Most people are like me, when they meet a new person in a group setting they have a hard time remembering their name. Two factors cause this, you are surrounded by distractions and you know nothing personal about the person. When a new member joins a Lions club they probably don’t know many of the existing members and the existing members don’t know much about the new member. This sets the new Lion apart and marks them as a newbie. They are not likely to agree to get involved because they feel unsure about the organization in general and the specifics of what getting involved entails.

It is surprising how many members of median and larger sized club don’t know all the names of the other members who regularly attend. In fact the club secretary and treasurer may be the only members who know everyone’s name. This can make it difficult for a club to have successful projects, find members willing to serve as leaders, and have members who feel comfortable in bringing in new members. Small clubs and clubs that are not bringing in new members don’t generally have this problem. There is a relationship between retention and how many members know you. It is easy for the newbie to disappear from the club and never be missed vs. the member who gets greeted by all the members present each week and feels an integral member of the club.

There are many ways to get members to learn each other’s names – encourage members to sit with different people at meetings, have the tail twister fine every member a dollar who didn’t greet every other member by name, use the meeting program as a meet & greet where members take 5 minutes to share some of their history, match up members who don’t know each other in service projects, rotate the secretary and treasurer jobs annually, be creative in making the newbie a regular member – your club success depends on it.