Club President

Actions for a Club President to Take in December/January

December and January are the “mid-year checkpoint” of your leadership term. This is the moment to pause, evaluate progress, and reset your club’s focus for a strong finish to the programme year. Your priorities now are to ensure the officer team is refreshed and retrained, your Distinguished Club Program (DCP) progress is clearly understood, and your club is well supported by your Area Director.

✅ High-Priority Actions

1. Complete the “Elevate” Club Officer Training Programme

• Ensure you and as many of your club officers as possible attend the Elevate club officer training programme during the December–February training window.

• Treat this as a mid-year “upgrade”: encourage officers to bring real challenges and questions so they leave with practical solutions they can apply immediately.

• After the training, schedule a short executive committee discussion to capture key takeaways and agree what you will do differently in your club as a result.

2. Review Your Club’s Progress in the Distinguished Club Program

• Log in to the Toastmasters dashboard and review your club’s current DCP status:

  • Which education, membership, training, and administration goals are already achieved?

  • Which ones are realistically within reach by year-end?

• Compare your actual progress with the Club Success Plan you created earlier in the year. Adjust timelines, responsibilities, and strategies where needed—mid-year course correction is normal and healthy.

• Identify 2–3 focus areas for the next three months—for example:

  • accelerating Pathways completions

  • strengthening membership and preparing for renewals

  • improving club quality using Moments of Truth feedback.

3. Invite Your Area Director to Visit Your Club as Soon as Possible

• Proactively contact your Area Director and invite them to attend a club meeting early in the new year, if they have not visited recently.

• Share your Club Success Plan, current DCP progress, and any specific challenges you would like support with (e.g. membership growth, member engagement, or quality of evaluations).

• Encourage members to see the visit as a positive opportunity: an external perspective that can confirm what’s working well and highlight practical improvements.

4. Re-energise the Club Success Plan

• Bring the Club Success Plan to your next executive committee meeting and:

  • mark what is completed

  • update actions that are behind schedule

  • add any new actions that reflect current realities (e.g. new members, officer changes).

• Turn key DCP goals into specific, time-bound plans (for example: “Schedule three Pathways Level 1 speeches in January and February” rather than “encourage members to speak”).

5. Prepare Early for Membership Renewals

• Use December and January to strengthen relationships and reinforce the value of membership before renewal conversations begin.

• Ask the VPE and VPM to identify:

  • members at risk of drifting away

  • members close to an educational milestone that could be reached before renewals.

• Plan meetings that showcase variety, quality, and visible progress—this directly supports member retention and club quality.

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🗂 Ongoing Leadership Responsibilities

Strengthen Your Officer Team Mid-Year

• Hold a mid-year executive committee review meeting to:

  • check how each officer is managing their responsibilities

  • redistribute tasks where workloads are uneven

  • agree how you will support each other through to year-end.

• Reinforce positive team habits: regular communication, clear decisions, and accountability for agreed actions.

Keep Club Quality Front and Centre

• Revisit Moments of Truth with your officers or entire club to identify one or two simple improvements in areas such as first impressions, programme planning, or achievement recognition.

• Ensure meetings continue to start and finish on time, roles are filled in advance, and members’ projects come from the Toastmasters education programme.

Use Your Tools Effectively

• Continue to make good use of:

  • Club Central – for accurate officer lists, dues processing, and monitoring club performance.

  • Club Leadership Handbook – for clarity on officer responsibilities and meeting standards.

  • Base Camp – to track member Pathways progress and encourage timely completion of projects.

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🔜 Looking Ahead

As President in December and January, you are positioning your club for a strong finish to the programme year. By:

• completing the Elevate training programme with your officers

• actively reviewing and updating your DCP and Club Success Plan

• engaging your Area Director early

• and focusing on member experience and retention

…you turn the mid-year point from “drift” into deliberate momentum. That is how you lead your club confidently towards a truly Distinguished year.