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Welcome to the first-ever issue of the Serra Leader newsletter online!
This newsletter helps keep leaders at all levels of Serra informed and on top of the latest USA Council initiatives and events.
This spring we will return to our usual printed issue.
Please click to read this issue’s articles:
Attracting New Members: Give Them Room to Grow
by USA Council President Ernest P. Doclar
Using the Programs Manuals to Cultivate a Vibrant Club
by Robert H. Goldsmith, USAC Programs Committee Chairman
Identity, Publicity and Strategy in Membership
by Greg Lynch, USA Council Membership Vice President
Boring but Important: Planning for the Season
by USA Council Executive Director Ed Verbeke
Attention Club Newsletter Editors: USAC Outstanding Newsletter Award Contest 2008
Attracting New Members: Give Them Room to Grow
by USA Council President Ernest P. Doclar
Several times in addressing Serrans I’ve mentioned my career with the Boy Scouts of America. Counting eight years as a district Scout executive in New Orleans, I completed 38 years in Scouting. In my tour “in the field,” I learned the most and felt that I contributed the most when I recruited adult leaders, trained them, organized new Scout troops and Cub Scout packs and helped recruit youngsters to fill their ranks.
We talk a lot in Serra about membership. I spent lots of hours doing just that in Scouting. I found that to entice adults to adopt Scouting as their church or PTA or civic group’s program, I had to convince them it was worth their time and effort. Those adults (and later, children) had to realize that it did something for them. They had to be convinced that once in our program they had the chance to grow and help kids grow too. (For kids it had to be fun. That worked for adults too!)
My Scouting superiors evaluated my performance by the number of Scout troops and Cub packs and the youth members involved in them. Too often we bemoaned the fact that we were playing a numbers game. But eventually we realized that behind the numbers were children learning lifetime skills and values, serving those in need, realizing how great their America is.
It’s the same in Serra, in our work encouraging new vocations to priesthood and religious life and sustaining existing vocations. To become effective, we’ve got to convince more Catholics that Serra can help them grow in their faith and help young Catholic men and women grow into priests and religious staffing our churches, schools, hospitals, and more. And, yes, we play the numbers game too, but only because numbers show us how hard we’re working for God and His Church. Of course, it also shows how good a salesman we are.
In Scouting we found that the most effective recruiting device was Scouts inviting their friends to join a troop or pack. That works just as well in Serra. In the past few weeks I’ve invited three friends to join our Serra club. One has completed his application, another is still mulling it over, and the third is on my phone re-call list.
Friends, we need more laborers sweating in our vineyards. We must rejuvenate our recruiting.
When’s the last time you asked someone to join Serra?
Well, that’s too long!
Using the Programs Manuals to Cultivate a Vibrant Club
by Robert H. Goldsmith, USAC Programs Committee Chairman
Good programs help retain current members and bring in new members.
Poor programs can discourage attendance at meetings and interest in Serra itself.
What more convincing could Serra leaders need? Simply put, good programs are integral to your club’s overall health.
Did you know that there is much program information available at www.serraus.org?
Programs Manual - Part I is especially valuable for club presidents and vice-presidents of programs. The manual gives advice on how to run club meetings, handle the nuts and bolts of working with members and speakers, and how to select topics and ideas appropriate for Serrans.
Programs Manual - Part II is a collection of the scripts and formats of actual programs that can be used at a Serra meeting. It includes the In His Steps program, which is used to motivate and bring together the club for the purpose of the pursuit of common Serran goals. The manual also includes the Vigil for Deceased Serrans which can be used to remember our former members and their value in our work.
Clubs can use Programs Manual - Part II to their advantage in working with speakers also. If a speaker seeks suggestions on exactly what topics to address, a club could present him with a complete program packet on a wide variety of important topics. Of course Program Manual - Part I gives the club general guidance on topics, ideas and types of speakers that are appropriate.
Incoming district governors and regional directors, be involved in program promotion and utilization for your areas of administration. Please contact the USAC Program Committee with any questions.
Programs Committee members have delivered presentations at regional conventions and will continue over the coming years to give workshops at these important events. Club presidents and programs vice presidents are urged to secure copies of both manuals and use them for advice and reference. With all parties working together, programs will continue to be a strong part of our Serran ministry and movement.
Identity, Publicity and Strategy in Membership
by Greg Lynch, USA Council Membership Vice President
What IS Serra, anyway?
In the many times I mentioned Serra to potential members, friends or relatives, they don’t know what Serra is or does. They most frequently think we are the Sierra Club. They don’t know that we are a fantastic international organization promoting and affirming vocations while increasing the spirituality of our members. They don’t know that Father Serra founded nine of the 21 California missions.
I have been doing a “Google search” for the past two years on news and I have not seen one story on Serra turn up in any major US newspaper or magazine.
