Types of Committees
Running a successful branch requires an engaged membership. Fresh ideas and knowing what your membership is looking for so you can deliver is important. So that the leaders of your group aren’t doing everything, set up committees for the committee categories most important for your group. The most essential committees that need to be considered for any branch are listed in bold under the category title. It’s important to get your membership and board involved in these committees.
BRANCH MEETINGS:
Hospitality, Ambassadors or Sunshine Committee
Refreshments or Monthly Birthday Celebration
Opportunity Table (raffles) and Begonia Sale Table
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
Monthly Meeting Topics and Workshops
Field Trips
Begonia Shows and Sale Events
Holiday Celebrations
MEMBERSHIP
Process new members & renewal
Membership roster
Membership drives
Membership retention
NEWSLETTER
SOCIAL MEDIA & PUBLICITY
Posting to Facebook, Instagram
Promoting your meetings and event
Webmaster to update website
OTHER PROJECTS:
Save our Species Conservation initiative
Community Projects
Mentor Programs for newbies
A Grower Program to help supply plants for sales
It’s the Branch President’s responsibility to establish which committees are important to fulfill the branch goals. These can change year after year depending on the direction of your club. Are you a new club? Are you in need of something new, like a community project? Are you planning a public sale or show?
Once you establish which committees are required to run your branch, it’s time to fill them. It’s time to get your membership involved! It’s virtually impossible for one leader to put meeting topics, handle dues and new members, plan events, etc. There are several ideas we present to inspire your members to help with the leg work needed to implement your goals.
DETERMINE YOUR MEMBERSHIP STRENGTHS
It’s important to know who your members are. What do they do for a living? What do they like to do? What are their strengths? Are they good communicators, planners, organized? Do they have technical skills? Or do they just want to grow begonias? Would they want to mentor or propagate and grow for branch plant sales or public sale events for fundraising?
You’ve got to ask your members how they wish to help. A call out to the membership is a start, but one on one interviews will bring more commitments. A survey to general membership is a very helpful tool. Asking your members what they want in a club and approaching those with suggestions to help attain that goal is another source of possibility.
Gathering help from membership creates the opportunity to work together for a common goal and makes your branch interesting with new ideas and cooperation. Generally board members will chair a specific committee. Finding energetic and willing members are a launch for those members to become more involved in leadership and possible board roles for the future.
Here is a survey that has worked in the past. SF Branch Survey for Committees
