Early Warning System - imgix



Soroptimist International of the Americas

Keeping the Balance – A Guide for Clubs

It takes a lot to build and maintain a successful club. You need passionate, energetic women. You need viable programs. You need to maintain a high profile in the community. And, of course, you need to have a realistic budget to sustain growth and manage fundraising. A successful Soroptimist club is a balance of all of these components, enabling women in local communities to help women and girls across the world every day.

Finding balance is difficult, especially when you aren’t sure where to look for it. How do you break down components of your club to assess what is working and what is not? To combat this, the following has been developed an early warning system highlighting common indicators of clubs at risk. While no single indicator means the club is going to fail, they may be indicators of future club difficulties.

Please use this document as a tool to aid in the assessment of your club’s health, and as a catalyst for intervention. The chart below offers sample club scenarios and the opportunity to indicate whether the scenario is true or false for your club. Sample actions that may be taken to correct each scenario are offered, as well as resources that are available to help you along the way.

|Club Scenario |True |False |If you answered True, try this… |Resources Available to Clubs… |

|Our current club president has | | |Schedule a meeting for club leaders to discuss the role of the |Region membership chair |

|served more than 2 years as | | |president, officers and committees. |Contact your region membership chair for assistance in talking to your club|

|president or has been president or | | |Write clear position descriptions for all leadership positions and |about the need for change. |

|an officer of the club in prior | | |consider sharing responsibilities so that one person does not shoulder |SIA website |

|years. | | |too much responsibility. |Use the tips in Identifying and Nurturing Successors to create an |

| | | |Develop a strategy to attract new members to leadership roles. |atmosphere of seamless transitions. See other helpful officer guides and |

| | | |Establish a mentoring program within your club to assist in succession.|calendars on the Club Administration website. |

| | | | |SIA headquarters |

| | | | |Contact the membership department for assistance. |

|Our club has not attended or sent a| | |Ask your region membership chair to attend your next business meeting |Region membership chair |

|delegate to our region conference | | |to discuss the importance of participating in region events. |Contact your region membership chair for talking points on why region |

|or has sent the same delegate more | | |Send a new member to the conference as a way to engage her beyond the |interaction is important to the health of your club. |

|than 2 years in a row. | | |club experience. |Region leadership |

| | | |Offer to participate in region conference planning meetings to help |Contact your region conference planning committee for additional |

| | | |your club become more active in region activities. |information about the conference and how your club can get involved. |

| | | | |SIA headquarters |

| | | | |Contact the membership department for additional information and ideas for |

| | | | |engaging members in region activities. |

|Our club has delinquent financial | | |Discuss your concerns with your club treasurer and ask for a copy of |Region leadership |

|obligations to the region or | | |your current budget. |Contact your region treasurer for sample budgets and dues formulas. |

|federation. | | |Contact your region treasurer and/or the SIA finance department to |SIA headquarters |

| | | |understand the status of your charter and resolve the issue. |Contact the finance department to discuss the possibility of developing a |

| | | |Schedule a meeting with your club’s officers to determine reasons for |payment plan to bring your club into good standing. |

| | | |non-payment. Is your treasurer performing her duties in a timely | |

| | | |manner? Is the club experiencing financial difficulties? Are your club | |

| | | |dues adequate to cover obligations to SI, the federation and the | |

| | | |region? | |

| | | |Review club dues, fundraising projects and expenditures for the past 2 | |

| | | |years. Make budgetary changes as needed. | |

|Our club treasurer has served in | | |Discuss the role of the treasurer and write clear position description.|Region membership chair |

|the same office for more than 2 | | |Develop a succession plan and establish a mentoring program to assist |Contact your region membership chair for assistance in talking to your club|

|consecutive years. | | |in succession. |about the need for change. |

| | | |Consider having co-treasurers in order to ease the responsibilities |SIA website |

| | | |associated with the task. |Find a helpful guide and calendar for the club treasure on the Club |

| | | | |Administration website. |

| | | | |SIA headquarters |

| | | | |Contact the membership department for assistance. |

|Our club members have formed | | |At your next meeting, make it a point to address teambuilding and |SIA website |

|subgroups or cliques and do not | | |diversity within the club. |Read the Team Building Within Your Club article and view the Team Building |

|interact well together as a whole. | | |Evaluate your committees. Are they diverse? Consider reorganizing teams|video. |

| | | |to revitalize your club or inviting a consultant to assist with |SIA headquarters |

| | | |teambuilding exercises. |Contact the membership department for information on teambuilding and |

| | | | |diversity in your club. |

|Other than Founders Pennies, our | | |Discuss your current operating budget with your club treasurer. Do you |Region fundraising chair |

|club has not participated in any | | |participate in Club Giving? |Contact your region fundraising chair for additional ideas for fundraising |

|SIA or Soroptimist International | | |Evaluate your current fundraising events. Do you host many small events|in your community. |

