A Guide To Membership

Recruitment and Maintenance

 

WORDS TO THE MEMBERSHIP RECRUITER

 

You are the most important person in the membership drive.  Please accept the Association's appreciation for the job you have agreed to do.  Of all the Association's activities, membership recruitment is the most important.  Without you, there would be no strong organization to work for members rights.

 

Your local chapter will be providing you with materials to distribute.  However, a membership campaign is not successful if it depends on "paper" alone.  People convince other people to join.  In fact, the number one reason people join the organization is because someone asks them to join.   Stuffing membership forms in a school mailbox or making a general announcement in a work site meeting is good, but it is not enough.   Making a personal appeal to nonmembers to become a part of the organizational team is what gets them to join.

 

As a membership recruiter, it is vital that you are perceived as a person who has information about the organization.   If you need more information, don't hesitate to seek it.  Your local president and labor representative are excellent sources of information.

 

PERSONAL CONTACTS BETWEEN RECRUITERS AND NONMEMBERS ARE THE SINGLE MOST EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT TECHNIQUE

 

But just meeting the prospect face-to-face isn't enough.  Its the quality of the contact that counts.

 

As a recruiter, you must be able to convince nonmembers that joining the Association is in fact an investment opportunity; that membership will provide many benefits and services whose equivalents just aren’t available elsewhere.

 

Every recruiter wants to make a good impression and to project a positive image of the Association as a dynamic organization deeply committed to improving the professional and economic well-being of its members.  To project that image, you'll need to come armed with sufficient information-information about both the Association and the non-member you are trying to recruit.

 

PROVIDING YOU WITH THAT INFORMATION IS THE ASSOCIATION'S RESPONSIBILITY.  PUTTING IT TO GOOD USE IS YOUR JOB.

 

Keep in mind, however, that your success will depend not just on what you say, but how you say it - and possibly even more on how well you listen.  When you expend the courtesy of asking for each prospect's observations, interests, opinions, and suggestions, you'll be demonstrating the Associations commitment to meeting the needs of individuals.

 

The suggestions on the following pages are designed to help you prepare for your key role as an Association recruiter.  Treat them as guidelines - select, adapt, and supplement them to fit your own style.  Develop an approach that you will feel comfortable using.

 

RECRUITING CAN BE REWARDING!

 

You will receive a work site roster from the Association or from the worksite secretary.  If you don't have one-ask for one.  Check these names against the association membership list for your work site.  This will help you determine who is a member and who is not.  Once the non-members are identified, ask other members in your building to assist you.

 

CALL FOR HELP

 

Not every person is willing to donate lots of time to an organization, but within your building there are strong Association members, who are not active.  They may be personal friends.  These are the people you need to contact.  Ask if they will help you recruit members within your building.  Explain that this project will not take a great deal of time and that the work can be done within the building DON'T HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP.  After all, it's their organization too!!

 

HAVE A MEETING . . . AND MAKE IT SHORT!

 

That's right - call for a brief organizational meeting with your new recruiters.  Have copies of the sheets showing the non-members.  Ask each of them to accept the responsibility for enrolling specific people on the sheet.  Spend a brief time going over the information needed for the membership form. Schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss progress.

 

ASK A PERSON TO JOIN AT LEAST FOUR TIMES . . .

 

We know that's a lot of times to ask, but statistics show that is what is needed.  Be positive but not aggressive when you ask for a membership.  Be certain you ask during a time when the person is not under stress or pressure.  Membership is a very personal commitment, treat it that way.

 

AT YOUR NEXT MEETING

 

Assess where you are in the campaign.  If your recruiters enrolled new members, be certain to express your appreciation to them.  Review who is not yet a member.  Did they express any specific reasons that can be counteracted?  Perhaps a different person might be the key to getting them to join.  It's frequently a successful move if two members go together to ask a non-member to join.

 

"I DON'T SEE WHAT OUR STATE  ASSOCIATION  OR THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION  DOES THAT MY LOCAL ASSOCIATION CAN'T DO.....AND I'D RATHER SPEND MY MONEY FOR A LOCAL ASSOCIATION.

 

Education is not an isolated community entity.  Funds come through the state and national political process.  Survival requires that we make an impact on these procedures at a level of sophistication beyond the resources of the local association.  In a mobile society, educational issues and instructional techniques are not confined to the community.  Problems in areas such as contracting out extend nationwide.  The state and national organization provide a network for research, communications, and support that are not available through any other means.

