The Tale of Two Chapters - Chapter Leaders Playground

The Tale of Two Chapters
by Cynthia D'Amour, MBA

The national association has two local chapters in the area:
the Metro Chapter and the City Chapter.

The City Chapter is 43 years old. They are proud of their traditions. Have a standard annual calendar of events - doing pretty much the same thing every year.

They pride themselves on being busy professionals who offer members six meetings, one fundraiser and an annual year-end awards dinner.

The past year has been hard.

The economy took its toll and membership is down 25% this year.

The Metro Chapter is 18 years old.

They leave traditions to the City Chapter and thrive on trying new things.

Their goal is to shock and awe their members with every event - whether meeting, fundraiser or party.

Speaking of parties, they love to have them!

They have some sort of party almost every month.

Sometimes they meet in a restaurant for happy hour, other times in a home.

It doesn't matter.

And meetings feel almost like parties.

The meetings are themed. There's a big focus on connecting members with each other.

The economy has been interesting - creating even more reason for the chapter members to come together.

They are committed to riding out the economy together - and having fun while they do it.

The Metro Chapter grew by 14% last year and plans to grow more this year.

The City Chapter has filed a complaint with National Headquarters against the Metro Chapter.

The complaint:

Metro chapter has poached some of their members.

In fact, a former City Chapter member, who wasn't very active, is now a committee chair for the Metro Chapter!

They say the Metro Chapter should be shut down for ethical violations.

What do you think?

I say the City Chapter needs to get real.

As leaders, we need to take responsibility and ownership for that which we can control.

The problem is not the Metro Chapter.

The City Chapter is offering a tired experience.

There is little room, need or welcome for new voices.

Why should members stick around?

If they provided a more dynamic, relevant experience, less members would leave.

It's easy to blame another chapter, the economy, no time and more for not having a thriving chapter filled with happy, active volunteers.

Truth is, if people aren't showing up and sticking around, it's due to the experience you offer.

People find time (and money) for that which they find valuable.

As a leadership team, do you take ownership for the state of your chapter?

If you're not getting the results you want, what are you doing about it? That is, what are you doing differently?

If you are frustrated and don't know where to start, you should sign up your leadership team for membership in the Chapter Leaders Playground.

Membership includes 40+ webinars/year to help chapter leaders grow their chapter - and dues are only $97 total for a team of 19 people.

Cynthia D’Amour, MBA, founder of the Chapter Leaders Playground is the author of several books including The Lazy Leader's Guide to Outrageous Results and is a frequent speaker at leadership events.

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