Your Vector...
by Governor Tom Ganse

Military aviators use the term "vector" to describe an order to proceed along a specific course for a specified distance to reach the target; in other words, directions to get from where we are to where we want to go to achieve success.

But just what is "success"? Winning the interclub, best website or newsletter contest? Eighty percent attendance at meetings? Twelve percent membership growth? If you read my article "What is a Kiwanian?", you probably won't be surprised to learn that my definition of success is providing meaningful service to your community and the children of the world. Better yet, a true measure of Kiwanis success is how well you expand service. Everything else is a distraction form our main mission.

Here in the Capital District, we have a "vector". Last August, your club delegates ratified a plan that provided us with a "vector to the target". That target is to have 20,000 Capital District Kiwanians providing 350,000 service hours, re-investing over 4.4 million dollars in their communities, and sponsoring over 860 Service Leadership Programs throughout Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

To accomplish this measure of success, we received additional vectors, each of which is directly related to increasing service to our communities. Consider the first three:

1. Increase the number of service hours provided by twelve percent per year
2. Increase the amount of funds raised and distributed by fifteen percent per year
3. Increase the number of Service Leadership Programs sponsored by twelve percent per year

Clearly, each of these goals are measures of success; true service success. Nowhere in there do we see the relevance of consuming chicken dinners or achieving decades of "perfect attendance". Arguably, those are bad vectors that will not lead you to your target.

Our fourth vector, is to increase our membership by twelve percent per year. Clearly, if we are going to increase our service in goals one through three, we will need more members, and that's what goal number four is about.

Our final vector is to improve our operating environment. That means improving our communications, connecting with and becoming relevant to modern society and our evolving communities, and changing the way we do business such that people take part because it is enjoyable, not because they feel an obligation.

As I said, this plan was approved by your delegates last August. We are now halfway through our first year, so I thought it would be worth letting you know how we are progressing toward our goals, and urging you to consider altering your "vector" if you are off course.

Goal 5: We are experiencing much success as we introduced a modern website, took advantage of web-based communications such as group mailing lists, YouTube, Blogs (Web Logs), electronic access to club records, a new user-friendly District Directory, teleconferencing, and so much more. Clearly, we are moving rapidly in the right direction, but we are not "there" yet. Much needs to happen before we are once again in step with society.

I realize that many of these changes are very uncomfortable or even incomprehensible to many of our older members, but I must ask (with all due respect), "Is it more important to preserve the ways of a declining membership population that will be with us for 10-20 years at best, or to adjust to the ways of a membership pool that is three times larger and who will be with us for the next 40-70 years?"

Goal 4: We are seeing many examples of sustained membership growth and reversals of long-standing declines. It becomes clearer to me each day that Kiwanis does not have a membership problem, it has an attitude problem and a leadership problem. Here in Capital, a third of our clubs are experiencing net growth. Another third of our clubs are stable. Unfortunately, the remaining third is so far out of step that their losses overcome the other two thirds. Despite some phenomenal success stories, such as Division 12 and Division 13's growth this year after more than a decade of steady decline, we are still down approximately 200 members since October 1st. Much of that loss results from "roster purges" related to billing cycles, but all three of those are now behind us. We must pick up the pace immediately to make up for the net loss and to prepare for the inevitable roster purge we will see in September. Otherwise, we will have fewer hands and our goal of providing more service cannot be met.

Goal 3: Like Goal 5, we are experiencing great success in this area and I thank each of you for your efforts. We have 3 of 5 new Aktion clubs built, 5 of 12 K-Kids clubs built with several others in work, 6 of 12 Builders clubs organized with every expectation of exceeding that goal, 7 of 12 Key clubs organized and 3 of 3 CKI clubs chartered. That's 24 of the targeted 42, and that is AWESOME! Great job!

Goals 1 and 2 and driven largely by our ability to put more hands to work. As such, our increased number of SLP students has helped mitigate the loss of our adult Kiwanians. But clearly, we will fall short if we do not connect with the adult population. There is much work to be done here, and the biggest thing we need to overcome is the defeatist attitude that says "membership growth is impossible." Tell that to all the dozens of clubs that are increasing their membership by the dozens. The difference between those who succeed and those who fail is that those who succeed want to.

So what's the bottom line? I know success is possible because I see it happening all over the District every day. If your club is not growing, or sponsoring growth within your community, please contact your Lieutenant Governor and the District Growth Team. They will work with you to develop a collaborative plan for growth and help you execute it.

I thank you all for the life-changing accomplishments you are providing to your communities and stand ready to help you achieve greater sustained success in the months and years to come. Congratulations to those of you who have risen to the challenge and are leading Kiwanis into its second century.

To the rest of you, I challenge you with a simple axiom that has contributed to many a military victory: Lead, follow, or step aside.

With a Kiwanis Servant's Heart
Tom Ganse
tganse@earthlink.net