Be sure to check out (Part 1) How to Motivate Member Participation in Your Homebrew Club.
A thriving homebrew club is an excellent venue through which to learn from other homebrewers, discover new tips and techniques, and share your passion for great handcrafted beer. But good clubs don’t just happen: they take hard work and planning. Fortunately, it’s easy to motivate your members by paying attention to consistency, education, opportunity, and community.
In the second installment of our member-motivating features, I offer a few more of the successful strategies we’ve employed in my homebrew club, the Carolina BrewMasters (CBM).
Recognize Volunteers
Your club is built on the work of volunteers, so be sure to give public credit for their efforts at meetings, via social media, and through other communication channels your club uses. And don’t underestimate the power of an appreciative face-to-face “Thank you.”
Hold a yearly awards ceremony to recognize your volunteers and to celebrate together. The Carolina BrewMasters hold an awards ceremony every December to recognize all of the hard work that our volunteers put into the club. We award points throughout the year and select our Volunteer of the Year based, in part, on accumulated points. We also hold a raffle for prizes donated by local homebrew stores: One volunteer point is good for one raffle ticket. In past years, donations have exceeded $2,000 in prizes.
If do you choose to award volunteer points, be transparent about the logistics. Our club’s vice president of communications maintains a list of points and updates it throughout the year. Our guidelines are posted on our website so that members understand how many points they earn for various activities. Competitions remain our greatest opportunities for members to earn points.
Engage Your Community
AHA Rallies offer an excellent way to bring your members together and show the community what homebrewing is all about. Our club sets up a table, tent, and jockey box at each rally, and we offer giveaways, raffle items, and club event shirts. Depending on the demographics of your club, consider having family-friendly events as well, like soda making or games.
Participate in national brewing events such as Big Brew, Mead Day, Cider Day, and Homebrew Con (formerly the National Homebrewers Conference). If Homebrew Con is held within driving distance of our club, we bring out our massive 8-tap, handcrafted wooden bar and show it off to conference attendees. But no matter the distance, we always get club shirts, promote the Homebrew Con to the club, and travel together.
We partner with local charities all year long, offering donations in the form of nonperishable food, money, and volunteer hours. It may seem like a simple gesture, but the local community will appreciate your efforts. We’ve even had members volunteer time to pick hops at a local brewery during the hop harvest. Breweries love to give back to their communities, so ask them how you can get involved.
Our club is also the proud host of the Charlotte Oktoberfest. This is one of the largest festivals in the Southeast, with more than 6,000 attendees, 150 volunteers, 90 breweries, and countless sponsors and media. Last year we raised about $50,000 for local charities, bringing our 17-year total to more than half a million dollars. Our festival started with just one keg and has grown over time.
Set an example
All of the great ideas in the world are of no use if you’re not involved yourself. So set a good example by giving as much to the club as you’d like other members to give. We hope you’re inspired to motivate your club members to be more active and look forward to hearing what you come up with. Remember, all it takes is a good idea and the will to see it through.
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Lauren Domm is a member of the Carolina BrewMasters homebrew club. The Carolina BrewMasters earned the AHA’s Radegast Club of the Year Award in 2014 for their outstanding service to their community.
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