Need to add new blood to a guild - how do I attract under 50

[NonnieSharon]

Hello everyone! I had the pleasure of hearing Alex speak today and asked her if she had any ideas on how to attract some new blood to our guild. She thought you folks may have some great ideas, so please help me out! Seems like the youngest folks in my guild are about 50 years old....Ideas??? Suggestions????? What do you do in your guilds to find younger members? Thanks for your ideas!!!!

[AlexAnderson]

I also cannot wait to see that everyone says - I thought this was an excellent question!

[AlexAnderson]

Do you have a quilt show? I joined one of the guilds I've belonged to because I was approached at the show by several guild members, who could not have been more welcoming. As it turned out, I was one of the youngest members.

Would your LQS let you distribute info about your guild in beginning quilting classes? Younger members would tend to be there. You could also ask the shop ladies to encourage younger quilters they meet to join a guild --- hopefully yours!

Let us know how this turns out!

Kathy B.

[AlexAnderson]

Also make sure you have at least some meetingsclasses that suit people who work. Most under 50's work full time, or may have a young family. It doesn't matter how well you advertise etc, if the people you are trying to attract, can't attend the meetings anyway.

Karen

[Judymc]

I remember several of our younger (30's) members had to go back to work--this was the 1990's. Also, some of the older members were NOT nice about children at the quilt shows or at meetings. I understand speakers and the need for quiet, but I think alot of young women got discouraged and no one on the board was willing to work out this situation. Childcare was always a problem for them, too. BTW, this is NOT the guild I belong to now! LOL! I think it's great that you are trying to incorporate younger people into your guild. Maybe having a special time at quilt shows for moms with strollers? Another idea is to let two young moms share a membership and trade meetings and babysitting with each other. I think guilds need to have some "mommy & me" workshops, too. Judy in Torrance

[eileenkny]

I like the Mommy and me idea. I'm very interested in any ideas here. My guild is shrinking-people join and then they get bored and quit.
I think younger people would add new ideas.
eileenkny

[eileenkny]

Like the "Bring your daughter to work" day, what about a "Bring your (friend, daughter/son, niece/nephew, godchild, etc.) to a your guild" event. Make it part educational and part social, allowing the young folks to break out into groups by age to get some "hands on" quilting experience. Oh, and don't forget to give all of the young people a little block kit to take home with an incentive for them to complete and bring them back.

My guild meets monthly on Friday evenings, so that might be a convenient time for younger working people with young children.

[eileenkny]

How do I say this without offending....
First your guild must be welcoming to everyone. Sorry to say...some guilds...are not so warm and fuzzy.
Offer a group for those who are 40 and under as a bee. Yep..I am suggesting splitting folks into age groups. As a younger member of a group...I really don't want to hear about your aches and pains. I have issues of my own...like childcare. This group can network with each other...just was you network with women of your own age group.
If childcare is an issue...offer the opportunity to have child care at your meetings. Those who need the care chip in and pay for it.

How about a guild member contest...who ever brings in the most new members (say...40 and younger) gets a prize. Yes...it means your members will be recruiting.
Discount the first year membership...yep...I said discount it.
Let them feel as they are getting a bargain for belonging. We give seniors a discounted membership...why not young women for the first year?

Work with your LQS to design classes to attract younger folks. Can they do one day workshops? Advertise the class for those who are 40 and younger...it is for them. Capture them with a make it and take it...an item which can be done in one day.

You must go where the young gals are...in our area...they are at the library with their children for library activities...perhaps offer to do a program with the children...read a book and have a paper quilt activity. There are several children's books with quilt themes.
Capturing the children...is a good way to capture the parent.

Another place...at the mall...oy vey...young mothers are at the mall for the mall functions for the kidlets. Can your guild perhaps do a function as I suggested for the library?

But understand all the marketing in the world is not going to work, if your group is not welcoming. Please be tolerant of those with young children. I realize that many folks simply don't have the patience with other's folks kids. But recruiting young women...it means young children.

FW

[eileenkny]

Some of the under 50's will have older school age children, work full-time and need after work "me" time.

I'm a member of the NSW Embroiderers guild (Australia) - not a quilt guild - but the same issues apply. I belong to a branch of the main state Guild - and we have approx 100 members.

About 75+ members meet every monday - during the day - and the average age is probably 60 - 65.
At night we have a night group that makes up the other approx 25 members - that is the one I attend. The average age is probably 45-50 - the youngest members are in their early 20's. Most of the ladies work full time, and cannot attend the day sessions. Some of the younger members are daughters of other members.

I guess from my personal perspective - I would never have joined unless there was a night group. I just couldn't get to anything that was on before 5pm.

There is also a young textiles group that meet during the school holidays and this encourage the 10-17 year olds to do embroiderycraft activities. This is a good way to get-em-while-the're-young...... lol Parentchild sessions during vacation would work well, to recruit young mums as well as encourage the kids.

