Region Membership Chair Conference Call Notes
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
9:00 AM EST
Region Membership Chairs Present: Carol Blann (Golden West), Janice Posey (South Central),
Joanne Valentine (Sierra Nevada), Linda Waal (South Atlantic), Margaret Gilbey (Eastern Canada),
Nancy Hanson (Northwestern), Pat Jones (Sierra Pacific), Paula Austin (North Atlantic), Rita Offrett
(Rocky Mountain), Terry Moretti (Northeastern), and Aki Naganuma (SIA Japanese Translator)
PLEASE NOTE: About 20 minutes or so into the phone call, many, if not all participants, were kicked off –
including SIA staff. We apologize for the disconnection of the call and the technical difficulties. The call
was resumed a few minutes later. Thank you again for your understanding!
Nicole Simmons, Membership Director
Welcome to Liz!
As you know, we have a new Executive Director and CEO – Liz Lucas. We are so happy to welcome her
to our organization. Her experience includes 15 years with the American Massage Therapy Association
and the Massage Therapy Foundation, where she began her tenure as director of marketing and
communications, but served the last nine years as executive director. The Board of Directors, Governors,
and attendees at the Soroptimist Invitational Leadership Seminar had the opportunity to meet Liz and
begin to get her know her. To learn more about Executive Director Liz, please see the press release on
our website: http://www.soroptimist.org/news/pr_newexecutivedirector.html
Terry Moretti noted that she met Liz during their fall conference and said of Liz, “She is a lovely person,
lots of ideas for Soroptimist, and very easy to talk to!”
Japanese Member Outreach
In an effort to reach out to our Japanese members (who make up about 1/3 of our membership) we are
doing some Japanese Member Outreach. Aki Naganuma, SIA Japanese Translator attended the call
today to become more familiar with our members. She will be speaking to Japanese RMC next week and
will report back in order to help us understand more of their recruitment and retention challenges and
needs. Also, Aki will be visiting Japan soon and we hope to include focus groups for the program
department regarding VRA and for volunteering and social media (Live Your Dream Community).
New Member Communication Strategy – We are continuing to send out our “Welcome” postcards to
members who joined – this is being done on a quarterly basis. A fun, Soroptimist trivia email was sent out
too in October as part of the strategy.
Website Updates
 Member Polls (Members Enter Here): Does your club use the club email address provided by SIA ___@soroptimist.net
 Membership articles on website – Membership Information
 Video Tip: Using the ___@soroptimist.net email account
Terminated Member Survey
We’ll be conducting another survey for members who terminated Oct. 1, 2010 – Sept. 30, 2011. We hope
to conduct these surveys annually. To assist with some of the issues we heard about from last year’s
survey, there will be BFW articles out soon on personality conflicts, and leadership; and the next
Membership Moment Video Tip will focus on conflicts in clubs.
Introduction Form Survey
A survey will be conducted this year to glean information about why only about 8% of those who submit
an introduction form become members.
LYD/Associates
As you are aware, the SIA Board of Directors made the exciting decision earlier this year to offer new
entry points and connections to Soroptimist that are not based in clubs. We will offer new ways for people
to help Soroptimist deliver our mission through the Associates – which are no longer members according
to the most recent Bylaws update.
The Live Your Dream campaign will be the primary vehicle through which Associates are engaged. We
will start referring to this group as the Live Your Dream Community or Live Your Dream Participants. The
vision for this group is a virtual community implemented through the Live Your Dream brand that enables
people, including members, former members, and non-members, to help women and girls lead better
lives.
Details for this initiative are still in development and it will initially be launched in English. However, Live
Your Dream will be open to everyone.
Clubs and members will be invited and encouraged to join the LYD Community. There will be
opportunities available for individuals who wish to participate in activities like WOA, teen dating violence,
and keeping safe at work. There will also be a number of interactive activities such as contests, videos,
polls, blogs, and of course the LYD art contest.
Several callers noted they think the group is a great idea. The consensus is that it is a good way to
engage people who want to do service projects periodically, get to know Soroptimist, and have fun.
Nancy Nardone, Membership Coordinator
September 2011
 Total Clubs = 1,379
 Total Members = 35,143 (September took us over 35,000 member mark!)
 Total Members added (New/Reinstated/Charter) = 451
o New members = 374
o Reinstated members = 21
o Charter Members = 56
 Terminated Members = 125
Prospective New Clubs/New Club Building
 There are currently 3-4 prospective new clubs expected to charter within the next 6 months.
o SI/Pinedale, WY (RM)
o SI/Evanston, WY (RM)
o SI/San Narcisco, Philippines
o SI/Bakersfield, CA (SP)
 It’s been relatively quiet on the new club building front but if any of you know of any potential new
clubs in your region, please contact headquarters so we can provide assistance and point them in the
direction of some helpful resources on the SIA website.
 Reminder: A new online club building “kit” was created and added to the website. Included are
several customizable pieces such as a recruitment flyer, brochure, and membership presentation
template. The kit also contains a Soroptimist FAQ, Soroptimist Women’s Opportunity Award flyer and
links to Best for Women. Translations to the kit have begun and should be posted soon.
http://www.soroptimist.org/members/membership/newclubbuildingkit.html
 We will also be reviewing and revising the “Ten Steps” resource in other languages (Spanish,
Portuguese and Japanese).
