National Membership Comments

July 21, 2010

Membership Team: Congratulations we have reached an all time high, each and everyone of you is to be commended for the outstanding job you all have done. Membership just doesn't happen on its own it starts with your squadron members our fellow blue cappers all working together to accomplish one goal and that is to support the many programs of The American Legion. And of course as we all know we cannot acheive this without membership.

We have 26 Detachments who reached 100% along with 20 Detachments with all time highs. Last year at the end of our membership year 12/31/09 we finished with 34 detachments at 100%. We have several that are within reach of this goal.

Remember we still have one week left for our 105% July 28th (our delegate strength).

Again Thank you all for what you all do.

Yours in Service,
Mike Moss
National Membership Chairman

June 20, 2010

Fellow Midwest Members,

National Convention is fast approaching and with it the culmination of our efforts for the past year. It would be an extraordinary achievement if all Midwest Detachments could attain or surpass the 100% of membership goal by National Convention. A quick check of our Detachment standings show four Detachment already there and the remainder close behind. A little over a week ago National Vice Commander Gelwicks asked us all to strive for five. He pointed out some very reachable goals. The obstacle that seems to stand in our way is the fact that we have a difficult time retaining membership, for what ever reason. As for the ultimate goal of 105% the problem lies in the fact that many believe that 100% is our goal, when in fact the goal is 105%. I know that in a number of instances that increasing membership in some Squadrons by 5% may not be possible due to location and population base in that area. None the less, as NVC Gelwicks pointed out, there are ample opportunities to reach the 105% or come extremely close if we get after those that have not renewed. I know that here in my home state that we still have 8 zero squadrons, 2 of which seem to be ready to surrender their charters. But the remaining 6 have at a minimum of 60 members out there to be renewed, plus numerous others. Don't let those members become a lost asset, every member is important to this organization. Let's all take the time to make that contact to those that have not renewed and finish off this year in grand style. The goal is reachable, we just need to make it happen. Congratulations to those exceeding the 100% mark, and thank you all for your efforts thus far. WE CAN, WE WILL reach our goal.

The Midwest Honor Roll is at 51 members and I have just 2 pins remaining. Please get your forms in if you have individuals that qualify for a recruiter pin. I have attached the form for use if needed.

Your Comrade in Service,
Danny Smith
National Membership Committee
Midwest

May 21, 2010

Fellow Midwest Members,

We are so close that we can almost smell victory. WE had several Detachments meet or exceed the 100% of goal target with the remaining few ever so close. Congratulations to all on what you have accomplished thus far. The opportunity still exists to achieve 100% and reach our ultimate goal of 105%, but it will only happen if YOU want it to happen. The renewal percentage rate file is attached, as you will notice there are still numerous members out there that have not renewed. Encourage your Squadrons to make a sincere effort to contact their unpaid membership and let's finish up that trek to the top!

Recruitment pins are going fast. We have added 6 more names to the honor roll and I believe there still are more to come. Here's the problem though, pins are in short supply, and no more will be ordered. I have 7 pins left of the 53 issued, once those are gone there is no guarantee that you will receive a pin. So if you know of anyone who qualifies let's get that recruitment form in before it is too late. There may be pins from other areas left over, but at this time that is unclear.

A couple comments on CWF before I go. Our organization continues to do an outstanding job in raising funds for the Child Welfare Foundation, along with other programs of The American Legion. I wish to thank all of you for your contributions and continued support. We have an opportunity to achieve something great this year, that being $5000,000.00 in donations. Even if we would happen to fall short, YOU all have gone above and beyond. We still have time, although time is running out. May 31st is the cut off date to be credited to this year.

If you have any updated information on either membership or CWF please let Vice Commander Gelwicks or myself know before Wednesday next week, we would like it for the Conference call with Commander Arneson.

Your Comrade in Service,
Danny Smith
National Membership Committee
Midwest

May 3, 2010

Fellow Members,

You will find our Midwest Area Spring Report below along with the latest Honor Roll. It is somewhat lengthy so bear with me. Thank you all for your continued hard work in membership. The numbers indicate that everyone has been putting forth an outstanding effort.

National will be doing a test for approximately 2 years on an enhanced membership renewal form with squadron contact information added. They will be using two Detachments, more to come as this progresses.

Your Comrade in Service,
Danny Smith
National Membership Committee
Midwest

NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
SPRING NEC MEETING: MIDWEST AREA REPORT

BASED ON MEMBERSHIP REPORT DATED 4-27-2010
23523 MEMBERS/ 25888 GOAL- 2365 MEMBERS TO GOAL

The numbers are only as good as my math???

