When seeking support for the DCP, I have heard club and district officers appealing to pride in the club or district.
I believe they have it all wrong.
I have seen many examples of strong clubs failing to achieve Distinguished Club status, and I have seen many weak clubs achieve Presidents Distinguished Club. To me, that means that the Distinguished Club Program goals are not particularly good indicators of strong clubs.
When someone appeals to me by using pride in the club, I am always reminded of a pep talk, the kind given by a sports coach or a corporate executive -- that is, the kind of motivation intended to inspire a team. The problem I have with this approach, and why I think it so often fails, is that Toastmasters is not a team.
Each member has personal reasons for being in Toastmasters. To gain these members' support, an appeal must be made to those selfish, personal reasons. Answer that question, WIIFM? What's in it for me?
I like to look at the Distinguished Club Program from a different point of view.
Consider the Toastmasters Communication track; you are given manuals with projects. Each project has objectives and a suggested plan for achieving those objectives in the project description. What if there is a corresponding structure in the Toastmasters Leadership track?
In fact, the Competent Leadership manual follows this structure: each project has objectives and a plan to reach those objectives. How about the rest of the leadership track, the Advanced Leader Bronze and Advanced Leader Silver?
Advanced Leader Bronze requires serving as a club officer. Each club officer receives a leadership manual. Each office has objectives, and those objectives include both the standards for the office ... and the Distinguished Club Plan. The manual provides ideas for achieving those goals, as does club officer training.
Advanced Leader Silver requires being a district officer which has its own manual, objectives, and training to achieve those objectives. In addition, the ALS requires a High Performance Leadership project which is a manual with a process to set your own goals and establish your own plan to achieve those goals.
My point is this: the value of the Distinguished Club Program is not as a measure for club success or recognition. By setting goals, demonstrating action plans, and requiring evaluations, the true value of the Distinguished Club Program is in how it provides a plan for developing leadership skills.
Therefore, I say that the best way to make the DCP appeal to members is to to pitch WIIFM. Tell how the DCP will help each individual member develop leadership skills: setting goals, developing action plans, time management, organization, delegation, mentoring, and more.
In the end, the club's DCP achievement is unimportant; my personal goals are what matter to me.
