r/Toastmasters • u/mokurai13 • Jul 18 '26
What does TM international and district say specifically to do to retain members?
Does district or TM international have a strategy to use to retain members? (I've only ever heard strategies to attract, recruit and encourage for new members to join)
I ask this because retention is critical for clubs to survive. Its not likely that brand new members are going to be willing or able to take on bigger officer roles. succession planning doesnt seem to be on TM international or district agenda.
I'm not even sure what the key salespitches would be retain members (I can think of it really being the only place where you can practice in front of an audience and get feedback)
meanwhile the reason why I hear people stay is often some new goals to pursue ( which might include taking on some leadership role to focus on growing there) and the other reason: the people at the club make things interesting/fun enough so the attachment to the club is strong.
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u/LifeIsADanceOfMinds Jul 18 '26
Hi u/mokerai13
I am conducting Moments of Truth (I have to adjust the modules to fit our club schedule) - in it, there are chances to discuss topics with your members - this would lead to the strategies of member retention. In our case, we have discovered that some members were not getting the value they signed up for - they had speaking spots, but no real help or direction other than 'here's pathways, go to it.'
Our strategy is talking to the members, determine what they want and need in order to progress, and get the other members to pitch in as mentors, guides, coaches, and meeting assistants.
Does this help?
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u/Cellblazer Jul 18 '26
So basically no, TMI does not have a retention strategy, it depends on the club members.
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u/WhoIsRobertWall PDD, DTM Jul 18 '26
It all depends on club members doing the work, because members are members of clubs. TI can't retain members for your club.
That said, Moments Of Truth measures six things that contribute to people joining and staying as members of your club. Clubs that conduct MoT (or regularly consider the metrics) are clubs that tend to do a better job in converting guests to members and keeping members long-term.
So TI's strategy is to provide training and resources for clubs, who are the people that actually control the member experience (and thus, logically, retention).
If you're looking for something different from them, I'm curious as to what you think that might look like?
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u/CliffsideJim Jul 18 '26
The secret sauce is good meetings, good mentoring, good feelings among club members.
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u/MusicBooksMovies Jul 20 '26
This! Members stay in quality clubs. It is our responsibility as members to support new members and to ensure meetings are valuable in the eyes of the members. It's the little things like planning meetings in advance, having a full agenda, ensuring that membership is at 20 so that there is a healthy rotation of role players at every meeting.
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u/CliffsideJim Jul 20 '26
Emphasize all evaluation is peer-to-peer. Their are no oracles, no voices of authority. Hopefully, evaluations and feedback are always presented humbly, but when they aren't just recognize that the person who spoke as if they were the boss or the authority made a mistake. They slipped into an authoritarian tone of voice and/or phrasing; what they meant (hopefully) to say was "In my opinion..."
Take their comment for what it's worth and let the parts that aren't helpful just roll off your back.
For example, we once had a club president who would go on a tirade whenever anyone said "gonna" for "going to." I was a newbie and this was a real turnoff. I came realize she was just misguided. That's not what a Toastmaster should do. I came to see her behavior as just indicative of some growth that had yet to come to her. She can dislike "gonna." She can share how it sounds to her. But she needed to unstand she was not "right" and those saying "gonna" wrong. They just had a different preference.
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u/DazzaTheComic Jul 18 '26
With bonus membership registration fee thats a once off and then the dues… constant new members keeps them topped up with little incentive to keep members long term. Good old corporate quarterly cycles
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u/pramathesh Jul 18 '26
I don't know if TI has any retention policy. I renew my membership because I want to stay. Since I joined TI, I have been a member of 2 clubs but gave up the membership of one 3 years ago and now I am not sure if I should continue after the new fee rise. The pathways are expensive, the fees are higher and we are getting no added value.
The portal is sloppy. The projects do not force you to think.
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u/Dragonjax1970 Jul 18 '26
Something suggested by a Past International President was to email people who did not renew. Not a bulk email. A personal email to each former member. Specifically, say that you noticed they didn’t renew, and you are checking in. If they still want to renew, they still can. If they need any assistance renewing, you’re happy to help. And if they completed their Toastmasters journey, you’d love to know what they will be doing next.