Lots of stay at home mum's with young children, can't afford too much extra $'s. Their budget can be too tight to buy the requirements, and they have childcare issues. Quilting isn't exactly low cost. Under 50's working full-time women may or may not have young children - but they are more likely to have the $'s, but there needs to be meetings at times that that they can attend.

We have had issues with recruitment as well - I think all guilds want more members.

Karen

[Sewdreamy]

Think about welcoming very busy people without a lot of extra money. I'm not under 50 but I still work, and found I could not attend my local guild because I simply didn't have the time for all the things they seemed to expect (nearly demand), and I still support my son, so I don't have a lot of loose change (and it seemed like it was going to be expensive). Expecting too much can be discouraging--too many demands for time or money is a real negative. Also, offering a happy, welcoming place to just meet and enjoy sharing quilts and learn new things can be helpful (while still offering avenues for those who do have the time/money to work together on charity and other projects without negative attitudes toward those who cannot) might be a good way to attract younger and even older busy men and women. Of course, this means some people will have to do a lot more to keep the guild running than others, but it might be worth it. As children get older and people climb in their income, they will probably be willing to do the things that need doing because they love their guild.

[Sewdreamy]

I'm not under 50 anymore, but am new to quilting and guilds. One of the things I really like is the occasional sat workshops taught/held by our own more experienced members. I have learned many new things and got to now so many nice ladies by attending those. They do have mini groups in our guild and those are mostly held during the day when I work. Maybe encourage those younger ladies to start a mini group in the evening with several experienced ladies as mentors. If I had space in my house I would love to host a group like that. There is a lot of diversity in our guild and traditional and art quilters are applauded equally during show and tells. Sandi in FL

[Sewdreamy]

When my son was in scouts, it was the policy that younger siblings were welcome and a babysitter was provided in another room. I think it was someone's teenage daughter. The parents paid $5 per child (not bad for about 2 hrs.) and the teenager got paid. I haven't tried this yet at guild since we don't really need it, but I always keep it in mind.

I recently became president of my guild and decided that we need to recruit new members and be especially welcoming of guests. I had a bad experience at another guild once. At the meeting that I had decided to discuss this, I noticed a couple of guests arrive, so I went right up to them and greeted them and introduced them, etc. They joined that night. The next month, they brought 2 more guests who also joined! And these aren't new quilters, but experienced quilters new to the area (a great addition to our guild). The ladies said what impressed them right away was how welcoming we were. They'd already visited another guild and not felt welcome! We discussed it and decided that those who come early in order to set up refreshments, would keep their eyes open for guests and be in charge of greeting and welcoming them.

I run an ad each month in the little local paper saying when we meet and that guests are welcome. The paper runs it for me each month, I don't have to remind them anymore. It has resulted in several new members. We do meet in the evening and have at least 1-2 Sat. sewing days during the year. I know of at least 1 small sub-group that meets during the day.

I don't know why, but they all seem to be on the younger side. Maybe the young women out there are trying to get involved in more tradional activities these days. I also teach sewing and quilting and have heard that people want to be able to make gifts and things for their homes as a way to save money. Too bad, they'll soon realize that quilting isn't really a cheep hobby!!

Another plus is having a website. We had a member create a simple page that guests can find which tells our mission and when we meet. I know it's resulted in a couple of new members finding us. It's nothing grand, but it helps find us.

Also, I don't know if it's related, but right now, we've put off planning a show. Our meetings don't have alot of yucky business to tend to and we're able to do more fun stuff like swaps, charity projects and demos. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves lately.

While I'm at it, we had a real successful activity just last night! I told members last month to bring the book they refer to often. Each person showed and told about the books and it was very informative! Easy to do, too.

Hope this all helps! Nancy in sunny but cool Western NY

[NonnieSharon]

Thanks for the input....you have given me some things to think about and share with the other board members. I am in agreement that ANY group must be friendly to attract members. Our group has been trying to improve in this area to keep new members...and we should just be that way anyway!

We actually meet in the evenings, as the majority of folks do work. And yes we even have a male member and could use more! We have a combination of internal demos and programs from nationally known speakers. A very short business meeting (usually about 15 minutes). We have groups not based on age, but open to anyone that is available or interested that do charity and their projects outside of the meeting.

We had a community event for training this year.....inviting a local 4H group to attend. And gained at least one new member from that. Guess we are blessed because we have several guilds and quilt shops within 20 miles, so there is some competition for members :lol:

I do think many of you hit on some key points....go to where the younger folks are. Offer programs that would be of interest to the younger crowd. It sounds like we are on the right track, just need to do more of it.

Do you think a certain topic/program would be of more interest to a younger crowd? I will be scheduling programs for 2011 and would be interested in your thoughts on that!

Thanks again!