The last few years that I’ve attended board meetings, we’ve brainstormed on how to recruit and retain members. Everyone has ideas — some good, some great, some feasible, some not.

Then we leave the meeting and one or two ideas are carried forward and the rest are quickly forgotten because jobs and the day-to-day stuff get in the way.

This year at the board meeting, we did something different. We assigned people to carry them forward. And we assigned due dates. We all hedged on dates, but as we reviewed the ideas from late Friday, everyone ensured that they made it to the matrix, showing what month it was due and who would carry it forward. We worked through lunch. We worked through our stopping time. At the end of the meeting, we had a thorough list.

It included speed networking, more postings on Facebook and LinkedIn, articles and videos profiling our diverse members. The one thing we all agreed on was that we can’t escape the personal touch, as Meg Hunt, a past president from SC, noted. “In a generation where communicators sit beside each other and text, we have to have the personal touch,” she said.

My commitment is to take everything from the flip charts and put it on paper and share it electronically with the NFPW board and affiliate presidents and membership directors. The list may provide inspiration at the affiliate level. At the national level, board members are committed to following through on the items.

The goal is stronger engagement with members through better outreach. Let us know how we’re doing. More importantly, let us know what you want from your membership.