Chairman’s Report
November 2023
Welcome to November and the beginning of Fall. By the time this article comes out, we will be approaching the 65% goal for membership. Are your Posts at, near, or above the goal yet? If not, is there a reason why? We all know we are a snowbird state, and our renewals will be coming in droves between now and the end of the year. The current 2023 cards will also expire, so if your members want to continue receiving their Legion privileges (canteen, games, magazine, etc.), they need to renew.
As is usually the case, I have held membership trainings and attended many District meetings, and those Posts struggling with membership don’t show up. Typically, we are preaching to the choir, and we need to get more of the Posts involved. Many are still sending in their memberships the old way instead of using mylegion.org, which delays processing and burdens the Department more. As of the writing of this article, our renewal rate is a little over 53%. We really need to work on that, as it should be 90%!
District Commanders and Vice Commanders should be out there checking on those Posts and offering training to assist them. Plenty of our members are certified to come in there and train on anything the Post may need, not just membership. Please take advantage of them, and if you feel they need revitalization, please contact the Revitalization Chair. Many of your Posts are doing great, and those do not need your focus. During your visitations, find out what your struggling Posts need so it can be provided. The National Vice Commander would like to bring the Membership Team for a revitalization. Dates and locations for his visits will be coming out at a later date.
Our Fall Conference is coming up shortly, and there will be a membership training class. I will be covering several items. However, a major portion of the course will be discussing what your needs are. I will open up the floor to train on what you need. There is no point for us to waste our time talking about unnecessary things, so let’s make the best of our time. I have given out some awards already and will have more to present at the Conference. I am also looking forward to being able to give out many more!
Phase two of the membership plan has now begun. We need to continue with Phase One, which is working on the DMS list, buddy checks, and renewals. The only change with Phase Two is to add that if your Post is close to 100 % (5 or less), see if the Post can pay for those members before December 10th to get you there. Another option is to contact those 400AD members to get them in.
Your membership team still believes we will hit all our goals for the year. To reiterate, they are 90% retention, 50% of the Posts at 100% by May 8th, getting a total of 100,000 members, and getting some District Race to the Top Winners. We are here to assist you in whatever way we can! If you are having a membership event, please let me know, and I will try to attend it and help out!
I want to thank each and every one of you for all you are doing, and look forward to seeing many of you at Fall Conference. We need to continue to push forward and remember we still have many more months left and goals to achieve. I want to personally wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
Bruce Carl
Membership Chair
membership@legionmail.org