Getting Members to your Guilds!

Over the past two years, we have had different members email asking us about increasing and retaining members in their guilds. This subject is very near and dear to our hearts as well, as we believe every quilter should be a part of our national organization to help us promote our amazing craft through Canada=)

To help us and others with this dilemma, we went to the experts. YOU! After our AGM at Quilt Canada 2015, members told us their success stories and advice.  It was a worthwhile conversation for everyone in the room and we promised to show you the feedback from that discussion. 

Town Hall Discussion

How to Increase Guild Membership

After the Annual General Meeting members were invited to participate in a discussion on how to increase guild membership. There was good participation resulting in the following suggestions:

-The needs of membership should be determined through the use of a survey such as Survey Monkey or another suitable tool.  Results would then be shared with all membership and guild activities adjusted accordingly.

-Large guilds often have sub-groups who meet within an existing meeting or separately to ensure that the interests of all members are addressed.  Mentors can be assigned to either a sub-group or to new members to assist them in learning the ropes.

-Whenever possible speak with a departing member to determine why they are leaving the guild- the information provided may result in further adjustments to guild programs.

-Ensure that meetings have structure and purpose i.e. format, projects, strong interaction, sharing of techniques, etc.  Keep members challenged and interested.

-Where feasible guilds have introduced sliding scale membership fees e.g. reduced fee for youth, early renewal discount, snowbird rate.

-Most in attendance were in guilds that use social media which kept membership informed and engaged.

We hope this helps and if you have any tips, please add them in the 'Comment' section!