Community/Sm all Chapter Best Practices

Why Suddenly a Subject of Interest?  More chapters who were corporate chapters have become community chapters because of changes in contractors, changes in top management  Small businesses need to be as knowledgeable as the “big guys” they may be competing with  The federal government is looking to small businesses to provide services and materials

Comparisons between Small and Community Chapters  Community  Generally not sponsored by a business  Smaller membership  Membership is made up of many businesses  Meet at public locations  Usually meet during the evenings  Usually purchase web site  Small  May be sponsored by a business  Smaller membeship  May be a city government or small business  May meet during business hrs  Web site may be sponsored by business

Pros and Cons of Small/ Community vs Corporate Chapters  Pros  Not tied to business – can gather members from anywhere  Can meet anywhere – such as restaurants  True networking  Don’t have to do everything – focus on one or two things you do well or want to do well  Cons  No corporate sponsorship to help with funding  No senior management to count on  No set place to meet and store materials  No set field of members  Can’t take dues from paychecks  Fewer members to hold offices and chairs

What is Your Goal?  Training for your members  Providing training for others  Community service  Speech Contest  Large membership to do many things

How Do You Decide What to Do With So Few People?  You may want to combine officers and chairs  Secretary/Treasurer  VP/Membership Chair  Community Service  Chair/Publicity  Use National to provide training through live online  Sell business membership to allow for less expensive training materials for their business  Meet with other Associations – Project Management, Administrative Professionals, Professional Engineering Groups

How can NMA Help?  On-Line Training  LDCs and National Conferences  Staff, National Officers, and National Directors  Councils – way to participate in more  Breaktime  Foundations of Management  Building Virtual Teams

 Bring in a facilitator  List three things that every member wants from the chapter  Multi-vote to trim down to no more than 6 items  Every member gets 1 vote for the item that means the most to them  Take the top 2-3 items and have someone volunteer to lead a team in discussion about one of the topics – do this for each of the 2-3 items chosen  List what the target audience is, what the benefits would be to them, what chapter resources will be required, what the benefits are to the chapter What One Chapter Did

 Present the results and decide how to move forward – accept the items, change the items, delete the items  Form teams and go forward with the focus of the chapter  If membership grows, meet again to choose focus areas or take some of the other items from the larger lists  Think of this as a 2-year strategic plan – take time to do it right, plan to spend some money, don’t give up!

Any Ideas to Share?