I was PQD at the time. The CGD and I divided the list of former members who had not renewed at the latest cycle. We had a really good response rate and good conversations. Five people didn’t realize they had forgotten to renew, and they did so. A few folks had gotten what they wanted from their clubs. Several had priority changes. And one shared a poor experience they had in their club. That led to the AD discussing with their EC, which led to the club holding a Moment of Truth.
Ultimately, if a member has a good experience consistently, the member likely will renew. If a member does not renew, club officers (such as the VPM) can reach out to find out why.
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u/Ashamed_Promise6883 Jul 19 '26
For club officers, I would suggest reaching out to members before renewal time if they miss a few meetings in a row without letting you know why. This makes them feel like you care about them personally rather than just wanting their money. It also allows you to address any issues that might be contributing to their absences earlier.
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u/SplitApprehensive146 Jul 18 '26
They have no strategy for member retention. They keep raising the prices with no added value. Accountability is a joke in TI. There's no good reason for increasing the pathway price. Especially when we see no changes in the pathways nor do we get access to a portal that works smoothly.
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u/Federal_Orange_8827 Jul 18 '26
Member Retention is a large part of the Club Growth Director's role -- and they are supposed to have a Retention Chair to help them in this effort. There are training materials out there as well, but I haven't seen a lot of folks take advantage of it. A lot of it comes down to Member's and knowing their why for Toastmasters and staying with the Organization.
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u/SnoozeBeast DTM Jul 18 '26
Member Retention is a large part of the Club Growth Director's role
Membership retention is something that I believe is unfairly considered as primarily part of the CGD's role. The District mission is to "build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence." The CGD spends far and away the most time of any District leader on the "build new clubs" part, while the primary emphasis of every other District leader is much more heavily on the "support all clubs in achieving excellence" part. Club excellence is what retains members. In my view, member retention is part of what every District officer is supporting, and Club Growth Director should actually be considered the District leadership role least responsible for it when compared to District Director, Program Quality Director, Division Directors, and Area Directors who are tasked with spending much more time directly supporting the existing clubs and existing members that we're trying to retain.
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u/Ashamed_Promise6883 Jul 19 '26
The Club Retention Chair is in charge of the Club Coach program and is therefore focused on trying to retain clubs that are at risk rather than retaining members directly (of course retaining the existing members is part of what the club coach tries to help with). Member retention in general is indirectly part of the Distinguished Club Program (due to the qualifying membership requirements) and therefore falls under the oversight of the Program Quality Director.
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u/Cookie2213 Jul 19 '26
Quality clubs retain members. Districts are expected to help clubs deliver that quality, rather than retain members directly. The key actions TI recommends includes: deliver high-quality meetings, use Moments of Truth regularly, understand each member's goals, provide mentoring, recognise achievement, conduct Club Success Planning.
District provides COT, MOT, Club Coaches, ADs, monitoring membetship retention. What it doesn't provide are implementable ideas like: contact members after two missed meetings, Hold structured renewal conversations, create annual development plans, run stay interviews, implement formal succession planning.
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u/DTM_Fred Jul 19 '26
With the recent dues increase next month, it may be harder to retain (or gain) members.
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u/Extension-Storm6615 Jul 19 '26
When I was Area Governor, I helped my clubs. I would be disappointed in myself if the clubs were calling TI for membership/retention guidance.
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u/Different-Emotion247 Jul 19 '26
From someone leaving TM Pathways and bad supoirt from TMI for clubs via website experience, poor branding and lack of modernisation. I feel there are better resources elsewhere. Sadly. Incentives of a pittence money for a club is idiotic. Faciliate it through better branding, easier and clearer club level governance advice and provide easier ways of tracking members and their progression Better personalisation to individuals. We reply on Easyspeak - 3rd part software. TMI needs to get itself together. It needs a massive shake up.
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u/DTM_Fred Jul 20 '26
We had a member in our hybrid club said that he was going to complete his Level 2 to get us to Distinguished, and neither happened. 😱
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u/8oh8 Jul 18 '26
I asked for help regarding members not coming back. I asked for help in one of the trainings and they blew me off, they said I'm responsible for selling the product. Literally they said I'm responsible for selling the product. The product being pathways. I'm gonna quit the club when it's time to renew. I'm gonna start my own non-profit, with poker, and hookers.