The essence of IEA Chapter work is to provide local opportunities for people wanting to learn about or enhance their knowledge of the Enneagram. In addition, Chapters provide people with the opportunity to meet other Enneagram enthusiasts and teachers. And finally, Chapters can offer people a support system as they explore ways to incorporate their learnings about the Enneagram into their personal and/or professional lives.
But Chapters are organizations dependent upon the volunteer efforts of their members. Those volunteers take on the tasks of Chapter formation and maintenance, the development and publicity of local programs, the maintenance of mailing lists, and the like. As a result, regardless of size, most Chapters struggle with various issues related to membership recruitment, care and retention. Without an adequate base of active, motivated, and involved members, it’s hard for Chapters to maintain, much less thrive. Board member burn-out and issues of board succession can be particularly challenging, especially when the Chapter “founders” decide to retire.
The following is a collection of ideas from IEA Chapters about how to recruit, care for and maintain Chapter members, including board members. Experience suggests that is no right and wrong way to do this. Membership development is an art, not a science, and what works best for your Chapter will depend on a host of local variables.
Let us know what works and doesn’t work for your Chapter. And if you have additional ideas to share with other Chapters, contact Curt Micka at curt@internationalenneagram.org and he will add your ideas to this list.
Our thanks to the all of the Chapter leaders who are striving to sustain healthy and viable associations for their local members. We hope you find that this information complements your efforts to recruit and retain active local Chapter members. Best wishes in all your Chapter endeavors.
The Board of the IEA
B. Recognize members, including Chapter board members
I. Strategies for Member Recruitment
A. Develop and maintain a quality mailing list
• Develop, maintain and constantly expand both e-mail and regular mailing lists of people who have expressed interest in the Enneagram and/or those who have attended any type of local Enneagram event.
• Ask local Enneagram teachers to share their student/class lists with your Chapter in exchange for your Chapter sending out notices about their events to everyone on your Chapter’s e-mail list. (Such notices to Chapter e-mail lists cost nothing and can produce surprising results for local teachers.)
• Whenever your Chapter sponsors an event, make sure you get you the names, addresses and e-mails of all attendees. Add these to your master mailing list.
• When you find that addresses, especially e-mail addresses, are returned to you, try to make the time to call those people and get their new e-mail address. The reality is that people switch ISP providers more often than they move!
• Chapter Board members should remember to add names to the mailing list each and every time that they talk with someone who expresses an interest in learning about the Enneagram.
• Be VERY careful with your e-mail list and assure people that their addresses will not be used for any purpose other than to notify them of Enneagram-related events. Many people are very concerned about their e-mail address being captured by “spammers”.
B. Offer Quality Programming
Nothing builds membership as quickly or continually as quality programs. A high level of program excellence and a variety of topic offerings is crucial. For more information about the type of programs that Chapters have offered, contact the IEA Board Liaison to Chapters (currently Curt Micka - curt@internationalenneagram.org).
• Try to develop a yearly program, with input from your members as to their interests. (You can use the IEA’s Survey Monkey to survey your members.) Several Chapters use a Program Committee to draft a proposed calendar of events, with final approval by the Board. One way to balance the competing need for and interest in both introductory and more in-depth Enneagram offerings is to balance your Chapter’s yearly program with what’s offered by other local Enneagram teachers. For example, if your Chapter members primarily want events that deepen their existing knowledge of the Enneagram, but you’re also concerned about opportunities for Enneagram “novices”, you might send information to your mailing list about beginning Enneagram programs offered by other local teachers.
• Establish the expectation that Board members should make every attempt to attend all of your Chapter events. You need them at events to help with set-up, greeting of attendees, Chapter recruitment, and the like. In addition, being together at events can help cement the solidarity of your board. At the same time, make sure that your full Board actively participates in the final decision about your yearly calendar of events. If they’re not personally interested in the topics, they’re less likely to attend.
• Publicize your Chapter’s yearly calendar of events well in advance and send out at least two notices as each program approaches. In addition, announce and hand out flyers about the next program at each meeting/event. Finally, ask local teachers to share the yearly program list and notices about each program with their students.
