Club Growth Strategies
Fuelling Growth and Leadership - From 9 to 25 Members
In our role as members of the Executive Committee (EXCOM) at Acuris Mumbai Toastmasters, we’ve discovered that Toastmasters offers far more than just enhancing public speaking skills. It’s a platform for cultivating leadership, teamwork, effective feedback, and the art of connecting with larger audiences.
Our club, being relatively new and corporate in nature, often requires us to wear multiple hats as EXCOM members. Our most significant challenge was attracting new members to our club, given the constraints of work commitments and other scheduling conflicts. At the start of our term, we were a small club with only 9 members, and it was crucial to increase our numbers to maintain our club’s good standing.
We adopted two strategies to tackle this challenge:
Appealing to the Younger Demographic:
We began by targeting the younger demographic within our company. Recent college graduates have experienced the benefits of clubs that promise personal growth and development, and we aimed to harness their energy and enthusiasm.
In-Person Connections:
Our club comprises members from different locations and branches. Instead of relying solely on the Vice President of Public Relations (VPPR) and Vice President of Membership (VPM) to bring in new members, we distributed the responsibility among ourselves to connect with potential members in our respective locations. This approach allowed prospective members to see a familiar face within the club, making personal pitches more effective.
By combining these strategies with consistent outreach and follow-ups, we achieved a remarkable growth rate of over 60%, adding 16 new members to our club. While these methods were successful for our corporate club, we believe they can be adapted and tailored to suit the unique needs of other Toastmasters clubs.
Leadership roles within Toastmasters present new challenges each day, but we are committed to facing them head-on and continually improving. After all, that’s what Toastmasters is all about, isn’t it?
As a side note, we began the Toastmasters year with 9 members, and thanks to our initiatives, we’ve grown to 25 members, an addition of 16 new members. Please note that this increase will soon be reflected on the dashboard as membership dues are in the process of being updated.
Written by the Malini of Accuris Mumbai Toastmasters Club