Why Bother With a Club Success Plan?
On a warm Sunday afternoon in August, the Executive team of Arbutus Toastmasters Club 5750
sat comfortably on my deck, with a laptop fired up and ready to go. We chatted about this and
that, and then, cold drinks in hand, got down to business, creating our Club Success Plan.
Why was this important to us and why should other clubs bother with the Club Success Plan
and what is it anyway?
THE CLUB SUCCESS PLAN is a series of questions for discussion and deliberation for a club’s
Executive Team, pertaining to setting goals and methods for education, membership, training,
and administration. It is also an intentional plan for how the Executive will work as a team,
manage adversity and deal with conflict. It is a living document, meant to establish a baseline
and set the course for the coming year for a new Executive team.
IT’S A REQUIREMENT FOR DISTINGUISHED CLUB STATUS – Submitting your club plan by
September 30, 2026, is now a requirement upon which your Distinguished Club Plan goals are
built by your club. Although this is an important reason to complete the plan, there are other
(and arguably more) important reasons. I have outlined them here for you:
GPS. The Club Success Plan can be considered by your club to be a GPS for how the
upcoming year is going to unfold for you. Discussing realistic goals and then writing
them down, solidifies the path that your team will take and provides you with a way
forward, with expectations and expected results clearly laid out. Knowing where you’re
going is extremely helpful!COMMUNICATION – The CSP provides an opportunity early in your Executive journey
to discuss how you, as a team, will manage conflict, communication, and adversity; how
you will make decisions, etc. This is a good idea for any team, but especially for new
teams of volunteers, who may have differing ideas for these sometimes-difficult topics.BONDING – I highly recommend that club Executives create their Club Success Plan in
person. The conversation, sharing of knowledge and ideas, and discussing some tough
questions face to face is an effective and personal way to bond together. I believe that it
helps to cement the ideas discussed and sets the Executive team off on a wonderful
start to their journey.
In summary, the requirement for clubs to complete their Club Success Plan by September 30 th ,
while important, is only one reason to get to work now! The benefits of providing a clear path
forward, setting goals, and making team agreements about how you will operate, far outweigh
the deadline. But do not let that deadline pass – this is your opportunity to act, just as the
Arbutus team did – together, on a warm afternoon in August.
Kristin Nickells, DTM
Arbutus Toastmasters Club Executive