Indiana post achieves 132 percent membership growth
By Peter Welling, Post 510 adjutant
In every direction of the Historic Fort Benjamin Post 510 in Indianapolis live hundreds of members of National Headquarters Post 777. It is the duty of each of us to reach out to these comrades and invite them to join Post 510. That was the directive from our executive committee and the membership committee responded by obtaining a phone list of those unattached Legionnaires and started calling. Invitations were made and accepted and attendance at meetings started to increase.
At general meetings, new members are welcomed to the post and asked to introduce themselves and to share their experiences. Each new Post 510 member is personally greeted by the commander and vice commander, and presented with a token of welcome, such as a Legion pin. They are encouraged to become active participants in the Legion’s mission.
To obtain new members, we also started a door hanger campaign. Legion volunteers walked around neighborhoods and any home they saw flying a U.S. flag or a vehicle with a veteran sticker or plate, we knocked on the door. If no one answered, we left a door hanger that provided instructions on how to join Post 510.
New members make the programs of Post 510 more viable and visible, and thus attract other Legionnaires. With the recent influx of new members, the post was able to launch an Auxiliary unit in 2015, the color guard was able to accept more invitations, including participating in last year’s historic 100th running of the Indy 500 Festival Parade. And Post 510 Legion Riders received their charter in 2016.
And new members attract more new members; here is one example of how that domino theory worked for Post 510. Ann Adcook signed up and volunteered for the position of service officer. She then joined our Legion Riders chapter. She brought in local police officer Matt Hickey, a Sons of The American Legion member, who then joined the Riders and he brought Axel, a former war dog, who is now Post 510’s mascot. Axel and Matt work together with the Lawrence Police Department.
The post keeps all members in the loop. Emails containing the minutes of the general meeting or news of open positions where they might wish to participate are sent on a regular basis. Post 510’s Facebook page is very active and informative, and we will soon launch a website.
Post 510’s membership committee is a dedicated group that meets at least once a month to handle administrative demands and to plan for the future. Recently they approved a Five Year Growth and Sustainability Plan while their current efforts have already produced impressive results.
The commitment and determination to become more visible and to adapt the growth plan will keep Post 510 on pace to reach its goal of 1,600 members by 2020.