YEAR-LONG RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN DRAWS INTEREST

It’s no secret that the more members we have, a national membership base, the more success we are going to have protecting our interests and promised benefits.

Late last October, a Southern California legislator said he pays attention to the voters who brought him to office, people within his district who vote, and the more supporters there are the more he pays attention and acts on voter requests.

The implication?  No numbers, no influence, no clout.

A detailed investigation shows that chapter membership is either holding steady or in a slow decline, with only the exceptional chapter gaining significant numbers of new members.  But some chapters are doing better or worse than that.

Over the past year, National MOAA has been successful attracting a lot of new members, but on balance the record still shows a net membership decrease.

On that basis, MOAA National is expanding and extending its recent reasonably successful “Give Me Ten” recruitment campaign, an effort conducted at the local chapter level.  All chapters have been challenged to recruit at least 10 new members by December 31, 2006.

Full information about the program can be found at the MOAA website: Click Here.

Some of us recently received a letter from Col. Chris Giaimo, USAF-Ret, of MOAA’s Council and Chapter Affairs department, telling of clear shortfalls in both effort and new member numbers in the large states of California and Florida.  He wasn’t pleased. 

Sometimes there’s the temptation to shout out that the reason for an often dismal record has to do with structural changes in California society, the closing of military bases and facilities, and what’s going on with Reserve and National Guard deployments and outcomes.  In our state, it’s often hard to get blood out of a turnip.  Officer members of “The Greatest Generation” are growing older; there are far fewer younger officers than ever before interested, available and eligible for membership.

But the colonel’s admonition is well taken.  There is real value in increasing our chapter and national memberships.

If you take a close look at the ”Give Me Ten” campaign provisions, you’ll find there is a wide array of generous incentives which could bring substantial rewards to chapters, individual recruiters, and even lucky new members.  Some chapters are finding it’s financially feasible to pay a new member’s national dues outright, coming out ahead in the deal.

It’s not an intent here to paint a bleak picture.  Many chapters are doing very well, even recruiting dozens of new members, and it’s possible to get an up-to-date report on chapter activities and numbers as well as the stories of successful chapters, giving numbers recruited and the methods used.  Links to all that information can be found on the website.

To be a part of the campaign, local chapters must contact MOAA National and request a “Give Me Ten” packet, which provides information and instructions.  It will be important to operate within the schedule of key dates, and those also can be found on the website.

The 2006 campaign season is well underway, and bringing in new members is critical to keeping MOAA’s One Powerful Voice as effective as its always been.  All of us have an opportunity to contribute, and win, by participating in this year’s “Give Me Ten” membership campaign.

 And, if California is successful recruiting a substantial number of new members, we’re likely to bring some joy to Col Chris Giaimo’s heart.     

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