Three Ps of membership: People, passion, planning

Attendees of The American Legion’s 53rd annual National Membership Workshop were given a challenge Friday by National Commander Dale Barnett – to stop the membership slide and institute a culture of growth. To help accomplish the challenge ahead of them Barnett shared his three Ps of membership: people, passion and planning.

Only three American Legion departments achieved 100 percent membership this year, a membership number where the first “90 percent happens naturally but the last 10 percent is leadership,” Barnett said during his address at the workshop held in downtown Indianapolis. “The difference between success and failure is that last 10 percent. You need to identify people that can talk about membership.”

During his travels as national commander, Barnett has seen membership success due to the right people being in place. He’s met members who have started new posts, talked with the No.1 and No. 2 national recruiter of the year about their recruitment efforts, and he visited 42 posts in a single department with a vice commander who knew the post leaders and the posts involvement with its community. He’s also met with Legion leadership who said membership wasn’t their job or who didn’t communicate membership initiatives down to the post level.

“You have to have the right people in place,” Barnett said. “You have to talk to each other, you have to listen to each other, and you have to work together or you won’t have success.”

Growth within The American Legion also comes from Barnett’s second membership P – passion. “I’m passionate about this organization, and I know you are too. It changed my life,” he said. “It changes lives each and every day, but we don’t leverage it.”

A few examples Barnett shared of how to leverage that passion is by asking the parents of youth who participate in a Legion program, like Boys State, Legion Baseball or the Oratorical Contest, to join the Legion if they are eligible. And to conduct an awareness walk for veterans, an initiative Barnett started when he was elected national commander during 97th National Convention as a way to tell the Legion’s story. By the end of his tenure as national commander, Barnett will have participated in 44 walks.

The awareness walks are a way to “get out with the Legion family and spread the news of The American Legion because we’ve got a great organization,” Barnett said. “Be passionate about telling your story and why you’re a member. I know you love this organization. But I’m very afraid of the future if we don’t get fired up and be passionate about The American Legion.”

For the final membership P – planning – each American Legion department was tasked in 2013 with creating and adhering to a five-year strategic membership plan that focused on communication, brand awareness, retention and recruitment, training, and post development and revitalization.

“If you don’t have a plan, you’re not going to be successful," Barnett said. "But if you have a plan and you don’t vigorously execute it, you’re not going to be successful.”

But the job of membership success isn’t solely in the hands of membership leaders at the department level. Barnett stressed that each department’s membership plan is a buy-in at the post, district, department and national level.

“My motto this year is Duty, Honor, Country," he said. "Your duty is to grow this organization, to be passionate about this organization. It is an honor what we do in this organization for the youth of America, for the veterans of America. I hope you leave here looking to find the right people that have passion and that have the ability to execute your five-year membership plan.”

While membership growth in the Legion is a priority, so is growing The American Legion family. If elected, leading candidate for the 2016-2014 Sons of The American Legion, Jeffrey Frain, will encourage each SAL member with recruiting three new members into the Legion family (Legion, SAL and Auxiliary).

“Think of the multiplier effect that would have if every part of the Legion family was growing,” American Legion National Adjutant Dan Wheeler said. “We would be a successful, growing, vibrant organization.”

To encourage Legion, Auxiliary and SAL members to ask potential new members if they have a spouse, child, brother, sister, etc., who may be eligible for membership in the Legion family, the National Membership and Post Activities Committee has been tasked with creating a new award. The award, similar to the Gold Brigade and Silver Brigade award, will be given to members who sign up a combined total (the number is yet to be decided) of members into the Legion family.