Top 10 BDPA Chapters (Membership, November 2014)

The lifeblood of any nonprofit association is its membership.  BDPA membership continues to grow!  The membership total in November 2014 marks the 11th straight month of growth.  In fact, the total membership increased by 29% from this time last year!  The growth is a direct result of efforts by local, regional and national leaders to provide a value proposition to members (and potential members) with its programs, scholarships and services.  Kudos to the National BDPA president Pamela Mathews and her newly-appointed vice-president of membership management Mildred Allen for the continued positive trending in this core metric.   

BDPA Cincinnati chapter (president, Dalric Webb) is to be commended for a remarkable milestone as well.  This chapter doubled in size this calendar year!   They began the year as the 5th largest chapter in nation ... and now we find them sitting as the 2nd-largest chapter ... having grown by over 130% in the past 11 months!  The chapter effectively used its monthly program meetings and corporate sales to grow the chapter.  BDPA Cincinnati chapter grew faster than any other chapter in the past quarter!

We believe in the management maxim -- you get what you measure.  Let us assess the numbers in order to honor those local BDPA chapters who are demonstrating success in their efforts to recruit and retain members. Let's take a look at the ten largest chapters in BDPA-Nation:

1. Chicago - president, Reggie Rush
2. Cincinnati - president, Dalric Webb
   
3. Washington DC - president, Perry Carter 
4. Atlanta - president, Derrick Brown (up 1 spot)
5. Philadelphia - president, Eileen Gadsden (down 1 spot)
6. Southern Minnesota - president, Will Smith
   
7. Dallas - president, Chad White (up 1 spot)
8. New Jersey - president, Goldie Bonney (down 1 spot)
9. Los Angeles - president, David Malonson 
10. Detroit - president, Beverly Moore (up 1 spot)

The top five chapters on the list remain in the 'BDPA Century Club'! The benefit of having powerful leadership is obvious when we see that Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Washington DC each have over 100 members. One of the common denominators for each of these chapters is that they place a high premium on the delivery of quality programs and services to their members. These chapters work hard to ensure that there is a strong return on the $100 investment that each member makes thru annual dues.

What are your thoughts about the value of BDPA membership? What can your local chapter do to improve the value-proposition for you on a personal or professional level?