The MAGIC of Kiwanis
M=Members
As I travel around the country and the world, I continue to marvel at the MAGIC OF KIWANIS. For me, Kiwanis became magical at the end of my third year as a member of a large club of about 120. It was at this time I was asked to serve on the board of directors. No one had really asked me for ideas about the club up to that time…even when I served on a committee or two.
I missed meetings often, not always with a good reason. I checked to see the subject and presenter for the next meeting to see if it seemed “interesting enough” to attend. When the volunteer sign-up sheet went around the room I often did not sign up to help. For my first three years I was a member, not a Kiwanian. Kiwanis was hardly magical. It was just another thing I had to do as a professional in the community…it was “good for my resume.”
Once I became a board member the magic started to occur. I probably said one hundred times that first year on the board, “I had no idea!” This was not surprising. Most clubs (and mine was no different) spend 95% of their time and effort on local issues. People join clubs for local reasons but some learn about district and international as well…some don’t! Some clubs are proud to be part of a worldwide organization. Some don’t realize they are!
I developed a short list of the differences between members of Kiwanis Clubs and Kiwanians. Sometimes it is slight and other times it is huge.
A MEMBER has no interest in recruiting others to join Kiwanis. A KIWANIAN can’t help but to ask friends and new acquaintances to join.
A MEMBER complains loudly whenever any kind of increase is proposed in either dues or meals, even if it is the first time in 10 years. A KIWANIAN understands the impact of being in an International organization and accepts occasional increases.
A MEMBER misses a meeting or event if it rains lightly. A KIWANIAN drives through near blizzards for a service committee meeting on the other side of town.
A MEMBER never attends a district or international convention or event. A KIWANIAN attends because he/she sees it as a duty of members to represent the club.
So let me get the point of this article. Clubs that seem magical to others have many Kiwanians and few members. Club leaders have developed a culture over time to develop Kiwanians. They focus on education of members by putting them into situations where they can grow into Kiwanians. They understand that this does not happen automatically. And when they notice member who are not engaged in the club they invite them personally to service and fundraiser events and maybe even a convention.
The bottom line is we have way too many members in Kiwanis today. We need to stabilize our membership and create more magic by developing those members into Kiwanians. Too many members, not enough Kiwanians leads to a lack of leadership in clubs and districts. A lack of leadership leads to a lack of Kiwanians. It is a vicious cycle.
For me, Kiwanis is magic and I am sure that is true for most Kiwanians. Just think what could happen if most of our Kiwanis clubs could double or triple their allotment of Kiwanians from their membership? How might that change clubs and ultimately our districts?
Clearly we need to continue to open new clubs while we work to create more Kiwanians in our existing clubs, and I will get to that in another article. However, if we don’t educate our current membership by placing them in the best environment possible we will continue to lose members—because members are not committed Kiwanians. All the work done to recruit members is lost if we don’t help members become Kiwanians.
If we want to share the MAGIC OF KIWANIS with others we must first develop that magic for our own members!
A=ALTRUISM
One of the words in the Six Objects of Kiwanis that is not easily understood is the word “altruism.” You can find it in the 5th Object of Kiwanis: “to provide, through Kiwanis clubs, a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render altruistic service, and to build better communities.”
The first Kiwanis Clubs formed in the U.S. did not have service as an emphasis. They were built to further the business pursuits of the men who joined. However, after a few years it became clear that something more meaningful was needed to keep clubs together and to give them a purpose. Ultimately that became service which some refer to as altruism. Whatever you call it, doing something for someone else when you really don’t have to do it can be a special feeling for the person doing it! Helping a family member, or someone who is your supervisor at work is important. But helping someone who you don’t know and sometimes never even meet is really special.
When doing service for others in a group we can do much more than as individuals. My Kiwanis Club often participants in a “stuff a truck” project where we try to fill a large truck with food for those in need. I suppose my wife and I could fill the truck ourselves over a lifetime but then I am unsure where we could park it for that many yeas! Doing service with other like-minded individuals opens all sorts of avenues. This is the reason we need to recruit more Kiwanis members and help them become Kiwanians. The more hands we have, the more service we can do to help our communities and beyond.
Kiwanis Clubs that put service at the center of what they are about and what they do are almost always successful clubs. Having a focus such as service leads to all sorts of good things for the club. Members become more engaged, they develop pride in what they accomplish, and they become known in the community as special people who are altruistic in nature. Nothing develops a healthy club faster than accomplishing quality service projects for the community. And nothing leads to more members joining the club!
So for me, the letter “A” of MAGIC will always refer to altruism. Clubs that figure this out become magical for those they help and for themselves. There is no better felling in life than knowing you made a difference by helping someone who needed your help.
G=GROWTH
When most Kiwanians hear about the importance of growth they usually assume the subject is somehow related to growing club numbers. Although this is important I think there is an overlooked part of Kiwanis that needs more discussion. If growing as human beings is as important as we often hear, does it not make sense that being a member of a Kiwanis Club, surrounded by other good citizens of the community, encourages individual growth?
