Membership Newsletter APRIL — JUNE 2008
Recruitment is an Everyday Responsibility Follow “Blitz” with an Open House
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well-planned informational open house will prove very fruitful to any council’s recruitment efforts on the heels of its March BLITZ. Your council’s open house is your opportunity to tell your council’s “story.” You have to let prospects and their families know that your council is active, organized and that joining would be a worthwhile expenditure of their valuable spare time. Invite your council’s insurance representative to the open house to address any questions regarding our top-rated insurance products. Every council should also ask its chaplain to speak on how he feels membership in the Knights of Columbus would be a great opportunity for every Catholic man to do to further live out his faith. Here is how to conduct the open house: Appoint a committee to organize the open house. Set a date and time. Publicize the event in local newspapers, radio, cable television and church bulletins. Order quantities of promotional materials including the “Open House” poster (#9430) from the Supply Department at least six weeks in advance. Compile list of prospective members. Send open house invitations to prospects and their spouses. Follow up this mailing with
a telephone confirmation of receipt and availability to attend events. As the event approaches, reconfirm all arrangements for site, materials, program, etc. Arrange for a display of council awards, scrapbooks, programs and activities. Assign to each attending prospect a recruiter who will act as a personal host throughout the event. Plan the program: Establish a welcome committee to greet guests. Introduce officers and members. The grand knight or membership director should explain the aims of the council and Order. Ask the insurance agent to explain the benefits of membership. Show a promotional video: Experience of a Lifetime, Membership Recruitment Flip Chart, Life and Legacy of Father McGivney, or Founding to Future. Schedule a question/answer session following the video further explaining the Order and the council. Conclude with refreshments or a light buffet. Make certain that hostrecruiters ask prospects to join, and assist them in completing their Membership Document (#100).
Recruitment Action Plan
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se this “Action Plan” to develop recruitment strategies that reflect your council’s strengths and can be implemented to execute a successful recruitment campaign.
April — Ask RCIA The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) is the means by which adults look into joining the Church. RCIA candidates learn about the Church and how service to one’s fellow man is the best way to enact his faith. Invite these new Catholics to serve with the Knights of Columbus.
May — Open House As we near the end of the fraternal year, now is a great time for one last recruitment effort. Hold an open house and invite all of the candidates left on your prospect list (including any prospects from your March BLITZ not yet contacted, RCIA candidates, and inactive insurance and former members who have not yet been approached).
June — Call to Fathers! On Father’s Day, June 15, we honor our fathers and the role they play in our development as persons. Honor these leaders of our families by asking them to join an organization that is focused on serving the Church and its families. Include our spiritual fathers in your efforts also.
Celebrate Pope Benedict XVI’s April Visit
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In honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States, councils are urged to undertake a series of prayer and recruitment activities in the pontiff’s honor. Join members of the Knights of Columbus throughout the Order in prayer for the pope for the success of his visit by using the papal prayer cards (#9700) in both personal prayer and at council-sponsored prayer services. Additional prayer cards can be ordered in quantities of 50 using a Requisition Form (#1). In addition, all First Degree exemplifications through the end of the 2007-08 fraternal year will be held in honor of Pope Benedict XVI. Candidates will receive a commemorative papal visit certificate (#9702). A supply of these certificates was recently mailed to all grand knights of record. To help councils in personalizing these certificates, a Word document template is available at the Order’s Web site under the papal visit heading on the home page and in the “For Officers” section. Open the template, save it to your desktop, add in the name(s) of the candidate(s) and the date, load copies of the papal visit certificate in your printer, print out your personalized certificates, and have your grand knight sign. Also, every Knight who proposes a new member until June 30 will receive a small medallion with Pope Benedict’s image. Finally, every new Knight recruited until June 30 will have his name listed in a special book that Supreme Knight Anderson will present to Pope Benedict.