PERCENTAGE OF GOAL- Overall- 90.864%

THREE OF TOP SIX DETACHMENTS FROM MIDWEST-

Wyoming 101.24%, North Dakota 96.87%, Kansas 96.361%
Balance of Detachments; Oklahoma 92.668%, Nebraska 91.071%, Montana 90.463%, New Mexico 86.87%, Texas 86.693%, Colorado 85.613%, South Dakota 81.106%
(Nebraska has additional 115 members at Department to turn in)

RENEWAL RATE; OVERALL RENEWAL RATE- 75.356%

North Dakota 90.91%, Nebraska 83.55%, Kansas 80.48%,
Wyoming 78.31%, Montana 75.88%, Colorado 72.8%, New Mexico 71.11%, Texas 68.88%,
South Dakota 65.9%, Oklahoma 65.74%
Leaves a balance of approximately 6472 members that have not renewed

NEW MEMBER TOTALS (approximate) TOTAL 5507- Colorado- 622, Kansas- 1137,
Nebraska- 850, Oklahoma- 251, Texas- 1681, North Dakota- 59, New Mexico- 397,
Montana- 155, South Dakota- 120, Wyoming- 235

GENERAL INFORMATION

TWO DETACHMENTS IN RUNNING FOR TRIPLE NICKEL – KANSAS, NEBRASKA

New Charters- Total 12- Nebraska 5, Kansas 4, Colorado 1, Montana 1, Texas 1

HONOR ROLL –Currently 38 recruitment pins have been awarded

Response from survey last fall disappointing, leads me to believe one of three things

1)Members don’t care
2) think that it is none of my business
3) thought someone else would respond I hope the reason is #3. Membership Committee may try again.

YOU ARE THE LEADERSHIP IN THIS ORGANIZATION. IF NOT YOU, WHO? DON’T DEPEND ON SOMEONE ELSE TO FULFILL OBLIGATIONS

RENEWAL RATE LOW AND WE ARE CONCERNED

1) Economy
2) We do a poor job of selling the organization when we sign up new members
3) Members don’t feel that they belong or feel that they derive any benefit from membership
4) Become Disillusioned with the Organization

We can’t do anything about the first, but we can on the other three

We pay membership dues to belong to a volunteer organization to provide service and funds to support others. Therefore it is important to work hard to keep the members we recruit.

SQUADRON SUCCESS ON RENEWALS DEPENDS UPON SQUADRON LEADERSHIP AND DEDICATION TO THE ORGANIZATION

Don’t give up on renewals, be persistent

GENTLEMEN WE ONLY HAVE A FEW DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE 100% TARGET DATE. CONTINUE WITH YOUR EFFORTS, WE CAN REACH OUR GOAL!!

April 12, 2010

Fellow Midwest Members,

Congratulations to Wyoming for being the first Detachment from the Midwest region to attain 100%. Montana and Kansas are not far behind and will probably reach the 100% mark in the near future, but you never know for sure until the numbers have been counted. As we near the spring N.E.C. meeting let us continue to push for those renewals. It seems that this year has been difficult for all, at least to this point in time. Could have been the long hard winter, don't know, but maybe with the arrival of spring the remainder of our unpaid members will come through.

This is when you really have to put forth that extra effort and "sell" the real purpose and ideals of our organization and The American Legion's philosophy. I am a firm believer in selling the organization and it's purpose and not relying on a "club" to sell memberships. It makes it so much easier, at least in my opinion, to secure renewals when members truly understand that this is a service organization dedicated to certain beliefs and ideals.

Take a look at our Honor Roll, it continues to grow, I believe we are at 36 recruitment pins to date. Some Detachments have not been heard from in this regard so make sure you get the word out. We all know that there are some dedicated individuals out there promoting the Sons of The American Legion and signing up members. Let's give those individuals recruiting our members the recognition they deserve and get them a pin and a place on the Honor Roll. It may seem trivial to many of us, but to someone who has worked hard to recruit new members it may be a welcome reward.

Keep up the great work and I will see many of you in Indianapolis in a couple weeks.

Your Comrade in Service,
Danny Smith
National Membership Committee
Midwest

March 28, 2010

Membership team April 14th is just around the corner target goal of 90%, these next 3 goals will be the toughest but as we have shown all year with hard work and dedication towards our membership program we will achieve these goals. I have included the latest update for the Triple Nickle, remember as of April 14th Detachments should be at least 90% target, 4 new charters, and 75% renewal.

Nebraska-- 4 charters-- renewals 76.8%-- 85.04% goal
Ohio-- 7 charters-- renewals78.2%-- 86.01% goal
Kansas-- 4 charters-- renewals 75.8%-- 91.06% goal
Georgia-- 3 charters-- renewals 72.7%-- 94.4% goal
California-- 3 charters-- renewals 70.1%-- 88.8% goal
Pennsylvania--5 charters-- renewals 75.5% 88.2% goal

We have several Detachments that have archived 2 out of the 3 but are behind in new charters, the potential of new members and squadrons is so great that all we have to do is just ask and make contact.

