At HamCation in Orlando last weekend, Ken, KN2D, gave the above presentation on how to increase your club’s member participation. He’s a marketing guy by profession, and it shows.
He does have some great ideas about how to get members more engaged. One of the ideas that I especially liked was asking inactive members why they don’t participate in more club activities. Ken says, “They pay their dues, but that’s all they do. Ask them why they aren’t active in the club and what would what would get them more involved.” We’ve talked about doing a membership survey in our club, but I think that asking these questions of inactive members is simpler and could be just as effective.
Other suggestions included:
- Making sure that your club’s website is attractive and up-to-date. As an example of a good website, he used my club’s website. He especially liked the way that we used a Google calendar to list our events.
- Make good use of social media, including:
- Complete the entire profile
- Add a professional profile image
- Add an eye-catching cover photo
- Leverage business description & “About” areas
- Post, post, post. In conjunction with this, he gives a lot of good ideas for what to post.
- Use email to market your club. He’s an email marketing guy, so of course he’d suggest this.
- Host a variety of events, including speakers at monthly meetings, field days (not just the big one in June), contesting, family-oriented events (such as picnics), swap meets, campouts, and game nights.
- Pre- and post event PR. There were a whole bunch of good ideas in this category, including:
- Use press releases to announce club meetings and events.
- Create a designated PIO (Public Information Officer) position at your club.
- Don’t expect hams, especially new hams,
to find you by osmosis.
Of course, one of my favorites is “Hold licensing classes and give tests.” You really can’t expect your club to grow if you’re not creating new hams. While that’s not the main reason that I teach classes—I just want to help as many people as I can have as much fun with ham radio as I have—it’s an important part of a successful club.
You’ll find these and a lot more good ideas in Ken’s slide deck. I’m happy to say that our club is doing much of this already—and it shows. We’re well over 100 members and we’re continuing to grow. If you’re concerned at all about your club, please watch the video and get the slides.