We constantly make choices that affect our destiny. But too often we limit our own growth. You never learn how to grow. You can only learn how to learn how to grow. So the goal must be to develop a quality lifestyle that keeps us sharp and aware of all that is available to us. This means we cannot become isolated; we must expose ourselves to nurturing opportunities. What a wonderful reason to join a Kiwanis Club. So many don’t know what they are missing!
Kiwanians by the very act of joining a club expose themselves to new learning situations. We get to know people around us a little better and often people we would not otherwise even meet. Growing as humans requires risk taking. What you become is far more important that what you get. What you get will be influenced by what you become. You are the same today as what you will be five years from now except for the people with whom you associate. Being a member of a Kiwanis Club will help you grow into the person you hope to be. It is MAGIC.
“We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”—Max De Pree
I=INSPIRATION
Most people don’t join Kiwanis expecting to be inspired. I suspect when, and if, this occurs it is a surprise. Unfortunately, not all members of Kiwanis Clubs are inspired by the work of their club. This can happen for many reasons. The club might not have the kinds of service projects that can lead to inspiration. Cleaning a highway is helpful to the community and the cleanliness of the highway being cleaned but rarely inspires the member doing the cleaning. If we are going to inspire our members we need to find a service project that might develop some emotional response from the member doing the project.
We know that some clubs do nothing but fundraisers. Again, it is a rare fundraiser that leads to inspiration. It is possible but not probable. And then there are the clubs that really don’t do much of anything, service or fundraising. No one ever becomes inspired in a club that only meets for a meal and a meeting.
What I am sure of is that the Kiwanis Clubs that inspire members are magical. I would argue there is nothing more magical in life than being inspired by someone or something. Maybe this is because of the rarity of true inspiration occurring in our lives. I am reminded of a famous story about General Westmoreland coming upon three paratroopers in Vietnam. He asks the first soldier why he enjoys jumping out of airplanes. The soldier tells the General he lives for the jumps, the adrenaline rush, the incredible feeling of falling through space. Westmoreland then asks the second soldier the same question. He responds that jumping out of a plane is like nothing else in life. He feels special knowing he is doing something so few are alble to do. When he lands and rolls it is a proud moment that can’t be replicated with any other activity. Westmoreland, now extremely impressed asks the third soldier the same question. His reply is different: I hate being a paratrooper. I get nauseous just knowing I am about to jump. I am terrified once in the air wondering if the shoot will open. When I land I sometimes vomit from the fear I had of jumping! Westmoreland, now confused, asks the soldier why he does this. The soldier answers, because these other two guys enjoy it so much…they inspire me!
I think a great Kiwanis Club, full of Kiwanians doing incredible things to help others, can quickly inspire new members. Just like the third soldier who hates jumping out of airplanes, there are many willing to do anything to be near people who are inspired and inspire others. A club full of Kiwanians who have had inspiring moments create magic for others.
We have a society of people today who are waiting to be inspired but through no fault of there own it just does not happen. Joining a Kiwanis Club is no guarantee either. Joining an inspired club often leads members to not only become Kiwanians but also to have inspiring moments in helping others. The two go hand in hand. If our clubs are not putting members into an environment where they can become inspired by their service, there will be no magic for the members. Kiwanians, by definition, are inspired and soon inspire others. That is a major part of the MAGIC of Kiwanis!
C=COMMITMENT
The final letter of MAGIC is “C.” There are so many important C words that it is difficult to narrow it down to just one word. But I think for Kiwanis Clubs that are magical it has to be the word “Commitment. The dictionary defines the word as the “act of pledging or promising.” That is what we need more of in our Kiwanis Clubs today…committed Kiwanians.
When we talk of Kiwanis members becoming Kiwanis there can be no more important change of attitude than to become committed to the Six Objects of Kiwanis and the work that great clubs do for their community and beyond. We really can’t talk about commitment, however, without a discussion of the meaning of the word volunteer. All members of Kiwanis must have at least one moment when they volunteer. That moment is when they decide to join a Kiwanis Club. Unfortunately, too many see their responsibility to the club they join as mainly one way…that is “what will the club do for them.” Kiwanians realize that being a member of a Kiwanis Club is a two-way street. The club has responsibilities to the member but so does the member to the club. The magical Kiwanis Clubs have members who make a commitment to the club to volunteer whenever possible. In fact, they are no longer volunteers after joining the club. Joining a Kiwanis Club creates responsibilities for the member such as the responsibility of attending meetings as possible, of helping with service and fundraising projects, of stepping up to be a committee chair or an officer of the club. The magical clubs in Kiwanis have a large majority of members who are committed Kiwanis. They never use the excuse, “I am just a volunteer.” They don’t volunteer to clean the highway and then not show up without any reason.
It is that commitment that I bring to my Kiwanis work over the past many years. I am committed to doing what I can to help my Kiwanis Club, my Kiwanis District, and Kiwanis International. It is my commitment that has led to my seeing Kiwanis as magical. And it is my hope that more and more members of Kiwanis can learn to be Kiwanians and therefore also see the MAGIC of the greatest service organization the world has ever known…KIWANIS! It is MAGIC!