New Catholics Make Good Recruits
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he Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) is the Catholic Church’s official program whereby adults learn about the faith while preparing to join the Church. RCIA candidates learn about the faith and how charity is its most important characteristic — love of God and neighbor are in fact the essence of our faith. There is no better way for men and their families to live this standard of service than to join the Knights of Columbus. Charity is the hallmark of the Order; it has been since our founding, is now and will be in our future. Hence there is a real connection between joining the Church and joining the Order that can be emphasized to the newest members of our Church. It is arguably the best practical way to live what one has learned in the RCIA. Annually, RCIA candidates join the Church as part of the Easter Vigil Mass. Those who have gone through the RCIA and have been accepted into the Church should be approached to
join the Order in the two months after Easter. In this way everyone benefits; the RCIA graduate, the Order and the Church. The RCIA graduate is powerfully aided in living out his new faith. The Order benefits by adding new, enthusiastic members. The Church benefits by having new members who are off to a great start by serving the Church and their fellow men as Knights. Grand knights should ask the pastors of all the parishes the council serves if they can regularly give them a list of RCIA graduates. (The grand knight should assure the pastor that RCIA members will not be coerced into joining.) The grand knight should give the list to the membership director who can contact the men personally. Along with other recruitment materials, give these prospects copies of the Faith-Based Recruitment flyer (#4497) that details how K of C membership can help men and their families grow the Faith. Men recently admitted to the Church are promising prospects. Approach them and you are sure to increase your membership!
Married Teams Vital to Council Growth
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ncrease your chances of success in recruiting new members by showing the wives of prospects that membership in the Knights of Columbus benefits the whole family by including recruiters’ wives in the recruitment process during open houses, inhouse open houses, church drives, or even one-on-one visits to a prospect’s home. Wife-recruiters can describe how they have benefited by their husband’s membership. They should cover scholarships available to family members, the receiving of Columbia each month, the opportunity to buy low-cost insurance and other frater-
nal benefits offered to members and their families. Wives should discuss the benefits offered by the local council. These might include the opportunity to attend council socials and other functions, membership in the council’s ladies’ auxiliary or another similar group, and the chance to volunteer for worthwhile service projects. She can also relate her personal experiences such as the pride taken in her husband’s work and honors he receives as a Knight, and the friendships she formed with other council families. Use husband-wife-recruiting teams to tell the whole story of what membership in the K of C has to offer families.
Focus on Former, Inactive Members
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ormer and inactive insurance members are men who once thought enough of our Order to join it, but for some reason have let their memberships fall to the side. Because of their knowledge of the Order, these men are perfect recruitment prospects. Listings of former members and inactive insurance members are available (in zip/postal order) from the Supreme Council Department of Fraternal Services. Use the following ideas on how to recruit these prospects: Appoint a special committee specifically to recruit former members. Obtain lists of “Former Members” (those who took withdrawals/suspensions) and “Inactive Insurance Members” (those who took withdrawals/suspensions but maintain K of C insurance policies) from the Department of Fraternal Services. Check with financial secretary for additional names and most recent addresses. Review list to determine former members known to be in the area and still eligible for membership. Prepare information to present to former members, highlighting changes, new programs, activities, member benefits and council achievements.
