Membership Report

By Dave ‘Twit’ Linberg

What makes a better gift for a motorcyclist than an ABATE of Wisconsin Membership? ABATE of Wisconsin has a very nice professionally printed “Gift Certificate” that you can purchase for the regular price of a membership ($25 for a single, $45 for a couple, $375 for a Life Membership – if you really like the person.) You don’t need their name and mailing address when you buy it. Just send us a note along with the payment and tell us you want to buy a membership gift certificate.  We will process the payment, authorize the certificate and mail it out to YOU. You can buy one at any time and just keep it in your sock drawer or saddle bag until you need a gift and the name and mailing address for the gift membership can be filled in when you decide who you are giving it to.

To everyone out there recruiting members – thank you and PLEASE mail the membership application and payment in as soon as you receive it!

Above all – Thank YOU to ALL our members for your membership and support!  And remember when you recruit a new member it doesn’t end with sending in the application.  That’s only the beginning.  Now you need to mentor.

Mentoring:

With NEW members – Get to know them. A simple phone call welcoming them into the membership is more than they’re getting now.

Asking a few simple questions will go a long way towards giving you more tools to make the new member more comfortable with the organization. By knowing what they like, you have a better idea of leading them towards ABATE activities that they will enjoy.

Simple questions like—”what do you ride? Do you like to ride in small groups, large groups, or by yourself? Just thought I’d ask, we have a couple of different rides set up for this summer…”  “Ever been to a swap meet? Want to check out the swap meet next week? We have a group going over, you’d fit right in.”  “Where do you work? You make business cards? Great, can you bring me some prices to the next meeting?”

If you get them to a meeting or an event, introduce the new member to other members. Simple but true. The more people within the organization the member knows the more likely they will feel a part of it. The other members that they are introduced to will also help with the mentoring process every time a conversation occurs.

Point out what’s going on. ABATE can be pretty confusing to a new person. ABATE of Wisconsin has only one mission: to protect the rights and safety of motorcyclists.  Because we go after this mission from many different angles and methods, it can be hard for a new member to grasp all that is going on at once.

Contacts like this to a new member are simply saying, “You joined, and you are welcome here, and we invite you to grow with us.” When we can say that, we have done our job.

This routine contact helps to build solid relationships so that when it comes time to ask for the renewal check, the member feels like they are not just a funding machine, but rather, they are a partner with the whole group.

If you’re willing to take this on in your region, talk to your Regional rep or your District Director. In fact, the District Directors were all at a training last month that included this idea, so they should have some fresh ideas to give you.

Here is wishing you all a Happy and Safe Holiday season. To you successful hunters, thank you for taking some of the deer herd off the roads…

Twit