2011 Honorable Mention: Community Credit System

Program Goal

The goal of Community Credit System (CCS) is incorporate meaningful community work into the Provisional and Active membership requirements.  The program offers flexibility and provides members the power to choose from a menu of options.  Specifically the League gave women the power to choose how to spend their volunteer time and to experience meaningful community impact.  It also recruited women non-profit leaders by offering credit for their professional experience.

Program Description

The CCS is a new system of managing requirements, individual member interests and the needs of The Junior League of Wichita.  The CCS requires members to fulfill a certain number of hours, chosen from a wide variety of training, fund development and community service opportunities.  In choosing the community service opportunities the League made a point to partner with direct service agencies that were addressing current community needs.

Members choose from a menu of options.  Credits were earned by the members by working through the community and learning about what the agency does.  The League provided training and partnered with outside organizations such as the Wichita Nonprofit Chamber of Service to expand the training available to better meet member needs.  Members also received credit by supporting the League fund raisers.  Their new structure used a sliding scale of requirements.  The longer the member is in the League the fewer hours the member is required to do.

To better meet the needs of individual members, they were empowered to seek out agencies they were interested in.  There is flexibility with the amount of hours required.  Members have the power to choose specific activities they have a special interest in.  New members have similar opportunities but there is great emphasis on orientation.  New members are required to fulfill forty community credit hours.  Ten of these hours comprise of tours or visits to the agencies.

Results/Outcomes

The CCS focused directly on removing a major obstacle to achieving a better League experience, namely the requirement structure.  The volunteer assignments are varied and include most importantly community work addressing important community needs.

The League targeted female community leaders to participate in League programs and to join as members.  They offered them community credit hours to entice them to join.  New members visited and worked with many of these agencies.  The link between membership and doing meaningful work in the community became crystal clear.  Members came away with a greater knowledge of community issues, connected with women leaders and volunteered in direct service. The new approach offers members and opportunity for impact in the Wichita community.

Evaluation

Over the past two years Provisional membership has increased by 20 percent representing 132 new members.  The total membership was declining, but now the last two Provisional classes were the largest in the League’s history.  Members are investing more hours and exceeding their requirements.  The total hours donated from all members have increased over three years from 525 to 4,496.  This demonstrates members choosing to invest more hours to League programs because it is meaning and meets their personal interests.