Annual Reports and Parties
By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director
As most know, the “Grange Year” ends on September 30th. One of the communication tasks I have is to post annual reports and program books on the website. Annual reports should highlight the activities and accomplishments of the person or department. Program books should be a resource for all Granges and Grangers. For this month’s column, I’d like to share a few paragraphs from my annual report as communications director.
The website is now in its thirteenth full year of operation in its current form. The objectives for the redesign in November 2010 were simple. Some of the more important included:
- To encourage prompt posting and maintenance of information and resources,
- To control that posting process with some level of moderation and quality control,
- To allow users to find basic information and resources (such as applications, manuals, etc.) readily and
- To allow users to subscribe to the site and receive email versions of posts.
We continue to achieve those objectives. Site views have decreased by 3.0% over the previous year. There have been 20,840 site views from September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023—an average of nearly 1,700 monthly. However, these visits do not include subscribers who are receiving the posts without necessarily visiting the site.
Considering the decline in Granges and Grange membership, the site is doing well. Some of that success can be attributed to the site design and content. The site is resource-rich and appeals to both members and non-members. The top pages visited are the information pages, such as the directory of Granges, program books, etc. This year, however, several posts about Community Grange Events and programs received a lot of attention. This tells us how to maintain interest in the site.
I would go one step further and suggest that this also tells us how to maintain interest in the Grange. In a word, it’s “communication.”
The Communications Handbook is designed to help local Granges do just that. You can download a copy from the Maine State Grange Website or request one be mailed. Grangers help each other. Please let me know if there’s some way I can help you and your Grange achieve more in 2023-24.
For your part, please use the website! One of the largest pages is the “Program Books and Information” page. You’ll find annual reports, program books, and assorted resources listed by department or committee. But an even more important part you play in the website’s success is communicating your news and events. Are you having a craft fair during the holidays? If you send the information, you get a free “ad” and a listing on the Events Page. Will everyone who sees it attend? Of course not. But I can assure you that people who do not know about it won’t come!
Don’t be guilty of having a party and forgetting to invite anyone! And remember, this is not just about events. When you share news about your Grange, you give people a reason to be interested. You could even write an annual report of your activities and accomplishments and include some of the things you’ve got planned for next year!
► FACT: During the first week in August, there were 513 emails delivered to website subscribers. (The most subscribers get is one email per day.) A big advantage for subscribers is that they don’t have to remember to check the website and can choose which posts they are going to read entirely.