When the pandemic hit, we initially missed a beat. University Heights Neighborhood Association skipped its April 2020 meeting while we waited with the rest of the world to find out what it would mean to us.
By May, we knew we would be in limbo a while, but we had to find a way forward. So, again with the rest of the world, we discovered Zoom and vowed to continue to do the best work we could under the circumstances.
And we did.
We had two waves of fundraisers to feed and pamper health care workers, we fed dozens of our city’s unsheltered residents a grand Thanksgiving dinner, put shoes on children’s feet and so much more.
What we didn’t do was grow our membership. It just seemed too difficult in the absence of one-on-one connections. Once vaccinations started going into arms and the virus receded a bit, we began planning a membership drive.
Our leader on this project, Linda Regan, came up with an ambitious five-week plan filled with a dozen opportunities to meet and play with neighbors. The membership campaign launched May 23 and ended on June 30, which coincided with the end of our fiscal year.
Here’s what we did:
- We launched the campaign on May 30 and hand delivered to every household in University Heights a two-sided flier explaining who we are, what we do and, on the other side, our calendar of events.
- We held a neighborhood cleanup in conjunction with Phelps Grove and Community Partnership of the Ozarks.
- We had fundraiser nights at three neighboring restaurants: Bambino’s, Purple Burrito and Neighbor’s Mill.
- We had a Yoga for All learning session.
- We had a family fun night at Artistree Pottery.
- We held a two-day neighborhood-wide yard sale.
- We held a guided tour of the WaterWise Garden.
- We mailed postcards to each household in University Heights to remind them of the membership drive.
- We celebrated the conclusion of our successful membership drive with a food truck night, with visits from Chameleon Cuisine’s Taco Truck and Fizz Sips and Sweets.
With each event or contact, we’d see small boosts in membership — 10 here, 12 there. They began to add up.
In addition to the paper applications, UHNA Secretary Annette Hollon and husband Jered created online forms for our website that were easy for members to fill out and also helped us track data more efficiently. Most payments were made online through PayPal, but we also received a good number of checks and cash payments.
When all was said and done, we’d grown from approximately 60 membership households to 143 membership households with 293 individual members overall. We well exceeded our goal of doubling membership.
It was a lot of work, but thanks to so many volunteers, it wasn’t overwhelming for any one person and so very worth the effort.
As we look ahead to our next membership drive, we may scale back somewhat on the number of events, but the variety was important. Ice cream draws some folks, pottery draws others.
We hope to cook up new ideas for 2023.