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Success! Readers report what works
Membership thrives in daytime chorus
“Barbershop Bucks” motivates recruiters, chapter membership reaches 80
veryone wore a badge labeled
“80” at a recent rehearsal of
the Mount Vernon, Va.
chapter to celebrate a recordbreaking
high of 80 members.
In approximately two years,
Mount Vernon, also known
as the Harmony Heritage
Singers, gained 24 members:
12 in 2008; eight in 2009 and
four in January 2010.
As with traditional evening
chapters, the major draw is
the chapter meeting itself. Chapter members claim
to have found a virtually perfect combination of
entertainment and business, grounded in solid leadership
and the fun, energetic style of director Bob
Wachter. A lot of chapter growth is also credited
to membership chairman James Coulter, who has
found a fun way to keep recruiting in the forefront
of chapter life. Members can earn “barbershop
bucks” if they bring a visitor ($50) or if the visitor
joins ($100). There are even drawings for “cash”
prizes so all chorus members have a chance to win
whether or not they’ve recruited. At quarterly
chapter meetings, “barbershop bucks” can
be spent at an auction of various donated
gifts.
The barbershop bucks are successful
in large measure because
34 The HARMONIZER • March/April 2010
TILTON PHOTOGRAPHY
The chapter at a recent Mid-Atlantic District competition. The chapter
also performs about 20 times a year, with an emphasis on the types of
retirement communities that constitute a major recruiting base
of a well-organized membership program. Each
guest is greeted with a friendly welcome, receives
a guest book with copies of all songs in the current
repertoire, a business card and a brochure spelling
out the road to membership; and told what he can
expect as a member. Following the visit, a member
follows up with him and invites him to return. He is
then offered a membership application on his third
visit. If he joins, he gets a personalized binder with
complete information about the chapter and the
Society, and is assigned to a current member (of the
same voice part) who acts as his mentor, answering
questions and getting the rookie off to a
good start.
Though this method takes some
effort, it’s fun, and the continuing
growth of the Harmony Heritage
Singers shows that it pays off.