Last year at our District meetings we were introduced to SIA s All Aboard the MemberSHIP campaign for 2015-2016! We learned that every year about 4000 women join Soroptimist. Mainly they join us because of the work and strategies of the club. Soroptimist membership is an experience! The membership experience that Soroptimist provides is helping to empower women and girls to live their dreams. On average, one club helps 15 women and girls each year. As we continue to increase our member numbers imagine how many more women and girls will be helped?!? As an organization of and FOR women we are uniquely qualified to take on the challenges facing today s women. However, in order to continue those efforts we will need to continue to gain more members while also keeping current membership excited and engaged about our organization and it s mission to improve the lives of women and girls in projects and programs that lead to social and economic empowerment. The assistance we have all received from SIA s All Aboard the MemberSHIP recruitment campaign has been tremendous. Evidence of the value in using the tools and resources from the special website put together by the federation is reflected in the overall growth in clubs in our region, and for that I am so proud of all of you! Since the beginning of the campaign we have received approximately 30 inquiries through SIA s website. Those inquiries are forwarded to the corresponding clubs for follow-up. Thank you to all of those clubs who have reached out to potential members via this system. SIA is actively working on a process through their IT department to have all inquiries generated through SIA s website linked directly to
the club requested by a potential members. This should occur within the next fiscal year making a more efficient and direct link to our potential members and the clubs in their areas. At the beginning of our campaign we began with a.79% increase in overall membership and have steadily grown to a 4.55% increase in new members through January 2016 which equates to a net gain of 95 new members! Clubs across our region have done a tremendous job in membership gain and I would like to take a moment to recognize those clubs that since January 2016 have shown a net gain of 10-20%. Please stand if you are here today with your club. SI Great Falls, MT SI Auburn, WA SI Chehelum Valley, OR SI Choteau & Vicinity, OR SI Bend, OR SI Fairbanks, AK SI Burlington, WA SI Corvallis, OR Please give all of these clubs and their members a round of applause! And now for those clubs who have had a 20-30% net gain in membership since January 2016 please stand. SI McMinnville, OR SI Olympia, WA SI Gig Harbor, WA SI Rogue Valley Sunrise, OR Please give all of these clubs and their members a round of applause!
And now for even more exciting news! SIA wanted to recognize excellent performance during the first half of the All Aboard the MemberSHIP campaign and the membership department recently distributed a special gift to the top-performing clubs in each region as of January 31, 2016. The gift was a beautiful scarf with a nautical them to match our campaign. One scarf was given to each member of the top clubs. I am pleased to announce that the club with the highest net gain of new members through January 31, 2016 with a 41.18% net increase in new Soroptimist members is..si Federal Way! SI Federal Way was also awarded an additional prize from the Region for the club with the highest net gain of new members. This club had a choice of receiving a meal package and registration at our 2016 Region Conference or the monetary equivalent towards their club s LYD award or DIBI program. They have chosen the monetary award towards their DIBI program. Will all members from SI Federal Way please stand. Thank you so much for such a fantastic achievement. At last year s District meeting we also reported that each new member who joined club s in our region this club year along with their sponsor s were eligible for a drawing for a free registration at conference or the monetary equivalent to their club s LYD award or DIBI program. This year s winner was a new member from SI Klamath Fall, Kelly Minty Morris. Please stand. (if she is here), Kelly has also chosen to accept the monetary award towards her club s DIBI program. Congratulations again to all! All clubs in our region should be very proud of the hard work that you have done throughout the year to make the All Aboard the MemberSHIP campaign a huge splash, but before you take down
your sails and pull into port SIA has decided to extend the campaign another two full year periods, each covering June 1 - May 31 and it will include some additional recognitions to Recruitment, Retention, Club Growth and New Clubs added. If your club has not received their teaser email about the extended campaign then check your in-box often for exciting updates. And don t forget that while our region s mini recruitment contest is over, SIA encourages all club s to make that final push for new members through the end of the club year. The winning clubs from each region will receive cash awards to be used toward our signature Dream Programs at the region and club level! The top 5 clubs in the federation will receive $500 to be used for their LYD award recipients and $1000 will be given to the top region which may be used to honor an additional LYD award region recipient or to support the DIBI activities of clubs in their region! Winning clubs from across the federation will be announced at this year s Federation Convention in Orlando this July. Almost 6 years ago I joined SI of Oak Harbor, and was immediately engulfed in a group of dynamic ladies and one brave man. As an only child it was overwhelming to immediately have over 90 sisters and a brother, but I enthusiastically embraced my new family. They have loved and nurtured me, celebrated my successes and have definitely inspired me to live my dreams. They consistently embody the essence of promoting the empowerment of women and girls as they have guided and empowered me throughout the years. I have been honored to serve as our club s President, your Region Membership Chair, and co-chair of our club s first year with Dream It Be It, which has been such a joy.
These past 6 years have been a whirlwind of personal and professional growth along with a wealth of amazing friends. I, like all of you, want to make a difference in my community and throughout the world, and I know that without an organization like Soroptimist and it s mission of improving the lives of women and girls, I might have never been afforded such an tremendous opportunity to, as Ghandi so eloquently said, be the change you wish to see in the world. Our organization continuously looks for new ways to grow and change with the world around us. Our mission is vital, but it is up to each and every one of us to ensure that we are truly an organization of women at their best helping other women to be their best. When we are actively seeking members as well as retaining those we already have then we are opening the door to tremendous opportunities for growth within our clubs and the lives of those women and girls we touch each year. Soroptimist membership is an awesome experience, encourage those around you to be a part of that experience, to be the change you wish to see in the world. Thank you Governor Carol and to all of you for the opportunity to be your Region s membership chair.