Reducing Membership Drops

Each Lions Club in the northern half of Mississippi has a membership goal. The goal is fairly easy to achieve. It is to have a net membership increase of one Lion by June 30, 2021. Let’s discuss one way to achieve that goal.


To have a net membership increase means adding to the overall membership size of the club. If a club had 20 Lions on June 30th then the goal is to have 21 Lions by next June 30th. So, if there is a membership loss the club must find a new Lion to make up for that loss plus another new Lion for the net growth.

Some membership drops are unavoidable. One of those is death. Who can avoid death? Another reason for a membership drop is relocation to a new community. There are two main reasons for relocation. One is acceptance of a better paying job. How can you stop a person from achieving better financial independence? The other reason for relocation is family. Family relocation cuts two ways. It may be because an elder needs to be closer to younger family members. It may be because younger family members need to be closer to the elder. It makes no difference. Family always comes before Lions.

When a Lion drops membership for one of those reasons, there is nothing the club can do except try to immediately find an adequate replacement. The key word is immediately.

Lions resign for other reasons. These reasons are controllable. That’s because of controllable circumstances. Perhaps the Lion has some time issues that compete with Lions meetings and projects. Try to find some alternatives to meeting attendance. Perhaps it’s as easy as finding some new service opportunities.

Another controllable circumstance is very difficult to address. In many clubs there are minor personality conflicts. Perhaps it’s between newer Lions who suggest making some modifications to the club versus some of the older Lions who say, “We’ve always done it this way”.

When there is a dispute that could fester into a membership resignation, it is best for any club member to raise the issue to the club president or a vice president. Let the club officer contact the zone chair or district governor. There are some solutions that someone from outside the club can suggest.

Keep membership drops to a minimum. If two Lions drop their membership, that’s two new Lions a club must find to keep even with membership. The third new Lion signifies growth. However, if convincing one of the two drops to remain in the club, then the second new Lion represents growth.

Curtail membership losses as much as possible. It makes reaching the overall membership goal easier to achieve.

We Serve because Kindness Matters 

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

https://www.facebook.com/Lions30M

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