It’s an often repeated claim that rural Toastmasters clubs have trouble getting members and growing and thriving. Is it true? I put the question to the test, using U.S. clubs, 2012-13 DCP performance, their meeting place ZIP codes, and U.S. census data.
First, I grouped U.S. clubs into four buckets based on the population of the ZIP code that they meet in. This gave me some reasonably equal-sized categories to look at. Then I looked at club size and Distinguished Club Program (DCP) performance in each of those categories:
| Size | Pop in ZIP | # clubs | Active mem | % disting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rural | <10,000 people | 1,265 | 18.7 | 43.9% |
| Town | 10-20,000 people | 1,623 | 18.3 | 44.6% |
| City | 20-40,000 people | 3,493 | 18.7 | 49.0% |
| Big City | >40,000 people | 1,459 | 19.2 | 51.3% |
Clubs in big cities do tend to be a little larger, a half member more, and are somewhat more likely to be distinguished.
(Sorry, mapping clubs to postal codes and census data tracts is more difficult or even impossible in other countries, I have no data available for them.)
Hi Mike,
I am VPE of Colville Toastmasters, a rural club meeting in a town of less than 4000 in NE Washington State. Our closest city, Spokane, is a two hour drive in good weather. My previous Club was Carlsbad/Oceanside #47 meeting in a suburban area where population was well over 100,000. I’ve noticed both disadvantages and advantages to a rural club. First the advantages:
1) It’s much easier to get “free” anything in a small town. At Colville Toastmasters we have a free venue for our meetings and are able to get free publicity from local merchants with public bulletin boards and free notices in local publications. We also have the opportunity for free space at community events.
2) Everyone knows almost everyone else. If someone attends and joins, family and friends are likely to follow.
3) People are more accustomed to the need to drive into town to do anything. Most of our members schedule their day so that, if they’re not already in town for work, they do errands in town on Tuesday before our 5:30 meeting.
Now for the disadvantages:
1) Many people in our area work in industries (agriculture and logging) that are seasonally intense. During certain times of the year meetings can have very low attendance and some members drop out.
2) Most businesses are not as supportive as they might be in an area where professional communication skills are considered more essential. Attempts to get businesses to sponsor or encourage Toastmasters participation in their employees has met with a tepid response. The only ones which do are headquartered in other areas
3) There are fewer nearby clubs to visit and learn from. When I was preparing for my first contest, my mentor took me to several other clubs to practice my speech. I don’t have the same luxury with my mentee since the closest club is at least an hour away, with others two or more hours away.
On a side note, I was interested to find that, according to your post on the first 50 TI clubs, the Club number of my my first Club, Carlsbad/Oceanside Toastmasters #47 originally belonged to a Club in Spokane.
I am not sure your analysis is viable in that even all rural areas are different and you did nothing to take into account geographic density rather than simply population, weather and road conditions, and demographics, and socioeconomic factors. While I realize that this data would not be easily attainable, they large factors in determining club success.
I won’t pretend that my analysis is comprehensive, but given the available demographic data, I think my conclusion is a fair generalization.