Unsurprisingly, I found out while researching ways to encourage people to join Serra that the most significant reason why people don’t join an organization is because they don’t know what the organization does!
At our last Bishop’s lunch in San Jose, CA, the district governor listed all the things the Serra clubs did in the last year and came up with 150 different items. I am sure our fellow Catholics don’t have a clue about these activities.
I challenge each Serran to spread the good word about our activities. You can write short articles for the local newspaper, the Catholic paper, the church bulletin, and you can tell your friends, relatives, and fellow parishioners in person. E-mail your own stories and photos to the Chicago office for placement on the website’s serraUSA News Center.
Please make it your goal for this year to get the word out - we have a lot to be proud of!
We recently published and distributed via e-mail the “Membership Strategy 2008.” It highlights our membership goals and objectives for 2008 and beyond.
The goals:
Regional Directors: Start one new club
District Governors: Start one new club
Club Presidents: Recruit 15% new members. With an average loss of 10% due to various reasons we are looking for a net 3% increase.
Individual Members: Bring at least two potential members to a club meeting. We recommend a special club meeting designed to explain Serra and its objectives to your guests.
The strategy calls for the regional directors, district governors and presidents to make a plan on how they will achieve their objectives. If you discuss it with others and write it down, you increase your chances of following through! There is no form for this – do it any way you wish. There are some good success stories in the “Membership Strategy 2008.” We are looking forward to adding yours online and in future modifications of the strategy. Send your plan to Membership Coordinator Peter Cunningham in Chicago so we can report on the progress.
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Potential new members Spouses Children Grandchildren Daily Mass Attendees Fellow Parishioners Friends |
Places to look for new members: Youth meetings Basketball games between priests and seminarians Parish social events and committee meetings Serra activities Missions pilgrimages Vocation fairs |
Don’t forget your current members!
Every club member should feel needed and integral to the club as a whole. Make sure everyone has a project and a job to do. Don’t forget to incorporate good club programs into your meetings so that members get an opportunity to enrich their faith life and remain excited about Serra’s mission.
Boring but Important: Planning for the Season
by USA Council Executive Director Ed Verbeke
Some of you may remember the 1950s song “To Everything There Is a Season,” sometimes referred to as “Turn, Turn, Turn,” by Pete Seger and made wildly popular by the Byrds in the 1960s.
Well, in Serra, there is a season for everything. Here’s what you should be looking at now:
Club presidents: Appoint an Audit Committee. Guidelines for a club Audit Committee can be found on our website here.
Club president or club Nominating Committee chairman: Please notify our offices of the incoming officers for fiscal year 2008-2009 that starts on June 1. Please let us know the names of the officers even if the current officers may be serving a two-year term. This list should include email addresses for all of the officers. (As we move forward, we will be using the Internet more and more. As you can see, this article appears in our first-ever online Serra Leader newsletter; our first online serraUSA magazine is available at our website here.
District governors should have already scheduled the Incoming Presidents Seminar as well as the Spring Leadership Planning Conferences. Lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations are available for each of these and are in the District Governor Manual. If you need help, talk to your regional director.
Purchase officer manuals from us at 888.777.6681 or download them for free. All officers should have these manuals if they are to get the most out of the Incoming Presidents Seminar and the Spring Leadership Planning Conferences. (It is also an accepted fact that most men read the instruction manual only after all else fails! We highly recommend that you read the appropriate manuals before you start.)
Take the energy that spring brings to design and implement your plans for your annual membership drive and other projects. Planning is essential for the success of your clubs. You can’t wait until the new fiscal year to start planning for your membership drive. We all know that the “summer doldrums” afflict Serra as much as any other organization. Good information is available in the new manual, “Membership Growth is Everyone’s Responsibility.”
Reserve June 20 - 22 for the USA Council’s Annual Meeting and Conference in South Bend, IN! The conference will feature nationally-known speakers, including our own Episcopal Advisor, Bishop Cupich. Speakers will address the theme of what the Catholic Church in the US will look like in the year 2020 and how we can plan to use this information to be successful in our vocation ministry. Check back soon for more information!
Attention club newsletter editors!
Are you proud of your attractive, informative club newsletter? Enter to win the USAC Outstanding Newsletter Award!
1. Make three copies each of your favorite two consecutive issues published after the Spokane convention.
2. Prepare a cover sheet listing your club’s name, club number, region number, newsletter editor and club contact.
3. Send these materials to:
USA Council Outstanding Newsletter Contest
65 E. Wacker Place, Suite 802
Chicago IL 60601
Entries are due at USAC headquarters by April 15, 2008. Regional winners and one council winner will be awarded certificates. The council winner will also receive a framed, matted, personalized poster of Fr. Serra by artist George Pollard. Judging criteria are appearance and content. Winners are selected by a panel of judges from across the U.S.A.
Click here to see the winners for 2007.