|development/ | | |throughout the year or host one large event? What works best in your |SIA headquarters |

|fundraising projects for one year | | |community? |Contact the fundraising department for assistance. |

|or more. | | | | |

|Our club has not realized an | | |Evaluate the culture of your club. Are your meetings held at a |Region membership chair |

|increase in members for one entire | | |convenient time and location? Do you have engaging guest speakers? Are |Contact your region membership chair to discuss recruitment and retention |

|year or has realized a net decrease| | |new members given an appropriate introduction to the club? Most |options for your club. |

|in membership for 2 consecutive | | |importantly, does your club offer a welcoming atmosphere for new |SIA website |

|years. | | |members? |Visit Membership Resources and Information and the Member and Club Campaign|

| | | |Develop a plan of action to attract new members. Contact your region |website to download tools and templates. |

| | | |membership chair to learn how you can revive recruitment efforts and |SIA headquarters |

| | | |improve retention in your club. |Contact the membership department for assistance. |

| | | |Host recruitment events throughout the year. Remember that meeting new | |

| | | |prospects is only part of the recruitment process – following up with | |

| | | |potential members and actively soliciting them for membership is an | |

| | | |important component for success. | |

|Our club has fallen below the 12 | | |Evaluate your recruitment efforts. Are you actively pursuing members? |Region membership chair |

|members that Federation Procedures | | |How many recruitment events have you hosted this year? Have your |Contact your region membership chair to discuss recruitment and retention |

|recommend clubs maintain. | | |members personally followed up with each prospect? |options for your club. |

| | | |Evaluate your retention efforts. Are your meetings held at a convenient|SIA website |

| | | |time and location? Are your meetings interactive and engaging? How do |Visit Membership Resources and Information and use the Club Assessment |

| | | |you ensure that all members feel valued and committed? |Tools. |

| | | |Develop a recruitment and retention plan that maximizes the strengths |SIA headquarters |

| | | |of your club members. |Contact the membership department for assistance. |

|Our club does not participate in | | |Talk to your club’s officers and members – why doesn’t the club |Region program chair |

|the Live Your Dream: Education and | | |participate in Soroptimist’s Dream Programs? |Contact your region program chair to discuss options for your club. |

|Training Awards for Women and/or | | |Devote a portion of your next business meeting to discussing options |SIA website |

|Dream It Be It. | | |for participating. |Visit the Soroptimist Programs section to download resources and materials.|

| | | |Stress that participating helps to build a strong Soroptimist brand, |SIA headquarters |

| | | |which aids in successful recruitment and retention efforts. |Contact the SIA program department for additional information on programs |

| | | | |and how your club can participate in our Dream Programs. |

|Despite efforts to publicize our | | |Discuss your current public awareness efforts with your club. Does your|Region public awareness chair |

|club’s activities, our community is| | |club have a workable public awareness plan in place? If not, work |Contact your region public awareness chair for support and help with |

|not familiar with Soroptimist or | | |together with your region public awareness chair to develop and |building media lists. |

|its programs. | | |implement an annual plan and budget. |SIA website |

| | | |Identify a member as the club’s spokesperson. This can be the club |Visit the Public Awareness section for templates, ideas and other sample |

| | | |president or someone else who feels confident they can handle the task.|publicity materials. |

| | | |This will help to establish credibility in the community and build |Post a query on SIA’s social media sites and/or share information about |

| | | |relationships with media contacts. |successful public awareness activities. |

| | | | |SIA headquarters |

| | | | |Contact the public relations manager for assistance. |

|Our club does not have time to | | |Form a public awareness committee in your club and divide the public |Region public awareness chair |

|publicize events and activities. | | |awareness duties among those serving on the committee, so that the |Contact your region public awareness chair for support. |

| | | |public awareness responsibilities don’t fall on just one member. |SIA website |

| | | |Don’t reinvent the wheel. Headquarters provides a number of sample |Visit the Public Awareness section for templates, ideas and other sample |

| | | |publicity materials for various programs such as the Live Your Dream: |publicity materials. |

| | | |Education and Training Awards for Women. The materials include |SIA headquarters |

| | | |easy-to-customize templates for news releases, media advisories, PSAs |Contact the public relations manager for assistance. |

| | | |and more. | |

|The news coverage our club receives| | |Evaluate the messages your club is sending to local media by taking a |Region public awareness chair |

|is not women and girl focused. | | |look at what your club is doing in the community. Are you publicizing |Contact your region public awareness chair for support. |

| | | |programs that do not support the Soroptimist mission? |SIA website |

| | | |Send clear messages about who we are and what we do to media by |Visit the Public Awareness section for templates, ideas and other sample |

| | | |conducting and publicizing mission-focused projects. Use the sample |publicity materials. |

| | | |publicity materials in the members only area of the website to help you|SIA headquarters |

| | | |communicate clearly with the media and your community. |Contact the public relations manager for help preparing for interviews with|

| | | | |the media. |

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