The Buzz Behind National Membership Day - 5/23/2005 - Real Estate Education Training Schools Conferences

The phones have quieted and the three hours of National Membership Day Webcast interviews and features have ended. The day’s successes are being tabulated to determine how many new members have been recruited by state and local home builders associations (HBAs) during NAHB’s annual federation-wide membership drive held Monday, May 23.

NAHB staff from many departments worked behind the scenes to make this year's National Membership Day a success.

Last year, local associations recruited more than 7,400 HBA and council members during the day-long event. This year, early indications are that 49% of all state and local associations have participated, up 5% from last year.

“Topping last year’s total was certainly a goal of ours this year, but equally important was encouraging participation from as many state and local associations throughout the federation as possible,” said Lynne Pratt, NAHB membership chairman and a builder member of the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan. “It’s their involvement and excitement about membership that makes this event bigger and better each year.” 

Staff from many NAHB departments have worked behind the scenes for several months to prepare the coordinated National Membership Day effort. They helped create recruitment and retention resources, work the phone bank and produce the second annual Webcast — which featured member-get-a-member campaigns, council membership-building activities, new member orientation practices, mentoring programs and a report on the Strategic Membership Task Force.  

“The Webcast has been the most significant addition to National Membership Day in recent history,” said Emily Fitzsimmons, executive director of the NAHB Membership Team. “It created an opportunity for all the local and state membership planners who've participated in a membership drive to tune in and see some of the creative work other associations have been doing.”

“Hosting the Webcast was a lot of fun,” said Duane Bickett, a builder member from Sioux Falls, S.D. “I especially enjoyed talking to other membership planners about their campaigns and achievements and helping to provide a venue on the Internet for this sort of exchange.”