by Ed Luttrell
National Grange Director of Leadership and Membership
As we are in the middle of an election season, perhaps we should
take some lessons from the politicians. There are some basic
principles with any campaign. You want your name in front of the
public, in as positive manner and as often as possible. You want
your ideas and what you stand for clearly defined. You want people
to choose to support you. While people will not see your Grange on
the ballot, these principles will also work for recruiting new
members.
To get your Grange name in front of people, there are a number of
tools. Advertise all your events with flyers, radio, free TV
announcements, and especially by members talking about your
activities. Your members are the single best source of promotion
that your Grange has. They need to tell people about what is coming
up and brag about what has happened.
Take the time to talk as a Grange about what the core or key values
of your Grange are. Is having fun, welcoming families, socializing,
doing community service, or supporting young people part of your
values? If your members don’t know what the core values are, they
can’t tell others about them. Also talk about where the Grange is
going. For some people it is sometimes far easier to talk about what
is in the works than what you’ve been doing.
Start a membership campaign in your Grange and you will find people
choosing to be a new member.