 

"THERE ISN'T ANY REASON FOR ME TO JOIN.  I WILL GET ALL THE SALARY BENEFITS ANYWAY."

 

School Boards are getting more and more sophisticated and want to know how many employees the Association represents.  Representing some of the potential member’s isn't enough.  The negotiating team should represent the overwhelming majority of the employees.  Joining shows the school board that employees are together behind negotiations.

 

Secondly, aren’t you a little guilty about being a freeloader?  Yes, I said a freeloader.  You know how much work some of the leaders put in on negotiations, on representing you at local and state meetings.  What do you give them in return?  Isn't it about time you pulled your own weight?

 

Note: Use caution in applying this techniques.

 

"WHY ARE DUES SO EXPENSIVE? "

 

"You get what you pay for", and Association members are getting a good program.  Specifically, the program provides services - such as legal assistance, negotiations assistance, retirement consultation, and money saving discount programs.  Right now we=re on the threshold of seeing enormous advances.  Legislation that we've wanted for some time now seems possible.  Also, when we tell the school board our salaries have to go up to meet inflation, we have to be ready to see our own organization's cost go up.

 

"I CAN'T AFFORD IT"

 

You can't afford not to join - join now.  It only costs a few cents a day for year round service.  The Association has contributed continuously to winning benefits already reflected in your paycheck.  Payroll deduction provides an affordable pay-as-you-go dues payment plan.  We don't accept "can't afford it" from school board negotiators.  Why should we be any less firm with those who benefit directly from salary increases and other benefits we are winning?

 

HOW TO ANSWER THE "HARD" QUESTIONS FROM NON-JOINERS

 

There always seems to be a few individuals who traditionally refuse to even consider joining their professional organizations.  They come up with multitudes of reasons, all logical to them.  To do a successful "selling" job on membership in our classified association, responses to these reasons are necessary.

 

Here are some of the responses you can use frequently stated reasons given by individuals for not joining.  Feel free to use them as you talk to people about becoming Association members.

 

"My wife (husband) also works in the school system."  Why should we pay double dues?

 

Because you're guaranteed double benefits.  Membership isn't altogether unlike an insurance policy.  If one of you has an accident, it doesn't help if the other is covered.  The same thing applies if one of you needs legal assistance.  Membership benefits come with membership only.  Didn't you both get salary increases this year?

 

"I just don't believe in joining anything."

 

If that's how everybody felt, we'd still be paying taxes on tea from England.  Until classified employees organized and won due process and just cause protection, how many non joiners were dismissed for unfair reasons?  Until members organized and entered the political arena, how many "letter writing campaigns" ended up in legislative wastebaskets?  Do you want to turn back increases which Association negotiations and lobbying have won?

"I don't believe school employees should be involved in politics."

 

You have a right to believe that, and you have a choice whether you want to contribute to the political action arm of the Association.  Other members who feel as you do join the organization but don't support political activity.  The important thing, however, is that they are staying in the organization and supporting not only other school employees but themselves.

 

"I haven't got a voice in what the Association does."

 

If you are a member, you have a voice and a vote every time you’re local Chapter takes action.  You also have direct representation to the state delegate assembly and the national board meeting, where policies for the Association are set, through the representatives you elect.  Your State Association is represented on the NACSE Board of Directors, and each local Chapter has proportional representation of the State Board of Directors and at the State Delegate Assembly.  Each of these representatives will make your wishes known.

 

"I don't agree with a lot of things that the Association does."

 

Can you honestly say that you never disagree with actions of your State Legislature or Congress?  Nonetheless, you don=t drop your citizenship, give up your voting franchise, and refuse to pay your taxes.  Representative government - in organizations as well as notions - depends on people who "Away their dues" and who participate in decision making.  If you don=t agree with some direction the Association is taking, join, become active, and work to change its course.

