Use this Simple DCP/HPL Plan to Focus Your Club on Success

By Division H Governor Ed. J. Mihalka, DTM

For the past six years, Westwinds Club 2436, in Area H1, has used the Distinguished Club Plan (DCP) as its roadmap to make the club more successful, while helping one of its members to complete his or her High Performance Leadership (HPL) requirement to earn the Advanced Leader award. The main advantage of following the plan is at least eight to ten of your members each year WILL accomplish their goals and reasons for joining Toastmasters! We have found it even more beneficial than trying to do a Speechcraft to attract members. Why? Guests are drawn to success; if your club is successful, they will join!

Here is the method we use to implement the plan:

When we elect our new officers for the term July 1 through December 31 (or through June 30 of the following year), we pinpoint who our CTMs, CLs, ATMs, and so on, will be and record them for our Distinguished Club Plan.
We then select a person who needs to complete the Advanced Leader award to earn his or her DTM and use our Distinguished Club Plan objective (bring Club 2436 to President's Distinguished Club status) as that person’s High Performance Leadership project (a requirement to earn the AL). That person becomes the Coordinator, and the Club President, V.P. of Education, V.P. of Membership, and Club Treasurer serve as members of his or her HPL Committee.
We also involve our Secretary, who each week records the name, manual title, and project number of all manual speeches in our weekly minutes.
We encourage our Club Officers to set the example for our newer members by doing manual speeches. (By Fall 2006, I will complete all the requirements for my sixth DTM. I made my personal goal a part of my e-mail address: edjm6dtm@verizon.net.)
The Coordinator and the V.P. of Education track and schedule modules required to earn the CL, ATM-S, etc. They also coordinate getting all seven of our Club Officers to Club Officer Training at LACE every six months.
To ensure that all awards paperwork is filed, the V.P. of Education, working with the Coordinator, signs and submits all CTM and other awards paperwork to Toastmasters International as soon as the member completes the requirements.
The Coordinator also works with the Club to send in the Officers List to Toastmasters International one day after the officers are elected (in May and in September) and to invoice membership dues no later than March 1 and September 1, so that all dues will be collected and submitted to headquarters at least one week before April 1 and October 1.
The HPL Committee makes monthly reports on our progress (what we have completed and what we still need to do) to all officers and members.

DOES IT WORK? You bet! Westwinds earned Select Distinguished status the first year we did this, President's Distinguished (with all 10 goals met) the next four years, and Select Distinguished again in 2004 (two more members would have given us President's Distinguished). Every year, we fasten the ribbons we earn to our Club Banner with small, gold safety pins for all our members and guests to see.

I also used this plan with Irwindale Club 9811, in Area B5, when I was V.P. of Education and their President. That club also earned Select Distinguished the first year and President's Distinguished for at least three of the following years.

Are you looking for a way to Focus your club’s efforts? Try this simple roadmap for success. Give your club an easy method to Focus on succeeding, and I guarantee you the Enthusiasm will follow.

Ed. J. Mihalka is also a Past Division B Treasurer and has been a member of Westwinds Club 2436 for more than 37 years. You can send him e-mail at edjm6dtm@verizon.net.