The JCI London Story

Sofie Sandell - sofie@sofiesandell.com Twitter: @Soffi_Propp

Instagram: sofiesandell LinkedIn: Sofie Sandell

Hi and welcome, here are the slides from the presentation I, Sofie Sandell did in Belgium for JCI Vlaanderen in January 2015.

I was JCI London’s president in 2008 and in that year we grow the chamber from 30 to 75 members.

I’m happy to share these insights for other membership based organisations and I’m planning to put together the content into an online course as well. Get in touch with me for more information sofie@sofiesandell.com

Thank you, Sofie

Past and current JCI London Presidents

2007 Tina Strack

2008 Sofie Sandell

2009 Marco van den Heuvel

2010 Solveig Malvik

2011 Sarah Beckwith

2012 Simon Bucknall

2013 Eyad Hamouied

2014 Dexter Dash

2015 Soraya Bowen

Brand promise When JCI London keeps it brand promise with the kind of events our members want - both small and big, interesting projects and clear communication about all opportunities the members stays.

When the brand promise is lost members leave.

Over the last 7 years: - lowest numbers of members 30 - highest number 150 members - currently JCI London has 100 members

The never ending story All membership based organisation around the world have the same kind of issues:

• They want more members

• They want more engaged members

• They want members to stay longer

• And they want to build better relationships with their sponsors and partners.

Do you agree?

My year 2008• The chamber started out with little confidence - was

JCI London really needed in the London community? • Small chamber and big history • Awful website… • We did events for ourselves • London - very busy place - hundreds of events every

day. Risk JCI being totally invisible…

• The digital change - social media started to grow • My motto: leaders do things first • Leadership, inspiration, energy & courage!

Here are two slides from my inauguration presentation January 2008.

We wrote down all directors plans and objectives into one document in the beginning of the year.

Writing down your objectives and sharing them with the rest of your team creates a good energy.

This is the JCI London’s business plan that all directors, and I as the president wrote 2008."

"All goals were reached and we won 9 awards that year.

Communication Telling your members about all opportunities is key for a chamber to grow.

Email addresses = valuable currency

Never abuse emails or be too salesy in your email marketing. Use a professional email system as Constant Contact or Mailchimp.

Make all your council members visible on your website and social media. Your members and potential members want to see who they are.

Three different kind of leaders in JCI

The skier"!Knows all the JCI sloped and lifts, skis fast and alone. Is very well connected but never contributes to it’s local organisations growth. Knows the organisation in and out, but rarely share the knowledge in a way to engage more members. !Often seen climbing the international career ladder and goes to plenty of international conferences.

The beach party organiser "!This kind of leader is great at getting people into the room. Bums on seats count the most for them. !After getting hundreds of people into the room nothing happens… there are very little activity and no follow up. !No personal connection are made and people remain a number.

Delegating organisers "!The most productive leaders in membership organisations are actively sharing knowledge and delegate tasks to several teams. !This creates a strong sense of belonging and active members. !Active members will stay longer and give their time and energy to your organisation.

The image is from the book: ‘How organisations develop activists’

Commitment and Contribution

• Community gives energy

• Contribution make you feel important and connected

• A volunteer organisation is built on something else than a corporate organisation

• We want to be part of something bigger that gives us belonging and identity.

Why people leave? • Lack of value from the membership

• Lack of relevance in the information provided

• Lack of time

• Changed job

• Other reasons!

Many people will rejoin• Do you have a strategy to get people to rejoin?

• Can you provide more resources?

• More relevant events?

• Can you share your resources online?

• Better networking opportunities?

Why people stayWe want to network, share ideas, go to event, develop our knowledge, and socialise.

• Friendship

• Personal development

• Travel to international events

• Commitment to projects

• JCI becomes part of your identity

• JCI has many strong leaders without big egos.

Different kind of members 1) Lifelong learners (not only focused on their profession) 2) Information consumers - always learning about whatever through books, seminars, online courses… 3) Continual professional development members. 4) Aspiring leaders and thought leaders. Raising their profile in their industry and community from their membership and involvement. 5) The networkers and connectors 6) The CV members - JCI looks great! 7) The activists, mission and purpose members. They LOVE JCI. 8) Happy to pay but don’t want to be involved members 9) Money savers - want the discount on JCI courses and conferences. 10) You “should” join members. Told by others they should join.

Metaphors for JCI chambers • Rich chamber… • Needy, we need your help • Poor, no financial resources • Fluffy? No identity • Superior and exclusive • Forward thinking —> Are you clearly telling your members what you need them to do?

Here are the tricks we used to make the chamber grow.

This was used for an open discussion with me, the speaker and the audience. It makes more sense discussing…

Mentorship

Partnership

Good &

planned handovers

Committed leaders

Diversity

Clarity in the chamber

Tolerance

Consistency

Constantly learning

Business plan

JCI is NOT for everyone

Brand promise

Clarity among the members

Big projects

Small events

Open for collaboration

In JCI you can make anything

happen

Board member’s visibility

Welcome new ideas

Being personal &

different

Build confidence

Regular communication The membership

spreadsheet

Welcome pack

Big events

Encouragement

Learning from other chambers

Resilience

Networking with other organisations

New roles

Low barrier events i.e Thirsty Thursday

Council book

Awards

Data base

SWOT

SEO

New website

Strategic discussions

Time bitch

The membership spreadsheet

Encouragement

Learning from other chambers

Build confidence

Board member’s visibility

Mentorship

Partnership Good

& planned handovers

Committed leaders

Diversity

Tolerance

Consistency

Constantly learning Business

plan

JCI is NOT for

everyone Brand

promise

Clarity among the members

Big projects

Small events

Open for collaboration

In JCI you can make anything

happen

Welcome new ideas

Being personal &

different Regular communication

Welcome pack

Big events

Resilience

Networking with other organisations

New roles

The council book

Awards

Data base

New website

SWOT Low barrier events i.e Thirsty Thursday

SEOStrategic discussions

Clarity in the

chamber

Time bitch

Recourses and tips www.sofiesandell.com/resources/knowledge-sharing/

Please connect online: Sofie Sandell

sofie@sofiesandell.com Twitter: @Soffi_Propp

Instagram: sofiesandell LinkedIn: Sofie Sandell