Yours in Service
Mike Moss
National Membership Chairman

March 17, 2010

Fellow Mid-West Members,

Congratulations to all!!! We have 8 Detachments that made 80% of membership goal by the target date, and 2 others that are within striking distance. I know that all of you have been working extremely hard to get your membership renewed and sent in to National. We had several Detachments make some substantial gains in the past few weeks and the membership committee appreciates all of the effort that has been put forth. As we near the spring NEC meeting let's all take time to make an attempt to contact those "hold-outs" that have not renewed their membership at this point in time. As I see it, we as an organization, can not afford to continually lose 15 to 20 percent of our membership every year. Keep in close contact with your members, we all share the same heritage.

Recruitment pin action has slowed down these past few weeks. As you will notice our Mid-West Honor Roll is getting fairly long, but there is still room for more names. There is still ample time left to sign up those new members and receive your recruitment pin, it only takes five.

I have heard some good news from South Dakota Detachment Commander Lemieux. He is hoping to have 4 new Squadrons chartered by National Convention, great job! There should be some opportunities for recruitment pins in S.D. I would hazard a guess that the members from new charters are often over looked when it comes to recruitment. Someone had to have sparked the interest and signed up those members in newly chartered squadrons. Find out who they are and let's give them the recognition they deserve and a recruiter pin.

I am interested in what takes place throughout the mid-west so please share your success stories with me and I will pass them along. We're all in this together and together we can make a difference.

Your Comrade in Service,

Danny Smith

National Membership Committee
Mid-West

March 11, 2010

Gentlemen all I can say is WOW, plus 14, 874 Congratulations to the 35 Detachments who surpassed their goal of 80%, Fantastic! All five regions are to be congratulated with each one hitting their target, job well done guys. I can't say enough about all the squadrons and their members across this country who have given so much for this organization. Its with your hard work and dedication that makes our foundation so much stronger and the only way we can continue to support the many programs is through a strong membership program.

Let's not stop here remember April 14th is our 90% goal also Detachments that are in running for the Triple Nickle must have at least 90% goal, 4 new charters and 75% renewals by April 14th.

Currently as they stand:
Nebraska-- 4 charters-- Renewals 73.39%-- Goal 83.427%
Ohio-- 7 charters-- Renewals 75.68%-- Goal 86.062%
Kansas-- 4 charters-- Renewals 73.60%-- Goal 91.102%
Georgia-- 3 charters-- Renewals 69.92%-- Goal 88.709%
California--3 charters-- Renewals68.53%-- Goal 85.072%
Pennsylvania-- 5 charters-- Renewals 71.53%-- Goal 85.916%

Again keep up all the good work you all do.

Yours In Service

Mike Moss
National Membership Chairman

February 2, 2010

Gentleman we are one week away February 10th , our goal of 75%. Congratulations to the 11 detachments who have reached their 75% goal. We have 15 detachments who are over 70% and real close.

Just because the ground hog didn't see his shadow and is going back into hibernation doesn't mean we are going to, lets get out start making contact with those members, let them know what happens at your post and what were about. remember we are our best salesman when it comes to selling our programs. We are on our way to another all time this year, lets keep the momentum going.

Yes membership is the foundation of our organization and its each and everyone of you with your hard work and dedication that continues to make it stronger.

Next week I will send out the latest standings for the Triple Nickle..

Mike Moss
National Membership Chairman

January 19, 2010

Fellow Midwest Members,

It’s been a while since I have had any real meaningful dialogue with all of you, but in light of recent events I am compelled to do so at this time. It would be nice to sit back and think that I had a hand in the accomplishments to date, BUT I am sure that it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with YOU. It is because of YOUR hard work and dedication that the Midwest Area is at 65.2% of membership goal. We have at least two Detachments in line for the “Triple Nickel” and it would not surprise me if there are others just off the radar. Everyone seems to be hanging in there despite the weather.

Midwest Area National Vice Commander Gelwicks stated in his most recent e-mail that we currently have 2300 new members in the Midwest Area and that is evident as in the past couple weeks we have seen a flurry of recruitment pins being issued. I would like to congratulate all of you for a job well done. I know there has to be many more individuals out there that qualify, we need to contact them and get those recruitment forms filled out and submitted. I don’t like to single anyone out, but I must say that Round Rock, Texas Squadron 447 has “blown the roof off” with 7 recruitment pins, one of which actually went to an Auxiliary member from Unit 447. Everyone out there recruiting, whether it’s one member or 30 members, deserves recognition and our sincere appreciation for all of your hard work. Congratulations to all and thank you! It appears that Chairman Mike will need to send me more pins as I am down to my last one.

