We Got a D on Our Report Card!

A D you say? Why should we be thrilled about a D? Because D means that District 25 achieved Distinguished status for the 2012-2013 Toastmasters year! Only 32 of the 89 districts worldwide were Distinguished or better!

What does it mean for a district to be Distinguished?
In other words, what does EXCELLENCE in Toastmasters look like? A district must have a commitment to sharing the benefits of Toastmasters with others by expanding our network of clubs and by adding members to existing clubs. And a district must be committed to excellence in club quality. Just as clubs have goals in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP), districts also have goals to spur them to excellence. (Always remember that each number or percentage represents the accomplishment of an individual or club that strove for excellence!)

What are the goals for a Distinguished district?
Just as a club can become Select or President’s Distinguished by exceeding the basic goals of the DCP, districts can become Select or Presidents Distinguished by exceeding the District Recognition Program basic goals. The following shows the goals for each of the levels of recognition and District 25’s progress toward each goal:

• net club growth       
  Distinguished = 3%          Select = 5%          President’s = 8%
  District 25 began the year with 146 clubs. A 3% net growth gave us a target of 151 clubs. We chartered 13 new clubs. Unfortunately, we had six clubs that did not renew. (This is actually a very low number of non-renewing clubs, thanks to the relentless efforts of LGM Marylee Mims and her team, who made member retention and club assistance a major focus of the year.) We ended the year with 153 clubs, two more than the Distinguished goal and only one club away from Select Distinguished, for a growth of 4.8%.

• net member payments growth   
  Distinguished = 3%          Select = 5%          President’s = 8%
  The membership goal is based on member payments rather than total number of members. Each time a member pays dues, we get credit for one member payment. Toastmasters pay dues twice a year, so most members count twice in dues payments. Members added to our clubs and charter members also go into this count. Our membership payments grew by 4.26% this year. We were only 44 member payments short of Select Distinguished!

• % club base Distinguished    
  Distinguished = 40%          Select = 45%          President’s = 50%
  This is where District 25 ROCKS! Only 10 clubs worldwide exceeded our percentage of Distinguished clubs. We have 63% of our clubs meeting the Distinguished or better status! Our 63% is far above the goal for a club to be President’s Distinguished!

2012-2013 was District 25’s fourth year in a row to be Distinguished or better. Thanks to everyone for the support you gave your members, clubs, and district leaders to help accomplish our goals. Together we made it happen. District 25 has a tradition of success. Let’s not stop there! Let’s set a new goal for the new year!

      Let’s be President’s Distinguished in 2013-2014!

Bonne K. Stroman
Immediate Past District Governor