Membership Task Force Meeting: 5/28/14 

Held at Pacifica Sharp Park Library
 
Attendees: Joan Chipser, Jessica Guild, Hannah Higdon, Linnaea Knisely, Bruce Knoth, Justin Olague, Renee Olague, Andrew Weiss, Gina Weiss.  (San Mateo, Belmont, Canada, San Carlos and County Staff)
 
After a review of the purpose of the Membership Task Force (attain new members, retain incoming/existing membership, defining optimal fee structure, enhance registration and follow up process, leverage county based initiatives), the group first focused on activities related to the upcoming San Mateo County Fair.
 
Gina shared the 4”x4” print samples of animal pen/cage signage, and noted that we have an OK for space in the barn for a table or booth, the exact dimensions of which will be defined on barn set-up day.   She is soliciting member loans of non-animal related project items to show at the booth.  Goal: to expand on 4-H's brand awareness within the community as more than “animal” oriented. 
 
Photos of group activities or events (eg. Rocketry or fishing project, Belmont), Archery project (Belmont or San Carlos) Robotics (San Bruno), SET, etc. would be welcomed.  Please send photos, or offers of project related samples to glowweiss@yahoo.com ASAP.  
 
After discussing the challenges of staffing yet another booth for the duration of the show, including getting tickets for booth staffers, the group refocused the Fair Barn Booth outreach strategy accordingly.  Goal: to have the booth staffed on the weekends and to have the booth be able to tell the 4-H story without an attendant by using pictures or other informational posters, the county 4-H banner and a floor display.   
 
Jessica shared that UCCE will also have a booth – central to youth/barn activity which is also critical to support, as it fulfills a key part of the program representative grant requirements   The grant requires that we have 50 trained teens (aged 13-19) to demonstrate healthy living activities.  
 
Accordingly, Gina committed to sending a volunteer sign up link for the 4-H barn booth (goal – weekend coverage) to Jessica, who will create a cover email for both initiatives and any other related events.
 
The group then focused on upcoming events, and the value of outreach initiatives as a membership recruitment tool.  The first: Joan Chipser will man a booth at the San Carlos Airport Day event on Saturday, May 31st.  Banners and marketing material to be used in the Barn booth at fair are making a side trip to this event.  Jessica designed and ordered a set of 1,000 business cards with Facebook, Twitter, and QR codes among other contact information.  Joan can share these with attendees interested in more information about 4-H. 
 
At that point, the group really challenged the initial assumption that “more booths = more members”.  Instead, we came to the realization that membership growth and retention reflected our members' experiences in 4-H.  To the extent that we can make our Clubs projects, general meetings and related experiences fun, engaging, and effective learning experiences, plus help our members make friends within our community, membership retention increases, and growth occurs through word of mouth.   Bringing more new members into a club which is dysfunctional (no fingers were pointed – it was just a hypothetical) does not bode well for keeping them through that program year and the years to come. 
 
So:  The group discussed the idea of having club youth leadership engage in a tailored SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to identify processes/issues that needed to be addressed, improved, enhanced or jettisoned to help us work towards that goal of being youth experience centric.  Linnaea will draft some questions that could serve as a framework for such a self check by clubs.
 
Jessica also shared with the group that there would be a Volunteer Training on 9/27 at Elkus Ranch that could support and help address some of the challenges clubs had with logistics, marketing, setting expectations and bringing a greater awareness within the new and existing community as to what 4-H can bring to families.
 
The group noted that having a 9/27 meeting and new-family training came fairly close on the heels of the standard membership recruitment cycle, or in advance of some of its milestones. Historically, with a August/July program year cycle, clubs Exec Boards met in August, welcomed members back in September and held the Open House/Project signups, final enrollment and new member education in early to mid October.  Jessica noted that this did not mandate that all enrollments needed to be locked in September.  Instead, the event could serve as part of the new-member recruitment process.   The plan is to have new families come, along with current volunteers, and have activities for their kids occur while the parent education takes place during the morning.
 
Jessica also clearly stated that this will be a major event, and that she will be looking for help as we get closer to the date.  
 
Last, but not least, as some club leadership (adult and youth) is transitioning, the group discussed who needed to attend future meetings. The group agreed that Club Presidents and Community Leaders all needed to be part of this process.  The next meeting will take place 6/23, again at Sharp Park Library. 
 
Minutes respectfully submitted by Linnaea Knisely soon to be ex-community leader,
Belmont 4-H