Each Division has its own way of managing things, but here are a few ideas that organizations have found successful for encouraging participation.
Promoting Membership
- Have a table set up to display hand-outs.
- Irish or Irish-American history or cultural articles
- Membership applications
- Articles related to Catholic Teachings
- Information pertaining to local community events
- Division Newsletter and/or Division Calendar
- Make sure the Officers table or tables are nicely decorated with a table cloth, statue of St. Patrick, American and Irish table flags, and other Hibernian or religious objects.
- Have your Division Banner on Display.
- Make sure the meeting room is both attractive and inviting.
- Appoint a rotating “New Member Committee” for new Members.
- Have members initiate conversations with new brothers who don’t know many people yet.
- Create special “New Member Tags”.
- Encourage all Division members to recognize “New Member Tags” and try to make the new brother feel at home.
- Introduce new brothers, have them stand up and tell the brothers about themselves.
- Have them explain how they joined the Division and what they hope to get out of the AOH.
- Present all new brothers with a membership Package.
- Use Name Tags (Especially helpful for new brothers)
- Hold a 50/50 or provide small door prizes that can be raffled after the meeting.
- Arrange for a guest speaker or make arrangements for a video presentation.
- The meeting must be more than “Business As Usual”. Give Brothers a reason to come back.
- At each meeting, Brothers should should learn something new about our Order, history, culture or faith.
- Following the meeting, provide a social where brothers can engage each other in conversation.
- Appoint a rotating hospitality committee to oversee the social.
- Provide drinks and some type of food (desserts or a light meal).
- Have music playing in the background.
- Encourage members to wear their AOH pins and Division shirts.
- Make sure all officers are wearing their medallions.
New Member Package
- A Division Roster (Names, addresses, and phone numbers of current Division Members).
- A State and National Roster for State and National officers.
- Division Calendar (Dates, places and times for monthly and special committee meetings).
- List of current committees and special interest groups and their chairpersons.
- Membership applications.
- A copy of the AOH Constitution and the State By-Laws.
- Information pertaining to the establishment and history of the Division.
- Information on how to access the Division, State and National AOH websites.