C. Other Strategies
• As a recruitment strategy, one Chapter offers Chapter/IEA membership for $45 for first-time members. They simply “eat” the $15 rebate that they would normally receive from the IEA. After the first year, the Chapter receives the $15 rebate from the IEA when people renew their IEA membership. Another Chapter will soon implement a variation of this strategy.
II. Strategies for Member Care and Retention
But, people will never forget how you’ve made them feel.”Unknown author
Member care is the on-going process of identifying the needs of members and ensuring their satisfaction and retention. The following are some of the strategies the have proved effective for Chapters around the country.
A. Offer Quality and Varied Programming
• Quality programs also retain membership. If members derive value (e.g. learning and camaraderie) from your Chapter’s events, they generally won’t disappear.
• The challenge is to offer programs that appeal to as many people as possible. Consider surveying your members to learn about their needs and interests related to the Enneagram.
• Naturally, not all of your Chapter programs will interest all of your members. Therefore let Chapter members know what other local Enneagram teachers are offering in terms of workshops, study groups, etc. To the extent that your members identify your Chapter as a source for learning about other local Enneagram resources, they more likely will remain Chapter members.
People want and need to be seen and appreciated. And when they join an organization or attend an event, small things can make a big difference. Here are some small ideas that various Chapters have found effective in retaining their members.
• Have greeters at all your events. Welcome people. Especially those attending for the first time. Make them feel welcomed and valued. At the beginning of each event, thank people for attending and remind them of the importance of their participation in building an Enneagram community. If possible, offer something to drink and/or treats. It does make a difference.
• At the beginning of each event, acknowledge the work and effort of the Board and of everyone involved in the staging of the event.
• Whenever an appropriate moment arises, thank Board members for their work, dedication and efforts.
• Review the monthly membership report that you receive from the IEA office. When you see someone new who has joined your Chapter through the IEA, contact them and let them know about your Chapter’s upcoming activities. Ask them if they have questions, if they’d like to become active in Chapter activities, or otherwise think of ways to make them feel welcomed and part of a community.
C. Other strategies to retain members
• Check the monthly membership reports that you get from the IEA. Look for members who have not renewed. Contact them personally. Often people simply forget to renew and find that a personal contact gives them the “push” needed to renew.
III. Strategies to Retain Board Members and Planning for Board Succession
In most Chapters, it’s the Board that makes things happen. They determine the program, find presenters, maintain mailing lists, publicize events, recruit new members, etc. As a result, board member “burn-out” is a real problem; namely, too much to do and not enough people to do it. In addition, when the leaders of a Chapter decide to “retire”, a Chapter can die if new leaders don’t step forward. The following are strategies that various Chapters have found effective in preventing board burn-out and in “growing” new Chapter leadership.
• Recruit enough board members so that no one person ends up with too much to do. If possible, try to have 8 – 12 board members.
IV. Ideas for Advertising Chapter Programs and Workshops
• Determine the tasks that need to be accomplished and try to recruit board members with the skills and willingness to take on those tasks.
• The Board doesn’t have to do it all. Recruit other Chapter members to join committees, help with mailings, etc.
• Make Board meetings short, meaningful and special. Special “treats” can make it an event that people anticipate. One Chapter begins each board meeting with a check-in by everyone, regarding type and self-observation. This has created and maintains a sense of community and connectedness among board members and makes it easier to resolve conflicts when they occur.
• Utilize the skills that people naturally possess. Acknowledge those skills and thank each other for sharing them with the Chapter.
• Ask board members about other Chapter members who make significant contributions on committees. Recruit those members for the board when vacancies occur.
• On a yearly basis, check in with each board member about their plans for the future. Identify when future leadership “holes” are likely to occur. Identify and recruit chapter members who can fill those leadership vacuums.
• Send e-mails to members and non-members
• Post information on local media (including websites) for free
• Post information in all other local venues (universities, colleges, bookstores, etc.)
• Post and update information on the IEA website
• Distribute e-zine to all IEA members (a future newsletter distributed online)
• Explore opportunities for free publicity