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Recruiter Incentive Offer Rewards Points
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or every new or readmitted member recruited into the Order during this fraternal year that encompasses our 125th anniversary, the recruiter will receive 1,000 Recruitment Rewards Points. For
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uring this final push towards the end of the fraternal year on June 30, 2008, make sure that your council has achieved the requirements to qualify for the Father McGivney, Founders’, Columbian and Star Council Awards. There are no application forms for the Father McGivney and Founders’ awards. The Star Council Award recognizes outstanding achievement in membership, insurance and Service Program activities. To be eligible to earn the Star Council Award, a council must qualify for all three other awards. To qualify for these awards, a council must have submitted its survey of Fraternal Activity (#1728) and its Service Program Personnel Report (#365). Other eligibility requirements are: Columbian Award: Complete and submit the Columbian Award Application (SP7) found in the Council Report Forms Booklet (#1436) or at www.kofc.org/forms. Councils must conduct and report at least four major programs in each of the Service Program categories: Church, community, council, family and youth. NOTE: Reactivating inactive insurCompleted applications must reach the ance members qualifies the council for both membership and insurance additions Supreme Council office by June 30. toward the Father McGivney Award and Father McGivney Award: Achieve the Founders’ Award quotas. associate member quota. The quota for Reinstatements, readmissions or reapplica- councils with 30-100 members is a net tions qualify the council for membership increase of five members for the frateradditions for the Father McGivney Award. nal year. The quota for councils with 101 or more members is a 5 percent net increase in membership for the fraternal year. cufflinks and studs set. If the grand Founders’ Award: Achieve knight qualifies in each of the quarinsurance member quota. The terly contests during the 125th quota for councils with 30-100 anniversary celebration he will be elimembers is a net increase of three gible for a grand prize drawing to be members for the fraternal year. announced in April 2008. Each quarThe quota for councils with 101 terly contest will be announced in or more members is a 2.5 percent the last week of the current quarter. net increase in membership for the fraternal year. (Note: all membership and insurrecruiting the most new members ance transactions must be received, Orderwide between July 1, 2007, and processed, recorded and released at June 30, 2008, the Orderwide Top the Supreme Council office by June Recruiter will receive a trip to the 30.) 126th Supreme Convention in Quebec City, Quebec, in 2008. Order recruitment materials. Contact each former member by phone to arrange a personal visit or invite them to a reception for former members. Follow procedure for recruitment teams in conducting personal visits, tailoring the presentation to highlight new changes and new benefits, etc. If there are members of the council who were present when these men were active, ask them to work with the recruitment teams. Talk to these former and inactive members and try to find out why they let their memberships lapse, what their concerns are, and to reassure them that the council would welcome their return. Refer to the Membership Procedures section of the Grand Knight’s Handbook (#915) for proper procedures in recruiting former members. Ask every former member visited or those at the reception to sign a Membership Document (#100) to renew their membership.
Grand Knights Quarterly Incentive or councils that recruit five (5) new members gross between April 1 and June 30, 2008, the grand knight of record will be entered into a drawing for one of 10 “K of C Formal Dress” prizes. Each set contains a K of C watch and a tuxedo
Go for the Star
Membership Newsletter 1 Columbus Plaza New Haven CT 06510-3326
Extend an Invitation for Fathers to Join the Order
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ith Father’s Day coming June 15, now is the perfect time to ask fathers to join. When doing this, be sure to approach both groups of fathers: the fathers of families and spiritual fathers of the Church, priests. An efficient way of asking a large group of men to consider signing a Membership Document (#100) is to hold a membership invitation program. Utilize your prospect list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of potential Knights to compose a listing of potential members to receive the invitations. Next, order a supply of Membership Invitations (#2599). The invitation bears the Order’s emblem and an elegantly printed request to join the Order. It also includes a space for the grand knight’s signature. The invitations come with envelopes and are available from the Supreme Council Supply Department free of charge
when ordered in reasonable quantities. Please use a Requisition Form (#1) when ordering. A key to the success of this program is to keep it on a personal level. Have council officers write a brief personal note in each invitation urging the man to really think about joining the Order. Let him know in these notes that by being a part of the Knights of Columbus he can make a difference in the community and in his parish. Get a group of members and wives together to address the invitations to each prospect and his family. The grand knight should personally sign each invitation before it is mailed to the prospects. After a week, telephone each prospect to see if he received the invitation and if he is interested in learning more about the Order. If so, arrange for a visit to his home. As another option, rather than home visits host an informal social at your council home, parish hall, or
local hall for the potential members. Invite the potential Knights and, when applicable, their wives to the event. This social should include a buffet or light meal, a brief talk on the Knights of Columbus, and time for current Knights and their wives to speak with the potential members. During the visit/social have recruiters (possibly husband and wife teams) review promotional materials with the prospects and their wives. Make sure recruiting teams bring videos, recruitment flyers, Columbia magazine, council newsletters and other items of interest. After explaining the Order and the benefits of belonging, the recruiters should ask the prospect to join, and assist him in completing the Membership Document (#100). The proposer must then follow through with the recruit by escorting him to the Admission Committee meeting, his First Degree exemplification and his first few council meetings.