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Promoter & maintainer of membership As an association representative (AR), your primary role is that of a communicator – the person who is the first source of information for the members or the first person who gets the complaints. In effect, you are “The Association” in the minds of the members, and your reputation as a person the members can trust and believe is often enough to get employees to join or maintain their membership. However, most ARs feel more comfortable if they have a fairly well-structured picture in their minds as to how the Association functions, and what its goals and programs are. Therefore, this section of your handbook is designed to 12 – AR Handbook give you the basics of membership promotion. The following pages will give you “basics” on membership promotion. Use them to assist you in this most important organizational function. When to recruit Membership is the life blood of the association. It’s the source of our support – financial and personal – and the acknowledgment by the members of our bargaining units that their interests are being represented. Membership does not merely happen. It must be promoted and maintained by officers and ARs who recruit new members and keep them informed and involved. It is also important to understand that even though your initial efforts are to get a prospective member to enroll, your membership plan should include ways to engage them once they join. New Employees If your association is typical of local associations across the state and nation, you are already experiencing an influx of new members. Many of these new members are totally new in the profession while others are new to your school district. What started out as a trickle just a


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