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Every Club goes through an up and down cycle with respect to membership. Maybe the company sponsoring the Club is going through a restructuring and existing members got transferred away to continue to be members. Maybe the community Club is going through other challenges such as being forced to change venues. Whatever the reason, on the downswing of that cycle it does not feel good to have to do multiple roles in every meeting and also have to fulfill your officer roles while hoping your membership rises back to where it was before!
There is a solution! Get a Club Coach for your Club! Click here for information on the advantages of the Club Coach Program.
On the flip side, there are many reasons why to serve as a Club Coach for another Club:
Coaching a struggling club back to health is your opportunity to:
- Develop team-building skills
- Expand leadership experience
- Increase proficiency as a facilitator and negotiator
- Develop diplomacy skills
- Share expertise
- Invest in the future of Toastmasters
- Earn credit for one year as a District Officer*
- Earn credit toward the path to being a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM)
* If your club coach role is successfully completed on June 30, 2019 or June 30, 2020, your club coach credit can count toward both the club support and the district leadership requirements for an Advanced Leadership Silver (ALS) or a DTM award in the traditional education program. For more details on how to apply this role for an education award, you can contact the Education Services team at [email protected].
Coaching a Club and seeing it through to success as a Distinguished is an extremely rewarding Toastmasters experience.
Here is a story of what can happen if you step in to help a club as a coach:
Our 2018-2019 District 29 Public Relations Manager Rachel Grandpre successfully coached Belvoir Club – from the fall of 2016 to June 2018. What was the recipe for her success? She knew that she could not do it alone, and this was a big problem to overcome since in the dues cycle that began in Oct of 2016 no one renewed to Belvoir club and she actually was alone. With a little persuasion she recruited a two existing members to stay on the books even just as “paper members” so that she could have the minimum needed to keep the club alive. Rachel submitted her paperwork to be a Coach and soon after that the club had 3 members (one of which was her membership – Note: you must be officially listed as the Coach with Toastmasters international before joining the club otherwise you will lose eligibility).
Rachel was especially dedicated to not lose the club because at the time she was also the Area 12 director and so losing Belvoir club meant the Area could not be Distinguished. Belvoir did not fold that October and because of that (and the chartering of another club in that Area), Area 12 ended up actually being the only President’s Distinguished Area in District 29 in the Spring of 2017.
Rachel quickly recruited a co-coach who was also motivated to get her DTM credit, Ms. Deborah Reeves. The club was starting almost fresh because there were so few members so Deborah and Rachel got creative about finding solutions to help the club. The meeting location and time were difficult for everyone, so they made changes to those. Once that was fixed, the Public Relations extravaganza began. The Belvoir Club website was updated and new flyers were placed on posted on bulletin boards, social media, and brought to every District 29 event.
In addition to all the publicity, the club held several well-advertised open houses with lots of good food. Each new member that joined the club was carefully mentored and informed of the club’s goal of surviving and thriving. Every member contributed and wanted to make the club successful. That is what eventually lead to a club that got down to zero members in 2016 to be President’s Distinguished in 2018.
Every club deserves a chance to be saved. Because of Rachel and Deborah’s intervention as a club coaches, a club that chartered all the way back in 1985 is staying on the books and can continue its legacy into the future. Not only did they both help rescue Belvoir Club from extinction, but because of their coaching success, Deborah recently was recognized for earning her DTM and Rachel will be following her soon by earning her DTM this spring.
Click below to download a list of Clubs that need a Club Coach and their meeting details:
Please review the table and consider being a Club Coach or asking for a Coach for your Club today!
Email [email protected] for more details or to sign up to help rescue a struggling club that needs your help.
