Local Leagues, Prepare For The Future

Leagues across the state are registering for a day of training on Membership Leadership Development (MLD).  MLD is a collaborative national, state and local league program using Best Practices to grow membership and develop leaders.

Some of you may remember an initiative by national called Membership Recruitment Initiative (MRI) that began in 2005-2006.   However, in hindsight, the program needed more support from national leadership to achieve its goals.

So, in 2010 the Ruth S. Shur Leadership Institute was established to further membership recruitment and leadership development coordinated by Ruth S Shur Fellows or National Coaches. 

The LWVUS staff supports national Coaches who mentor State Coaching Teams who then work with the local league MLD teams.

Leagues participating in the MLD program have seen a net membership increase between 2 and 20%. Overall national membership numbers have stabilized reversing the declining trend since 1970.

The League has a highly respected reputation and a strong and proud history. However, while there is name recognition, there is limited awareness about the value that the League Membership offers potential members.  We have a wealth of knowledge from out studies and advocacy that needs to be shared with the wider community who will join to further promote our principles and practices.

The League’s 100th Anniversary in 2020 and perhaps your own League’s anniversary are not far away -- we need to ensure our work continues for the next 100 years. 

Why am I alerting your League to this training?  This training can help your league focus not on today, but on the future.  LWVMD is offering you, or any of your members, the opportunity to begin to develop an MLD team by taking advantage of this one day training to learn more about best practices, new outreach and adding value to your league. 

It would behoove every League to send several (3-4) members to this training.  It can be board members, or brand new members, as everyone taking the training will look at the League with new insights. 

REGISTER NOW 

Betsy Grater
Director, LWVMD-MLD
[email protected]