Low Membership Clubs
 New low membership procedure approved in Hawaii, August 2011:
Clubs shall maintain 15 or more regular members. Headquarters shall monitor club membership on a
monthly basis and direct letters to those clubs with 14 or fewer regular members (copies to the club
president and Region Governor). Low membership clubs shall receive an automatic 12-month
extension. Headquarters will review club membership at the 12-month anniversary of extension.
Those clubs that have not increased their membership to a minimum of 15 regular members shall be
reported to the Board as having forfeited their charter.
 Based on the September 2011 membership reports, clubs showing fewer than 15 regular members
were sent a letter notifying them of their low membership status as well as the automatic 1-year
extension expiration date granted (October 17, 2011.) There were a total of 112 clubs in low
membership as of September 30, 2011. (The good news is that the majority of those clubs are only 1
member short of the required 15 regular member minimum.) As usual, copies of all low membershiprelated correspondence will be sent to membership chairs and region governors.
 We will continue to include information on low membership at the bottom of your individual region
membership statistics that you receive each month.
Introduction Forms
 We continue to receive an average of 80 introduction forms per month from prospective members via
our website. The top ways prospective members hear about Soroptimist continue to be (1) word of
mouth (2) local projects/events (3) internet search (for scholarships, trafficking, women’s
organizations, etc.)
 University of Phoenix introduction forms: received a large number of introduction forms in response to
posting on their website re: scholarship opportunities. Although they may not actually be interested in
membership at this time, treat each as a “public relations” opportunity which may result in some type
of engagement with a club.
All: Bright Ideas – suggestions, thoughts, open discussion
The group discussed several recruitment and retention ideas…
Takako Yoshizumi, Japan Higashi Membership Chair, was unable to attend the call but submitted
some comments: She noted, “We all appreciate your deep and kind consideration on the one year
extension of Low Club membership.”
In order to help some clubs that have difficulties with membership, we will start ad-hoc committees and a
new trial, called “Soroptimist Friendship Party” for this one year. I am not sure how well it will succeed,
but we will try.
[Purpose] – Membership
 Public Awareness
 Communication between Region and clubs
[Target] 20 – 30 clubs
 Who wish to empower membership
 Who apply for the trial
[Planning] - 4 renaissance Region Chairs
 4 JHR Program Committees
 JHR SOLT/Membership Committee
[Team members] To organize a team according to club requests
 1 – 2 JHR Board member(s)
 1 –2 Renaissance Chair(s) and/or JHR Program Committee(s)
 * 3 – 4 members in total (plan)
[subjects] - History of Soroptimist
 Commitment / Activities / Relationship between U.N. and Soroptimist
 Activities in SIA
 Activities in JHR etc.
“Virtual” Club
Carol Blann noted her club meets virtually and in person. The club has a conference call 2xs per month
and then meets in person on a Saturday for a fun activity. The question was raised about how the club
fundraises, and Carol replied through an online art auction – check it out:
http://sicentralyavapaisunrise.com/
Club Membership Chairs
Looking for a way to connect with the clubs in your region and check in with their membership efforts? It
was suggested to use www.freeconferencecall.com to have Club Membership Chair calls. The site may
also be a good option for other virtual meetings of members, boards, etc.
Club Too Big?
Oh to have such a dilemma! Rita Offrett mentioned the possibility of a surge in members in a club in her
area due to some sponsored events where 4,000+ people would become familiar with Soroptimist. She
inquired about what point is a club too big and might need to split? It was discussed that it’s really on a
case by case basis. Open and frequent conversations should happen as the club grows – are the
members still getting the same out of the club as they did before, are there enough activities to let
everyone get involved, etc. An ongoing assessment will keep the club in check before any type of split
should occur.
Ideas to Assist Low Membership Clubs
To assist clubs in low membership, the idea was raised about a healthy club acting as a mentor for a club
struggling with membership. An example was given by Carol Blann where such an instance resulted in an
increase in members for the troubled club. Terry Moretti also noted that a club in her region is being
assisted with their membership by a college intern. Paula Austin added that a club in her area offered
several incentives (fundraiser tickets, membership, raffle tickets) as a signing-on bonus for new members.
Information was also provided to those who signed on so they could see what the club does in the area,
who they help, etc. and how their membership adds to those efforts.
Fun Fact!
Linda Waal reported that she was reading Between Friends by Debbie Macomber and in the book, there
is a mention about Soroptimist. It turns out Debbie was given the Woman of Distinction Award in 19961997 from SI of Port Orchard, Washington!
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!
THANK YOU once again for all you do for Soroptimist. We are excited to be working together in order to
improve our recruitment and retention efforts. If you have any needs/suggestions, etc. please let us know!
Save the Date!
Upcoming Region Membership Chair Conference Call
Thursday January 12, 2012, 9am EST
Submitted by Nicole Simmons and Nancy Nardone