Membership Involvement

Guide
Membership Involvement

The new member is exactly that – New! He or she is still unaware of the enormous potential of Junior Chamber – its philosophies, its objectives and its achievements. Nor will the new member fully understand, for some time, the role he or she will play in the organization.

The new member has yet to discover what his or her new chapter has done, is doing and should do in the future. This may seem like a list of handicaps. To the contrary – the new members has three formidable assets on his or her side: curiosity, enthusiasm and energy.

If the chapter satisfies the curiosity with materials and answers, encourages enthusiasm with effective chapter management and good projects, and harnesses that energy with regular challenges and worthwhile activities, the new member should stay long enough to become an excellent young citizen and a leader of the future.

RESPONSIBILITIES

There are two distinct parties responsible for the new member – the chapter leadership and all chapter members.

Here are some suggestions how both parties can best ensure that the new member is provided with the best possible environment for personal development and quality membership.

1. Orientation – Organize an orientation session for a small group of new members. Use the New Members Orientation Seminar, from JCI Headquarters. Hold the seminar within three weeks after the member joins.

2. Sponsor/Mentor – Assign an active and experienced member to be responsible for the needs of the new member for from three to six months. This should be long enough in most cases to help establish a new member.

3. Family Involvement – Ensure that the new member explains the organization and chapter activities to his or her spouse, and encourage early family involvement.

4. Member Interest Interview – This can be a written questionnaire or an oral interview and is usually done during the orientation session or in the first few months. Record results in a Membership File and update it regularly, especially for new members.

5. Personal Progress Plan – Using the form from the New Members Orientation Seminar, prepare a Personal Progress Plan for the new member and review it regularly.

6. Bio – Produce a written biography of each new member and issue it at a general meeting or publish it in the chapter magazine. This will encourage the general membership to identify more quickly with the new member.

7. New Member Project – Organize the New Members Project Seminar from Junior Chamber International. The new members will survey the community needs, brainstorm to decide on a project and select a project to be conducted by the new members. If other orientation is used, ensure that the new member organizes a brief project with a limited scope. This will serve as a means of recognition in the chapter and provide the opportunity to experience and accomplish a project.

8. Basic Training – Every new member should be taught these basic skills (other than those offered at the orientation program): Parliamentary Procedures for meeting participants, public speaking, project planning, report presentation, and basic protocol in a voluntary organization.

9. Training Sessions – In addition to the instruction contained in the orientation program and the basic training program, the new member has come to learn and benefit from the skills Junior Chamber offers any interested and enthusiastic individual. The following One-Hour seminars are available from the Junior Chamber International:

a. Project Planning
b. Junior Chamber Vision, Mission and Values
c. How to Win any Debate or Argument
d. The Successful Executive
e. People-Centered Management
f. Staying Young, Living Long
g. Customer Satisfaction Comes First, Profit Comes Second
h. The Chair
i. Managing the Mingling

Additional training courses are constantly being designed by JCI.

10. Incentives and Awards – Have an incentive program for new members to award them for participation in meetings and projects.

11. Exposure – Let the new member introduce himself or herself, or make a report to the chapter meeting.

12. Chapter Responsibility – As early as is feasible, appoint the new member to a Project Committee or as a member of one of the Commissions, so that he or she will feel part of the team and will get the opportunity to learn by doing.

13. Literature and Materials – It is very important to give the new member a comprehensive New Member's Kit, which will explain the organization, the chapter and the benefits of membership. This will enable the new member to do some self-orientation.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The chapter must understand the aspirations of the new member. He or she wants to belong, to achieve, to be accepted, to enjoy membership benefits, to lead and follow, to be active and to be recognized occasionally.


2. The new member should get quality involvement; an opportunity to involve his or her family; good reasons to commit time, money and energy; a chance to lead; opportunities for self-improvement and community involvement; high standards of performance; and lasting friendships.

3. Motivate the new member to attend meetings, speak to the Individual Area of Opportunity Vice President about his or her aspirations, speak at the meeting at least once in the first three meetings, share his or her ideas and aspirations with other members, ask for Junior Chamber materials, learn about the rules of a meeting, etc.

SUMMARY

Junior Chamber is not just another voluntary organization. Almost 300,000 members in nearly 10,000 chapters in more than 115 nations and territories have, since our foundation in 1915, made it the best young people's organization in the world!

Let your new members know very early that the rewards of Junior Chamber membership far outweigh the adversities.