As we work to recruit those new members remember to sell the organization. Taking the time to provide information on what services we perform, our accomplishments and what we strive to achieve can make a significant difference when it comes time for renewal. Speaking of which; use these same tools when you seek current renewals. Keeping your membership informed can be the greatest asset toward renewal and it will make them feel as they are an important part of this organization. Too many times we sign up a new member and then have no follow up contact with that individual. Please don’t let them become just “a number” in your Squadron. It takes membership to be successful and it is hard to ignore hundreds of thousands of members when it comes to making a statement.

We are, as you know, “Proud Possessors of a Priceless Heritage”. Let our voice be heard loud and strong. Continue with your efforts; remember persistence pays dividends when it comes to renewals. Keep contacting those delinquent members, don’t let them slip away.

If you need any help or if I can send congratulations for a job well done to a Squadron in your Detachment please contact me.

Your Comrade in Service,
Danny Smith
National Membership Committee
Midwest Area

January 19, 2010

Fellow Members,

Greetings for 2010.

I trust that everyone is well and working hard. Mid Year Conferences are upon us. I am attending conferences held in Wyoming, Texas and Colorado. It is important that your Squadron participates in their Detachment Conferences. Valuable information is exchanged and friendships renewed. It is a time to assess progress on projects and motivate everyone to do their part. Hopefully, everyone includes The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation among their projects. Given our economic times every dollar is harder to raise, but is even more significant to children’s organizations.

Now is the time to step up our efforts in Membership. Yes, there is that Squadron which goes from zero to 100 percent at Mid Year, but most Squadrons require contacting, especially if the Squadron is not represented at Mid Year.

The Midwest region of the Sons of The American Legion is doing well, but we can do better. Here are some January 15th numbers to think on. Our eleven Detachments account for eight percent of national’s membership. As a region, we are at 62 percent of goal. Unfortunately, six of our Detachments are below that figure. The positive news is that the Midwest has 2300 new members or 14 percent of January 15ths membership total.

As a region, we chartered eight new squadrons. Nationally, there are only 38 new charters. Collectively, that is a great job with 21 percent of charters nationally. New charters are not easy to complete in smaller Detachments and rural areas. Keep working, it will pay off.

My biggest concern are renewals. We recruit members, but do not keep them. Yes, people move, quit, etc. But loosing one in five members is unacceptable and we are not close to that figure yet. In the Midwest, the best is Nebraska at 62 percent or one out of three missing in action. Overall, the Midwest is at 54 percent renewed.

Members who are not renewed are receiving a post card from National during the last week of January. That is twelve thousand post cards in the Midwest region alone. This is a perfect time for Detachments and Squadrons to increase their efforts to renew every member.

If I can be of assistance, contact me.

Jim Gelwicks
National Vice Commander
Danny Smith

January 12, 2010

Fellow Members,

It's been a long hard winter so far with several more weeks to go, can't wait until spring. But nothing warms you up like good news and we have plenty in the Midwest. The last membership report was impressive with several Detachments making some substantial gains. We are inching closer to that #1 spot and I believe if we continue with our current trend we will make it there before convention. With the cold and snow that we have experienced it can be extremely difficult to keep the memberships coming in. I'm sure that squadrons throughout the Midwest are doing their best to secure their renewals, it's just hard to get too excited about anything when it's 20 below zero. Continue to keep in touch with your members, persistence pays dividends when it comes to membership.

Take a close look at the recruitment honor roll. We have added 5 new names. Our first Auxiliary member has joined the ranks on the honor roll along with 3 others from Round Rock, Texas #447 and 1 from Great Bend, Kansas #180. Congratulations to all new recipients!! I know there are more out there so please get the word out and get those applications turned in to me ASAP. I would like to have to request more pins from Chairman Mike Moss, I started with 23, so lets get to work.

"Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best." Theodore Isaac Rubin

Until next time. Your Comrade in Service,
Danny Smith
National Membership Committee
Midwest

December 25, 2009

Membership team;

I would like to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from colorful snowy Colorado.As we gather today with family and friends please keep in your prayers our service men and women who protect our freedom throughout this world who cannot be home at this time of year. We are also reminded of the many veterans in our hospitals and nursing homes who to some the only family they have is the American Legion Family, thanks to you and the many volunteer hours you all spend bringing smiles to their face's with your visitations.

Thank you for what you all have done this year in membership, with this continued success it only makes our organization stronger and solidifies the support we give to our veterans and our children and youth throughout your communities.

I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday season.

Mike Moss
National Membership Chairman