Hello fellow Optimist, 

As we enter the fourth quarter of this Optimist year, our membership is sitting at a net -2,000, right where it has been the last few years.

But why should you care about the membership in Optimist International? You joined your local club to look after the needs of the children in your community. Not Optimist International.

So why should you care? In order for Optimist International to be down in membership, it means that clubs just like yours, and maybe even your own club, are not replacing the members they are losing. That is putting a heavier burden on the members remaining in the club but also decreasing the resources we have in our clubs to address the needs of the children in our communities. If we continue along this trajectory, in 10 to 15 years, Optimist International will not have enough clubs or members to be able to sustain an international headquarters.

What would that mean to you as an Optimist in your local club?

1. No umbrella liability insurance coverage – every club would have to find their own liability coverage
2. No Foundations – meaning no scholarship programs or grants for clubs
3. No website or Optimist Institute – no training or information to support members and club executives
4. No support structure – no zones, no districts, no trained leaders to help your clubs
5. No conventions or zone meetings – no opportunities to meet other Optimists and share ideas
6. No community recognition of the name, Optimist International

Although you joined your local clubs to assist the youth in your community, the decline of Optimist International will have an impact on you, your club and your community.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Just think, if every club, ON AVERAGE, was net +1 in membership over the next three months, we would be close to breaking even with our overall net membership for Optimist International.

If strengthening your club to protect the Optimist legacy in your community and continue to help the children in your community is not motivation enough, Optimist International is offering a 4^th quarter membership incentive that should be exciting for all clubs. No matter the size of your club, you will have an opportunity to win significant cash prizes that you will be able to put towards your club projects. There will be awards for the top 3 clubs in two categories. The total number of new members added and the highest percentage of new members added. $1,000 for 1^st place, $750 for 2^nd place and $500 for 3^rd place. And for all of the clubs that do not make it to be one of the top three, there will be two additional, random draws of $300 from all of the clubs that registered to be part of this program AND added at least one member during the 4^th quarter. Correction of June “Just 3 Things”. The top three clubs in each category in all of Optimist International (NOT IN EACH DISTRICT – as stated in my June message) will get the monetary awards.

But there are parameters around this program. In order to participate:

• Clubs must proactively “opt-in” to be part of the program click here to access the form.
• Clubs in the running for prizes must have their 1^st quarter dues payment, including all of the new members added, paid to Optimist International by October 31^st.
• Clubs must also maintain and pay for these members through the 2^nd quarter of the 2023-24 Optimist year.
• We will track all new members added during the 4^th quarter in each club and you will get updates in my monthly emails and other head office communications.
• Finalist clubs will be announced the beginning of November.
• Payment of prize money will be sent to clubs in February 2024.

We need you to be adding members, not numbers. People committed to the mission of our great organization, people just like you!

Let’s work together to strengthen our clubs to ensure continued service to the youth in our communities for decades to come. If each of us focused on our own club, the accumulated growth in all of our clubs would result in overall growth and strengthening of our organization.

Thank you for being Optimists and thank you for making a positive difference in the lives of the children in your community. Let’s work together to ensure we are here for decades to come.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.

The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

-- Thomas A. Edison

Yours in Optimism,

Bob McFadyen

2022-23 President

O.I. Update

Celebrate Community:

Bob McFadyen

2022-2023 President