from Jack White's audio interview with guest, Governor Tom Ganse
Jack White kicks this interview off by saying there has been a lot of good communications of late that raise legitimate perceptions of dissatisfaction. Many of these complaints seem to be based on outdated information and oral traditions. Governor Tom wants to use this time, as he says, to set the record straight.
Myth #1: The push for membership is a KI conspiracy to pad their international coffers. Fact: Membership is down 40% and the decline has continued unchecked. The membership emphasis is to increase our service - and so Kiwanis can survive as an organization
Myth
#2: Clubs under 25 don't need to grow.
Fact: Clubs under 25 don't carry their
fair share of fixed expenses; their members
burn out; they have a high club mortality
rate; and they leave so many community
needs unmet.
Myth
#3: Kiwanis Dues are too high.
Fact: International and District dues are
less than $8 a month. Anything above that
is a matter for your club to manage. Most
pay-as-you-go clubs charge an additional
$2-4 per month.
Myth
#4: There are too many meetings.
Fact: International only requires one Board
meeting a month, and one meeting a month
for general members, and that can be a
project. All others are club matters. If
you don't like the way the club is run,
talk to your Board, or better yet, become
a director and get it changed.
Myth
#5: Kiwanis doesn't communicate enough
info to the members.
Fact: Here in the capital District, we
have a monthly electronic newsletter, a
bi-monthly printable paper newsletter,
a Website with news links and a BLOG, group
email reflectors at all levels of leadership,
projects hosted on FaceBook, training materials
on YouTube and any number of mailings.
All of this information is provided to
club leaders of record and are available
to the general membership.
Myth
#6: Kiwanis wants more members to get more
money from mandatory contributions to the
International and District Foundations.
Fact: All contributions to the Foundations
are voluntary. What are known as "annual
club gifts" can be made from Service Accounts and cost the individual Kiwanian nothing.
A 50-member club may be asked to give $5/member,
or $250 to the International Foundation.
If its service budget averages $5,000 (well
below average for clubs that size), that
is only 5% of the budget. If you want,
the other 95% can be used right in your
home community. In fact, KIF funds can
come back to your community in far greater
quantities than you contribute - via grant
applications.
