Suggestions:

1000 At every meeting, remind the membership to come to the next meeting, bring a friend, or offer to drive someone who cannot drive at night.

1001 If you have membership on a January – December basis, remind members of this and follow up on requests for dues.

1002 If your membership year is on a 12-month basis, have a membership committee follow up with your members on an individual basis.

1003 Program chair selection criteria (to come)

1004 Limit terms of office for board members to 2 – 3 terms, and then a sabbatical of a year.

1005 Make a real effort to have competition for each board position in a contested election — it’s always healthier for the organization to have competition for board and officer positions.

1006 I am continually amazed at the contributions made by new residents, and it is beneficial to try to draw these newcomers into the organization.

1007 People often don’t like to drive after dark and so attendance often drops off during the winter. However, part-time residents still make it up to the Catskills for the weekends. Why not offer programs on a Saturday afternoon to fight cabin fever.

1008 Encourage life-long attendance by offering lifetime memberships.

1009 Encourage youngsters to attend, and possibly even have a student attend as a board member. This outreach is very important, and might even be tied to a small college assistance award.

1010 Provide a glassed-in enclosure that could be secured, and use it to display the collections or hobbies of the membership.

1011 Use teasers on the Internet to entice people to keep in touch with your society:

“As our recent property purchase is more of a vacation property right now, we will not be able to be active members. We are, however, looking forward to receiving the newsletters. I looked over the March newsletter online, and it seemed very interesting. I particularly enjoyed the article on maple sugaring.”