Service Clubs Must Market Selves Better

To the Editor:

Your article “A Tradition of Service in Limbo” (November 5) does an excellent job of describing the membership problems of today’s civic-service and fraternal organizations. Because I spent 17 years as the chief staff officer of the service-club organization Civitan International and have provided consulting services to several others, I am well acquainted with the issues they face.

Some of these organizations “talk the talk” of strategic planning but cannot “walk the walk” when it comes time to actually implement change. They are tradition-driven organizations that find it very difficult to become market-driven. In some cases, their corporate culture and the politics of top-level elections make it very difficult for them to achieve meaningful change.

Time is a precious commodity for today’s volunteers. Some perceive that joining a service club requires attendance at meetings where they will be subjected to boring after-dinner speakers and an obligation to “go up through the chairs” to become a club officer. That is not necessarily so. A few local chapters are learning to reinvent themselves by attracting younger members and letting them choose their level of participation and involvement. These innovative chapters can be the potential seeds for organizational renewal, if given a climate within which to thrive.

But, for the most part, the service-club organizations have not done a good job of marketing themselves. They are losing out to competition from newer organizations that have better-defined missions and offer a more satisfying experience to volunteers.

America owes a tremendous debt to Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, and the dozen or so other service-club organizations. Our nation would benefit greatly if they can learn how to grow and prosper again. But unless they are truly willing to change, the outlook is bleak for these aging, mature organizations. The handwriting is on the wall, and their elected leaders must do more than merely criticize the penmanship.

Frank J. Bulgarella
President
Resource One
Ann Arbor, Mich.

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To the Editor:

Thanks for writing about civic clubs. They seem to be considered anachronistic, but they are really a vital part of community growth.

I have been a member of the Annapolis Jaycees for seven years, and during that time our chapter has had tremendous growth. … I have found the Jaycees to be a very worthwhile way to get involved in a number of causes in the community while meeting new people and improving my own leadership skills.

Civic clubs are a wonderful way to build a strong community, and I hope that we can find ways to encourage higher membership. Also, as an area director with the American Heart Association, I have found civic clubs to be an excellent gateway for volunteers looking to work with us and other charities.

Jennifer Dudley
Area Director
American Heart Association
Hanover, Md.