Denver Division Toastmasters

(Scroll Down for Diagnostic Questionnaire and TM Specialist Volunteer Form)

If you are in a club with less than 20 members – get ready for the DOORS program! This initiative, which starts July 1, 2008, is especially geared toward clubs with 13-19 members, but any club can benefit from the DOORS concept.

The DOORS program builds on the tremendous response we have had in the 2007-2008 year to coach-eligible clubs requesting club coaches. By the end of the 2007-2008 year, we had 23 club coaches working with 16 clubs. Several of these clubs are on track to be Distinguished or higher, and some already are Distinguished as we go to press with this issue of the Sage.

However, since clubs with over 13 members are not eligible for club coaches, 2008-2009 District Governor Bob Baxter wanted to create an initiative to serve those clubs. That is how the DOORS program came to be developed.

What is the DOORS program? This program relies on the 37 Area Governors serving the 150 plus clubs in District 26 to be a more proactive with the clubs in their area. They will offer to work with clubs to determine what obstacles are keeping the club from having 20 or more members. As part of the club visit and interview process, the Area Governor will ask a few specific questions to identify those obstacles.

The acronym DOORS stands for: Diagnose a Toastmasters Club’s challenges and then help the club be Open to Opportunities to Rebuild the Club and to Sustain the Club at a higher level of functioning.

In the past, Area Governors have done this kind of thing as part of their role. With DOORS, the Area Governor is more intentional about the diagnostic role. Also, the Area Governor is charged with identifying and offering resources (in the form of volunteers from other Toastmasters clubs) to help the club address these obstacles.

For example, if the club isn't getting visitors, then helping the club with its website and other publicity tools would make sense. Or people are visiting the club meetings but they aren’t joining. Then maybe help with the quality of the meeting would be in order, or perhaps helping the VP of Membership to be more effective in “closing the sale” would be appropriate.

Ask your Area Governor about the DOORS program, and open your club’s door to all kinds of new possibilities!

Joyce Feustel, DTM

D26 Club Coaching Chair

D26 DOORS Coordinator

DOORS* Questionniare

Diagnostic Questions to ask your club

Goal: Assisting Clubs to 20 or More Members

1. Are you satisfied with the number of visitors coming to your club’s meetings? If the club is not satisfied, ask the following:
   • How does your club attract visitors?
   • Is your club’s information current on the Toastmasters International website at www.toastmasters.org and on the District 26 website at www.d26toastmasters.org?
   • Do you have a club website? Is everything current on that site?
   • Would you like assistance in creating and maintaining a website that draws people to visit your club?
   • How else do you publicize your club?
   • Would you like assistance on how to create and distribute publicity that draws people to visit your club?

2. Are you satisfied with the percentage of visitors who become members? If the club is not satisfied, ask the following:
   • How does the vice president of membership keep track of the names of the visitors? Are guest cards used? A guest book?
   • Do you review these records to see when people are more likely to join and encourage the vice president of membership follow up more intensely during those months of the year?
   • What kind of follow up with visitors seems to work the best? Phone calls? Emails? Written notes?
   • Would your vice president of membership like assistance in how to follow up effectively with visitors?
   • How can your meetings be stronger? How do you feel about the evaluations that are given? Are they positive with specific examples of what the speaker did well? Do they provide specific suggestions for improvement?  Would you like someone to visit one or more club meetings to get a sense of the quality of your meeting?
   • Would visiting a club with a strong track record of converting guests to members be useful for your officers?
   • Would your vice president of education like assistance in coming up with a few more ideas for meeting programming?

3. Are you satisfied with the percentage of members who renew in each dues cycle? If the club is not satisfied, ask the following (and follow up questions from the 2^nd question may also apply ):
   • How do you track how many of your members renew in each cycle? If so, have you explored any trends in terms of when members don’t tend to renew?
   • How are newer members oriented to your club?
   • Are new members assigned a mentor? If not, would you like assistance in setting up a mentor program?
   • How are the needs and interests of the club’s members assessed?
   • Would you like some assistance with how to do such assessments?
   • Do you conduct an exit interview for members who don’t renew their dues?
   • Would you like assistance in increasing the percentage of renewing members?

Contact your Area Governor to get assistance implementing the DOORS Plan.

Toastmaster Specialists – Sign Up Here!

Be Part of the District 26 DOORS Team: Help Clubs Get to 20 Members or More!

The DOORS initiative, launched by District 26 on July 1, 2008, stands for Diagnosing what is keeping Toastmasters clubs from being at 20 or more members and then helping clubs be Open to Opportunities to Rebuild and Sustain the club. These questions are intended to be asked by area governors, but could also be used by club coaches or others who help the clubs. Once the challenges are identified, the area governor then helps to find Toastmaster “specialists” to work with the club to address these challenges. For more information, contact D26 DOORS Coordinator Joyce Feustel, 303-570-9864 and joycefeustel@comcast.net