1. Community/Sm all Chapter Best Practices

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8.  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

9.  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!

10. Any Ideas to Share?