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How to Improve Membership in a Crafts Group

Written by CD Mohatta

Thursday, 24 April 2008

Guilds and craft clubs are a wonderful way to share information about your craft and is an enjoyable social time. To get a group started or to help generate more interest in an existing group, prepare a small hand out and a flyer for community bulletin boards. Include the craft in very large lettering, such as, "KNITTING," or "BEAD WORKING." It will be the craft itself that attracts people's interest and not a cute name or a name like B.G. L.C., so make the craft itself the most promenent thing on your promotional materials. Include a contact name for the group with an email address and a telephone number. If you can select a location and time for your first meeting, you might include that as well. Flyers and handouts can be done very inexpensively and can attract many members.

Go to the all the places in your area where they sell supplies for your craft. Talk to the management and staff and let them know that you are starting a group, when and where the first meeting will be, and ask them if you can leave handouts with them.

Make an email notice of your next meeting, send it out to your friends and ask them if they will pass the email on to people they feel might be interested.

List your meetings online on local bulletin and events boards. Some communities have free online classified listings in several places. Use a search engine and keyword your city + "classifieds" or "events board." List your meetings on more general international meet up web sites as well, as these can be searched by zip code or topic. Finally, search for web sites for your particular craft that list known groups.

It is helpful to have membership fees and membership benefits. Benefits might include an online or printed newsletter that reports events of interest to the craft, workshops with reduced fees to members, discounts on supplies through co-operative wholesale buying or at local participating shops, opportunity to participate in group sponsored events such as exhibitions and competitions, discounts on books, access to borrowing or using group owned equipment and books, a small gift kit or pattern given each year or exclusive patterns in the newsletter, access to a website that features or sells the works of members or has a private section for discussion. Let your group generate ideas for your membership that are worthwhile but affordable for the group.

At meetings it is important to keep a book to collect contact information and email for each new person attending and record attendance of members so that you can build a mailing list. Emails cost nothing, so especially get the email addresses of your participants. Periodically as a group you may also wish to offer free beginners' workshops to attract new people to your craft, or offer yourselves as speakers at other groups.

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