Dear PFLAG Supporter,

As Pride season has brought some new faces into your chapter, it’s time to think about how to engage these new, excited stakeholders in your work. Centering membership is a great way to ensure new folks have a feeling of ownership with the chapter and provide additional support for your efforts. 

The most successful membership drives are set up as campaigns. In order to inspire people to become members, consider sending a letter or email with a story of the personal impact your chapter has made, a summary of the work your chapter has done in the last year, and a plan for the year ahead. Uplift membership at your meetings (consider using a QR code so that folks can easily access your digital membership form), and use tabling events, media outlets, social media, and flyers to spread the word.

A few important tips and reminders: 

• Membership is more than just a fundraising opportunity for your chapter, it helps build capacity, visibility, and support for your important work;
• All board members must be dues-paying members in good standing to remain on your chapter board;
• Chapters can and should set dues above and beyond the $15 per household that is due to PFLAG National. Average chapter dues across the PFLAG Chapter Network range from $30 - $50 annually, so please consider using tiered membership levels for maximum impact; and most important… 
• Membership drives can be fun! Think about ways to engage folks, like a raffle where everyone who signs up as a new member is entered to win. Creativity is key, and if you need help brainstorming ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your Regional Director.

Rural Think Tanks: Leadership Development

We invite rural chapter leaders to join us in a discussion centered around leadership development. Join your fellow rural chapter leaders in contributing your valued perspective and creating effective board growth strategies.

Join us on July 27, 2023, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM ET / 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM CT / 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM PT to share your unique views and help each other with tools to build stronger small-town chapters.

PFLAG Parent Day 2023

Each year, PFLAG Parent Day celebrates LGBTQ+ affirming parents and all the people who fill a parenting role for LGBTQ+ kids of all ages. This year, PFLAG National is partnering with ABC Owned Television Stations to share these inspiring stories of families, advocates, educators, artists, and communities across the country who show up each day to fight for love and justice in their own backyards. Want to share about PFLAG Parent Day on your chapter’s social media? We’ve created a social toolkit you can download on the Chapter Leader Web Portal. You can also re-share posts from PFLAG National to your chapter’s social channels. 

Visit pflag.org/ParentDay to learn more, and catch the premiere on PFLAG National and ABC Owned Television Station streaming platforms this Sunday, July 23 at 2pm ET/11am PT.

Regional Roundup

Having an accurate and user friendly membership form makes collecting dues easy. And when your membership form reflects the information you’ll need to update your chapter roster in the Chapter Hub? You’ll make growing your membership a breeze for yourself and your members! Check out this sample membership form to get a sense of what this can look like. 

Your membership drive materials should also help you gather the information you need to grow and support your chapter, including: 

• Interest in PFLAG and support for ongoing chapter activities: Members want to be engaged in the life of your chapter in different ways, so having an idea of who’s interested in which activities will help grow and support your ongoing programming. 
• Demographic Information: This information will help identify gaps or needs in your chapter’s programming and resources, and can help when writing grant applications. 
• Membership Levels: Consider varying your membership levels to give everyone an opportunity to participate based on their own capacity; folks with more time, for example, might be able to give at a higher level than folks with little time but who would still like to support your work.
• Volunteer Capacity: This information helps people understand expectations of chapter membership and highlights the opportunities they’ll have to engage with your chapter.

In the coming weeks, I’d love to connect with you about membership drive materials and how to use them to serve your chapter best.

Stay safe,

Shaun Connors (he/they)

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