It is easier to give birth than raise the dead. — Unknown

Every year, in the Hall of Fame at the August international convention, we recognize districts that have built the most clubs (“President’s Extension Award”) and the highest percentage of clubs at 20+ members (“President’s 20+ Award”).  Many people have no idea what these awards are.  I suspect few districts set them as a goal, and may even sometimes be surprised to hear they ranked well for these.

You can see the full list of the 2009-10 scoring for these two awards here:

http://reports2.toastmasters.org/Ext20.html

A net growth of 63 clubs in one year is a truly awesome event, one quite worthy of recognition, as D82 (India and Sri Lanka) did last year (they built 74 new clubs and lost 11).  That’s almost two thousand charter members discovering Toastmasters in one district alone!  Since this metric is based on club counts, not a percentage, large districts have a large advantage.  A district with hundreds of clubs has far more resources to build clubs than a district with 60 clubs.

Maintaining clubs at 20+ members is also important.  Clubs with less members often have poorer meetings due to members serving in multiple roles simultaneously, and generally are not providing as good an educational experience as they might.  Keeping clubs at charter strength ensures guests see the Toastmasters program at its best.  As of June 30, 2010, D71 (Britain and Ireland) had over 87% of their clubs at 20+ members, which is amazing.  (By comparison, the median percentage of clubs at 20+ members in the districts is about 52%, and it goes as low as 22%.)

But here’s another important measure: How many clubs did a district lose? Not total paid clubs (where you can make up for a lost club by building a new club), but based on individual clubs — did any district manage to keep every club that they started the year with?  For 2009-10, by my math, it turns out exactly one district did that.

D33 (central California and southern Nevada) lost zero clubs in 2009-10. Every single one of 171 clubs renewed!  And they built 12 new clubs and were distinguished!  Three other districts lost just one club each (D12, D24, D64).

This is a metric that smaller districts can do better at, since they have less clubs to try to maintain.  And one equally worthy of recognition at the Hall of Fame.  It’s also non-competitive — we could have many districts earning this award, just like in the new Distinguished District Program (DDP).

Club rebuilding is just as important as club building. The club coach program is a key tool that few districts use effectively (more on this in a future post).  While it may be easier to build new ones, most sick and struggling clubs don’t require a miracle to be saved, just a coach (or two) who is passionate about bringing Toastmasters to more people.  Plus, any guests who visit a struggling club are likely to get a poor impression of Toastmasters.  Sure, sometimes you run into a club that just can’t be saved (such as loss of company support or loss of meeting location with no alternatives), but those are rare.

Help your district save every club possible, make sure even small clubs present Toastmasters in the best possible light to guests, build their membership and bring the club to distinguished, and you’ll be part of a team recognized for your efforts at the district and international level!

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