Introduction

Hello, my name is Heather Chapman and I’m excited to welcome you to your new role as Vice President of Membership within our Toastmasters clubs. As Vice President of Membership, you will play a crucial part in not only welcoming new members but also ensuring all members have a fulfilling and enriching experience. Your leadership will help retain current members whilst growing your club.

In this role, you’ll foster connections and create a supportive environment where everyone feels valued and motivated to achieve their personal and professional goals. Together, let’s explore the responsibilities, strategies and creative initiatives that will drive membership success and contribute to the overall growth of our Toastmasters community. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

I was the VP of Membership for Sheffield Speakers last year and I found it a wonderful role for getting to know the club, its members and how the committee works. I found it rewarding as I met everyone who came to the club and learnt about the reasons they wanted to join. When you see people you’ve signed up speaking on their icebreaker speech for the very first time, it can get really emotional.

I enjoyed my time and I’m sure you will too.

Responsibilities

The VP membership role has certain responsibilities. And here we can see the club constitution statement. The Vice President of Membership is the third ranking club officer and is responsible for planning, organising and directing a programme that ensures individual member retention and growth in club individual membership.

The Vice President of Membership chairs the membership committee. But what does this look like in terms of jobs to do? Well, your role includes talking to people. You contact guests, you contact former members and maybe some members who’ve not been to the club meeting for a while and encourage them to come back to a club meeting.

When people are visiting the club, you should be there to welcome them and provide them with relevant information about the club and how to join. I like to sit down with a person when they’re first visiting and ask them, why are they there? What have they come along for? What are they hoping to get out of it? Once somebody has been to a meeting, it’s nice to invite those members to join the club and assist them with the process. The next job you have is to work with the VP education and ensure that new members are assigned a mentor if required and to work with your fellow club members to create ongoing membership campaigns and programmes.

So my tips for effective membership. Be early to meetings. Be one of the first people to greet them.

I’m very lucky that our Sergeant at Arms is very proactive and also helps in greeting guests. I make sure I always have the slips available so that people can fill in their name and their email and their telephone number. That way, I’ll be able to follow up after the meeting.

I use templates for emails. I’ve got one that has a welcome with instructions on how to get to the club, where we are, what time and any parking issues. I then have some for follow-ups, which means that after a meeting, a guest has been along, I will send a follow-up one telling them how to join and that they may come along for a couple of times to try things out.

I always schedule time on the next day after meetings to do all these tasks because it’s important to be quite proactive and don’t wait around for days before you reply to someone. I always have pens, paper and contact details ready in my handbag or in my folder so that I can always talk to people when I’m out and about about Toastmasters. Member retention is another aspect of our role.

This is where we’re checking in regularly with other club members to make sure they’re making progress with their goals. And we work with our other club leaders, such as VP Education, to help members understand the programmes and opportunities that are available. Again, work with your Sergeant-at-Arms and your committee members to encourage a social aspect to your club.

It needs to be a place where they feel safe and welcomed. Our Sergeant-at-Arms has been very proactive in organising events, social events and we often go to the pub after a meeting. Membership campaigns and awareness.

Need to build regular membership building campaigns into your membership committee. Get creative here. Think of ways that you might want to join in and have an event together.

We’re looking at holding some outdoor events, so running a Toastmasters in our local park area. This way, members of the public can come along and join in. You could organise your club’s participation in the Smedley Award and talk up Toastmasters and beat the clock.

Check them out on the website. Do work with your VP PR. Make sure that any information about club events is up to date on the Toastmasters website, your club’s website if you have one, and any social media channels you’re using.

Post regularly about what’s going on in the club. This way, people know where to come and how to join in. The prospective member management tool is a new thing on the website.

You log in as usual and go into the club central. As you can see highlighted next to membership management, is the prospective member management tool. You click on there and you will find people who have messaged the club with an indication that they may want to visit or they want more information about the club.

This is a really good tool and there will be further training in how to use it. So get started now and have a look around. Do you remember your first time when you came to Toastmasters? How did you find getting to the event? Was it easy? Were you greeted when someone arrived? Did you answer all your questions? Did you get an information pack? If yes, well done.

Good club. The district is working on compiling examples of good practise and if you have any, then please email the team with them. And did they discuss your goals? You need to be able to put yourself in their position.

Greeting guests and helping them to make the right pathway and joining with any activities is part of the membership, VP membership responsibilities. Thank you for listening.

Member Management

Congratulations, a new member would love to join your club. In order to get them on board, what you’ll need to do is send them information on how to pay their fees and dues. You then work with your club treasurer to make sure that those payments have been received and paid to Toastmasters International.

You then provide the club president with the details of the new members so that an induction ceremony can be arranged. And then work with the VP Education to ensure that a mentor is assigned to new members. Then it’s up to you to welcome them to the club.

Club Leadership

Let’s look at club leadership. As VP Membership you are the third ranking club officer. This may mean you need to deputise for the club President, perhaps if they’re unable to make a meeting one time.

You also represent your club on the area council along with the club President and VP Education. The three of you have voting rights at this level. It’s a really good idea to get along to your area meetings, they’re usually once a month.

Area councils are responsible for the mutual support network within your area. They organise the area level training, area contests and other events, so it’s really a great opportunity for you to share ideas and collaborate on these initiatives. The Area Director leads the Area Council and then plans Area Director visits and requests support from the other District teams.