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Community Partners: Getting Members AND Money
Perhaps you’ve heard people say things like …
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“Our Chapter could be more effective if we had more money”
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“We can’t find any new members”
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“Local people are not interested in AFA”
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“We can’t seem to attract new, young leaders”
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“We would have more influence if we had more people in the community involved”
There is one program that many chapters have used to meet all of these challenges – the AFA Community Partner Program. Chapters that
have this program find they gain real strength, both in numbers and in their bank accounts.
The Community Partner program is local. The chapters run it and the Community Partners are local businesses run by people you know in
the community. Each participating business identifies one individual to be the AFA member representing that business. They pay at least
$75 which is split evenly between National Headquarters and the local chapter. Some chapters charge more and if they do they retain all
of the additional funds for their use. National still only gets $37.50.
And so if you have just 10 Community Partner Businesses, that’s at least $375 additional income per year. Often chapters will tie their
Community Partners to the support of Visions Classrooms or the local JROTC unit. In that way a chapter can continue to fund an important
program while using the funds it gets from National Headquarters for other purposes. And, not incidentally that also means ten new (or
renewing) members in the chapter.
Local businesses have people who are busy but who also have the skills you’re seeking to work into your chapter leadership. If you’re
cautious and invite them to participate in small tasks at first, eventually some will move up to take the key positions in the chapter.
What about sales? If there is a base nearby, these are often businesses that rely on Air Force people for their customer base. But even
if there is not, tying the program to something with clear, local benefits (such as the education goals discussed earlier) often will help
the program sell itself.
Does it work? Chapters that have tried the program and have worked it consistently (tracking their Community Partners, staying in
communication with them and most importantly renewing them) tell us they wouldn’t be the same without that program. If you don’t have
one, start one. If you have had one but allowed it to fall by the wayside, bring it back. And if you have one that works, tell other
chapters in your state how rewarding it can be.
Community Partner Memberships for Commercial Establishments who Support AFA Events
(Submitted by AFA National Membership Committee)
Many of our Chapters have meetings and/or special events regularly in the same commercial establishments (restaurants, hotels etc.).
Several chapters do very well in the community partner recruiting area by providing a complimentary CP membership to these establishments.
Often this develops into a long-term relationship which not only results in regular renewals, but also access to other commercial
companies through word-of-mouth, which generates additional CP opportunities which might not otherwise have been investigated.
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