Helen Keller challenged Lions to be her “Knights for the blind in a crusade against darkness” in 1925. That’s why the public associates Lions with helping the visually impaired. That challenge did not forsake the good works in other areas. Officially Lions have five international service projects. They are diabetes, the environment, hunger and pediatric cancer and vision. Wait, there is still more. Lions also support youth. Each year Lions have arts competition for elementary students. One is the Peace Poster contest for 11-12-year old children. They have an essay contest for the same age group. The only requirement to enter an essay is because the child is blind. Youth bands compete at the Lions International Con...

Successful sales people know that the first 20 seconds of any meeting determines if they make a sale or fail to make a sale. That is why each Lion needs to be able to very clearly articulate the exact reason why someone should join their Lions Club. Unfortunately, there is a problem. Not everyone wants to hear the same “elevator” speech. That’s because different people have different needs. Everyone has different goals. Everyone has different skills. In short, there is no “one size fits all” way to convince someone to join a Lions Club. Let’s make the impossible possible. Has anyone asked, “Why are you a Lion?” Be sure you have a clear concise answer. Has anyone asked, “What do you like about Lions?” That merits another type of short answer. “What made you want to become a Lion?” Tell them that story. “What has been your most pleasant experience as a Lion?” There again is another short story. “If I became a Lion, what is my time commitment?” Again, another concise answer. ...

Today is Friday, July 10 th . Something exciting is happening in Columbus, MS. Lions are serving. Lions from several clubs near Columbus partnered with United Way of Lowndes County. They are giving away food to Lowndes County residents in a safe and socially distanced environment. Let’s explain that. On Thursday (yesterday) a group of volunteers unloaded a number of pallets containing non-perishable food. To simplify it, let’s say they unloaded a pallet of canned green beans. They unloaded a pallet of lima beans. They unloaded a pallet of green peas. They unloaded a pallet of black-eyed peas. They unloaded a pallet of corn. They unloaded a pallet of carrots. Volunteers then filled individual plastic grocery bags with one can of each. They placed those bags in a large empty box. As the pallets became bare, the large boxes filled. That was Thursday. On Friday, the recipients of that food drove to the designated starting place and formed a line. A volunteer gave each car driver a ...

Lions in the United States and Canada are participating in the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ). The overall goal is simple. Lions must stop a 38-year trend of declining membership. What is the role of the District, each club and each Lion? District 30-M will charter at least two Lions Clubs before June 30, 2021. That is a district NAMI goal. A minimum of 20 Lions must sign the charter application to Lions Club International (LCI). Reaching that goal means the district would have at least 40 new Lions. We have communities already identified to make this happen. We have already contacted the key people in those communities. It is highly likely that we will make an application to charter one club before Labor Day. To achieve the overall goal, chartering new clubs is not enough. Each club must have a membership increase to achieve their NAMI goal. Simply stated, if a club had 25 Lions on June 30, 2020 then the NAMI goal is for that club to have 26 Lions on June 30, 202...

The Lions Club International Board of Directors met in late June. They made an important decision to help increase membership. Their decision waived the new Lion initiation fee through December 31, 2020. There is normally a one-time $35 initiation fee when someone joins Lions. This fee covers the administrative expenses associated with starting membership. Lions are much like other organizations. They have an administrative fee to cover user start-up administrative expenses. The International Board recognized they must demonstrate they are serious about welcoming new Lions into the association. That is why the International Board authorized the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ). NAMI recognizes that society changed over the past four decades. NAMI encourages local clubs to changes the way they act and serve. They can do this without compromising the Lions core value. Wherever there is a Lions Club, “We Serve.” Suspending the $35 initiation fee through December 31, ...

The North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) literally begins today. It is a goal of each club in District 30-M to increase their membership by a net of one new Lion by June 30, 2021. Let’s quickly recap how to get to that number. DG Andy Kalinowski The first objective is to greatly reduce the number of Lion membership drops. There are some unavoidable drops such as job or retiremenAt relocatAion or death. In most cases, these types of membership losses happen with advance notice or just observing life. It’s the short-notice or no-notice membership losses that are a big concern. Many Lions drop their membership for very controllable reasons. One of them is having projects when some Lions cannot volunteer. An even bigger turn-off for newer Lions is the feeling of being a hostage by long, unproductive meetings. Hearing the words “We’ve done that before and it never worked,” or “You don’t understand the objectives of this club” is possibly the fastest way to have a Lion resign. C...