ONE RECRUITMENT EFFORT OUTCOME

Periodically National MOAA is able to provide chapters with contact information for national members who are not participating with a local chapter. Such lists can be used for recruiting purposes.

This is how a recruiting drive worked out for Silicon Valley Chapter late last year.

The list provided had about 550 names. Working with small groups, and over a period of weeks, all were contacted by mail at least twice and about 15% received followup telephone calls.

The first mailing included a very nice letter invitation to an upcoming general membership meeting luncheon, information about benefits of local chapter membership, and an offer to provide various kinds of support. Enclosed was a copy of the chapter’s current newsletter, a high quality and rather impressive 8 page document.

Some telephone followup calls were made, simply to inquire if the materials had been received, and to extend the luncheon invitation in person.

The second letter was similar to the first, except that it provided more advanced information, an invitation to meet in person, and an offer to provide more extensive support and resources. Again, a copy of the newsletter was enclosed, making sure that the meeting speaker would appeal to a national member visitor.

As before, a number of telephone followup calls were made, again to extend a luncheon invitation, but this time with a focus on determining reasons why the officer appeared not interested in local affiliation.

In the case of both the written, mailed documents and the telephone calls, a maximum effort was made within the context of resources available. It was clear early-on that recruitment drive expenditures would likely exceed total first year dues receipts.

547 solid contacts were made; the chapter gained 12 new members, just about a 2% return. And we’re told that’s a reasonable expectation for a mostly direct mail campaign.

Reasons for turning the offer down were all over the board, from just wanting the national magazine, being geographically too far away, haven’t got the time or interest, and even the implication that a local chapter didn’t offer anything more than National. For whatever reasons, there are hundreds of National MOAA members in the area who choose not to join the chapter.

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