Florida Among Membership Day Champions
National Membership Day brought in 7,409 new members to the association, including affiliate and council members. Phoning in new member pledges during the May 23 recruitment drive were 436 associations, up from 357 in 2004. Sears Contract Sales was the exclusive sponsor of National Membership Day. “The membership champions of our association are an extraordinary group of people,” said Lynn Pratt, membership chair. “They invent ways to attract new members, increase the diversity within our membership, refresh member service programs and recognize actively involved members. National Membership Day is their time to shine, and they do.” Pratt reported that there were 10 states that achieved 100% participation of their local associations this year, an increase over previous campaigns. The states included: Alabama, California, Florida, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington. 
The top performing local association was the Collier Building Industry Association in Florida, which recruited 185 members in preliminary statistics. In second place was the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas, with 140 members; followed by the HBA of Sarasota County, Fla., with 130 members; the BA of Greater San Antonio, with 114; and Florida’s Treasure Coast BA, with 111. For the associations rounding out the top 10, see the table below. The top performing state was Florida, which was far out in front of the other contenders with 1,427 new members. Texas was in second place, with 606 members, according to preliminary statistics. Pratt also noted the sizeable achievement of the association’s councils on National Membership Day. The National Sales and Marketing Council recruited 629 new members and the Women’s Council added 202. “Council growth across the board extends the reach of the targeted members services provided to members, allowing for growth of strategic connections, more resources that zero in on the needs of members, and added specialized content and education,” said Pratt.  Pratt congratulated all of the participating home builders associations and the membership planners for their dedicated efforts on May 23.
The association’s membership efforts will now stress recruitment, she said, and the focus of membership planners nationwide are turning to proper orientation practices, partnering new members with mentors, benefits education and the ongoing pursuit of delivering excellent member service. For sample retention plans and other available resources, NAHB members can click here. The full National Membership Day Webcast will soon be available on www.nahb.org for year-long viewing and promotional and educational opportunities. “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.” Pratt said that the Webcast helped spotlight innovative membership planning and identify “who is doing something new, who is going above and beyond, who is changing our approach to membership recruitment in the federation.” For more information, e-mail Gabrielle Taylor at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8351. | 
