Open House Resources

Why are members so important to a club?

Members are the building blocks of any Toastmasters club. Maximizing participation in the club not only adds energy to the club but also empowers more individuals to become effective communicators and leaders.

Have you been thinking of growing your club?

Holding an Open House is one of several ways to promote your club and Toastmasters. An Open House helps the club grow by getting new members, which in turn brings fresh new viewpoints, potential leaders ready to work for club growth, and enough members to enable effective and productive meetings. During the 2016-17 Toastmasters year, more than 20% of clubs in District 101 held an Open House event and the average club added 2 or 3 members.

How can your club hold a successful Open House Event?

Planning and execution are the keys to success. In order to help your club successfully plan a Open House event, District 101 has assembled resources that a club can take advantage of to plan and organize an Open House event within about a month.

Open House Planning Materials

• Open House Planning Guide: contains a timeline, program for the event, and a script your club can use to plan and hold a successful Open House event.
• Open House Checklist: use the Open House Checklist along with the Open House Planning Guide. It provides a checklist of action items to achieve each week right up until you hold your Open House.
• Virtual Open House Checklist: use the Virtual Open House Checklist along with applicable parts of the Open House Planning Guide and tips from the Online Meeting Resources page. It provides a checklist of action items to achieve each week right up until you hold your Virtual Open House.
• Membership Building Ideas: incorporate a few of the Hundreds of Membership Building Ideas into your Open House planning process and event.
• Guest Signup Sheet: use the Guest Signup sheet to record contact information for your guests.

Materials to Give Guests

• Guest Package Guide: contains suggestions for materials to include in a Guest Packet to help guests see the value of becoming a Toastmasters member.
• Agenda Template: although the agenda will vary from one club to another, we recommend using this agenda as a baseline to best represent the Toastmasters brand and District 101.

Promotional Material

Customize one of these flyers to include your club’s information, or create your own.

• Open House Flyer from Toastmasters International (downloadable folder with multiple versions to select).
• Access Open House flyer templates customizable in Canva by emailing openhouse@d101tm.org.

Additional District Resources to Promote Your Open House

• Check out the PR Resources page!
• If your Open House is not conducted as part of an Open House District Program, email details about your event to the Open House Chair at openhouse@d101tm.org.
• Don’t forget to request your club event be added to the District 101 Meetup site by submitting event details using the request form at https://d101tm.wufoo.com/forms/meetup-posting-request/ . You will get a notification from the District Meetup Manager when the event is posted on Meetup.

Questions? Want to share ideas?

Contact District 101’s Open House Chair at openhouse@d101tm.org.