Membership: Invite. Include. Invest.

Hello Special Agents.

Mission Possible has started and as of now we are at 79.70% membership collectively. You, as a member, can make a change within the organization by simply by inviting, including and investing in our membership.

One of the most crucial aspects of any Membership Program are the members. The success of the Membership Program rides on current members knowing who can become members and how. Utilizing the resources in MALTA under Membership can help you successfully complete our mission.

New members need to feel welcome. New member orientation can make members feel comfortable and knowledgeable about how the organization runs. A few ways to accomplish this is to:

• Provide new members with times and dates for events and meetings you might be having at the Post, District and Department levels.
• Send welcome packets to new members including pertinent information.
• Match new members with seasoned mentors.
• Take time out of every meeting to have new members introduce themselves to the group.
• Introduce your new members at District meetings as well.

While visiting MALTA check out the Membership Recruitment & Retention Resources for materials you may want to include in your member engagement packets.

Losing Members?

Members leave for many reasons, but often because they are not included or educated in the Auxiliary mission, or are left out of the decision-making process. Please make sure to include new and existing members by making them feel welcome, and allow members to provide meaningful feedback, opportunities to contribute to our mission and to utilize their talents and skills. Treat them as partners in our mission and with Hands that Serve, Hearts that Care we will grow to new levels.

How can we reach out to new members?

• Work Programs in the community.
• Create videos showing what we do and post them on social media.
• Invite new members to attend events and Auxiliary business meetings.
• Ask them what they would like to do in the organization or if they have any ideas to contribute.
• Be friendly, kind and professional.
• Hold Membership drives.
• Ask them to help fold or send out member renewals or member packets.

Recruitment Videos

A great way to invite new members this year is to create a recruitment video.

With small videos explaining our passions about the Auxiliary to millions of potential members, remember one VFW-eligible veteran can have 12 categories of family members who may join the Auxiliary.

I know some of you are nervous about creating a video; don’t be. Just be yourself. Everyone relates in different ways so we wouldn’t want just one generic video; we need many different perspectives to get our mission out to the public.

Recruitment tips for video:

• Tell people why you joined the Auxiliary
• Explain your passion for the Auxiliary and what sparks your interest
• Be clear and to the point
• Be yourself, breathe
• Keep videos to a minute to avoid losing the attention of your audience
• If using a phone to record, turn horizontal to use full screen
• Speak from the heart

Having trouble creating videos? Ask for help from your tech-friendly members!

Video not going well? Take a break and work on retention to keep those members you already have.

Ideas:

• Who doesn’t like a sale? Auxiliaries may discount dues a dollar or two every now and then and absorb the cost to entice renewals.
• Hold a contest for a free Life Membership to a member who recruits the most “new members.”
• Send out renewal packets or reminders.
• Call members and have a conversation to see how they are doing.
• Offer help or information to current members.
• Let them know that paying dues is a great way to support veterans and the Auxiliary.

MALTA    MALTA   MALTA

Make sure to sign up new members in MALTA. Why?

National Headquarters has developed great Membership resources to help you complete the mission at hand:

• Membership application
• Auxiliary brochure/order form
• Member change /update form
• Membership engagement packets
• Many tools and resources to work all Programs

Although we are involved in Mission Possible, you should also share information and resources with all our current members to guarantee full potential growth in our organization.

Please continue to honor veterans and their families by keeping your membership dues current.