Announcing the 2017-2018 membership campaign

Mid-point of our Membership Year, reach out to our Post family who might be forgotten.

Our membership year started back in July and the posts have been working hard to meet our target dates and our goal of 21,000 Members in the Department of Colorado. Thank you so much for your efforts, we aren’t done, but you need to hear our heartfelt Thank You from all of us on the Membership Committee at this year’s mid-point!

We are a Big Legion Family. We are always in the pursuit to grow that family with new members, that’s what our membership drives and active recruiting efforts are all about. But, I think there is a missing element that we may have forgetting, not on purpose, but because they are quiet.

This is who they are, they are veterans that has been a longtime dues paying members for years, so they blend in and get forgotten in all the activities and noise of retention and recruiting. They pay their dues every year, do not attend meetings and their contact info just sits on a line on the Adjutant’s “Green bar” report. Very little is asked from them and they don’t ask anything from the post. They are the quiet members, but they are much more important than that.

At this time of year we reach out with the yearly Commanders Christmas letter/e-mail (if you don’t do one, it’s a great idea), or even better, a personal phone call to the loyal members who might be alone or in need during the holidays. We need to make sure that they are not forgotten and know that if an issue arises, they could reach out anytime to the post for support and aid with merely a simple phone call. This is what a good Legion “Family” does! If the time allows and you can get a team together, visit those members at their home, starting with the longest continuous years of membership. A short visit may be the greatest outreach that you could ever do.

Communicating with members and especially our members that we aren’t in regular contact with the post unites our members and insures that we as a “Veterans helping Veterans” organization is meeting that obligation. It’s not just a tag line, it’s a reality! Those members need to feel that there is someone out there for them in their time of need. They will be more inclined to continue their membership and your post will stop the revolving door of a newly recruited members who joins the post and leaving us in only one year or two of membership.

From all of us on the Membership Committee, Past Commanders Club and DEC, as their Chairman and President, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR, I pray for you and your family, may God Bless you and keep you safe!

Visit me and join the “The Membership Minute” group on Facebook

HOOAH!!

Robb D. Smith, Department of Colorado, Senior Vice Commander