 

 

 

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL  MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT   1.         More people will join because we are interested in them, than join for all the facts we may know about the organization.  They are not buying the organization, but rather what it will do for them.   2.         Remember, people join for their own reasons, not for ours.  The best promoter of membership is an enthusiastic member.  Let it be known that you are proud of the Association and you believe it is the best thing you have going.  Let people know you believe that the association can make a difference.   3.         Contact prospects in person, one-on-one or two-on-one.  Contact them when they are alone rather than in a group.  Best results are obtained from personal contact.  After personal contact comes telephone contact, mail and printed material.   4.         Timing is important.  People are most likely to join:   When a major activity occurs; When they are newly hired; When they are helped with a problem they've had; When they are already "joiners;" and When asked and asked and asked and asked.   5.         Take a few minutes to plan your contact.  Review the use of opened questions and listening skills and ask yourself:   What do I know about this person (prospective member)? What is the purpose of this contact?   6.         Remember that your job is to listen, and not talk, until you find out all you need to know about the prospective member.  Ask questions which start with who, what, where, when, why, and how.  Listen to the answers! Find out:   What the prospect knows about the Association; What are his/her concerns, questions, and needs; What are his/her objections, if any; and   How our Association can fill his/her needs.   7.         Prepare yourself with information about organizational goals, programs, services, etc.  Know where to get additional information should you need it.  Talk about the Association in terms that would answer the question; "What will it do for me?"  Use what you have learned about the prospective members to determine what to highlight about the Association.   8.         Keep in mind that you don't have to know all the answers.  A general briefing on the local, State, and National levels of the Association will usually suffice.  Find out questions, concerns, and needs of a person and get back to her/him.  It is often more important that you cared enough to follow through with what you promised that you provide the information.  You may also ask a more knowledgeable leader or staff person to follow-up on your contact.   9.         If you need some one to assist you or to make a follow-up contact, decide who the best person should be.  When members are informed about who the members and potential members are, they are often willing to make recruiting new members a team effort, especially with individuals they know.   10.        When talking about dues, talk in smallest terms - by the day, week, or month.  Use the daily amount and compare it with what little that amount will buy in everyday purchases.  Stress that members receive protection and service 365 days a year and, in some Locals, for less than a dollar a day!                                                                                             11.        Use printed material selectively.  Hand deliver materials.  Point out specific information which responds to the prospective member's interest.  Write a personal note to go along with it.   12.        Positive attitudes produce positive results.  Be positive; expect everyone to join.  Let the prospect be the one to tell you otherwise.   13.        If someone shows any sign of interest in joining, try to get her/him to sign up immediately.  It takes less than two minutes to complete an application, especially if you have filled in the information in advance.  Become familiar with the application form so that you can help.  Offer to take the completed form to save the person the bother of sending it in.   14.        If there is any uncertainty in "closing" the membership "sale", remember the basics of closing - remind the prospect: Here's who we are; Here's what we do; Here's what we can do together; Here's what the dues are.  Then ask, "Will you join with us?"   15.        Set a goal for yourself each day.  For example, ask one open ended question; contact one potential member, call and support another Membership Recruiter.   16.        Much more comes through to the potential member than just the words we speak.  It's been said that only 7% of our message comes from our words; 38% comes from out tone of voice and how we say the words; 55% comes from other non-verbal messages we send with our facial expression, body language, etc.   17.        After a person joins, tell her/him what she/he can expect.  Do not promise anything you can't deliver personally.  Immediately after someone has joined is an excellent time to help get the person involved.  Do what you can to make every new member feel good about her/his decision to join.

 

 

 

 

REVIEWING YOUR WORK SITE SITUATION

 

If a check-mark appears in a box, it represents an item which you should work on?

 

�          1.  Do you have a list of members and non-member at your work site?

 

�          2.  Do you have a copy of your Associations contract?

 

�          3.  Do you have copies of grievance forms?

 

�          4.  Do you have copies of information, and brochures published by your Association?

 

�          5.  Do you have membership applications?

 

�          6.  Do you have employees at your work site who are not members?

 

�          7. Are there employees at your work site who are strongly anti-Association?

 

�          8. Are there employees at your work site who could be considered problem employees or who constantly complain?

 

�          9.  Is your work site unhealthy or unsafe?

 

�          10.  Do you have site-level managers who are difficult to deal with or who intimidate employees or who are strongly anti-union?

 

�          11.  Do you feel that the Chapter officers or the field representative or the grievance rep. ignores your work site?

 

�          12.  Are the members at your work site involved in the Association activities?

 

�          13.  Do your fellow employees think of you as someone they can trust or who can represent their interests?

 

 

 

DO'S AND DON'TS FOR RECRUITERS

 

DO

 

Have a membership application with you.

 

Know your prospective member.