Are You In Yet?

Although you don’t have to set up a member profile to gain access to the international website’s member only documents you are missing out on some great features! Visit the My Account area under the MyDKG tab for a  personalized member experience at www.dkg.org. 

By logging into your member account area you have easy access to:

• Receipts for regional conferences/international conventions you have/will be attending 
• Donations you have made to the Society
• Transaction records for orders you have made with the DKG Store
• Your member profile with capability to edit your personal contact information in the international database, "opt in" to the Member Directory (allowing other members to connect with you) and choose your communication preferences (such as choosing to receive emails or text messages from DKG) 
• The DKG Communities for an interactive experience

In the My Account area, state and chapter leaders have a dashboard set up specifically for them granting them access to their state or chapter members’ information. Currently presidents and treasurers have access with more officers gaining access soon.

The DKG Communities is a member only social network where members can discuss common issues whether they are related to DKG, educational issues or common interests. More information on the Communities and how to access them can be found in the September/October 2016 issue of Get Connected (Communications & Publicity Committee Page).

In the Communication Preferences, members have the option of being included in a Member Directory. Recently, the committee tried to email several members from other states and the emails were returned undeliverable. By using the Member Directory, we were able to access their current email addresses because they had agreed to be included in the directory.

Set up your Member Profile now by going to the MyDKG tab at www.dkg.org. Members who wish to connect with you can get to know you through the details you share in your DKG Profile. Remember to include your favorite photo! You will need to sign into the website with your membership number and the initial password which your chapter president can give you.

We look forward to connecting with you soon!

Leveraging Social Media: Blogs

Generally, chapters and state organizations rely on volunteers to develop and maintain social media. For this reason, it is wise to focus on no more than three social media tools. Get experience and then expand the use of the social media platform from there. And many believe that a blog is a good starting point.

Why a Blog?

• Your blog will enable you to deepen relationships with your members. They will find fresh, relevant content that is useful to them and have a place where they can feel heard as they respond with comments.

• Blogs are easy to use and maintain.

• Blogs get more search engine results than traditional, static websites.

• Blogs are less expensive to host and manage than traditional websites.

• Blogs provide a more “human voice.”

• Blogger (Google) is a free way to construct your blog; however, having a WordPress.Org blog (the gold standard) includes access to tons of free (yes, free) software ( i.e. ways to increase traffic, community features, auto sign-up, etc.) for your blog.

• You’ll be able to learn more about social media by just jumping in and starting a blog.

A Few Tips for Your Blog

• Titles are King - people see your title first and anticipate reading your blog. Titles are always the largest factor when search engines are indexing. Keep them short.

• Each blog post should have one category and many tags.

• Trim the fat - People don’t like to scroll...and scroll... and scroll.

• Add subheadings

• Add an image near the top; images help visitors stick around longer.

• Incorporate clickable links to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
  
  
  
  
  

Are you ready to take a step into Social Media?Are you ready to start a blog? Could a chapter blog help connect your members and keep all members informed of issues and events?

PROPOSE TO ME – Welcome to the Constitution Committee’s Blog!

Have you wondered what tasks the DKG Constitution Committee addresses beyond soliciting proposed amendments? Do you want to learn more about our governing documents and how they relate to your state organization bylaws and chapter rules?  Are you interested in learning about the newly revised process to review state organization bylaws? If any of these topics spark your interest, this is the blog for you.

Members of the DKG International Constitution Committee will address those topics and more to help you better understand the Constitution & International Standing Rules (ISR) and the process for proposing amendments to both. Even though the deadline for proposed amendments is October 1, 2017, careful thought dictates starting the process NOW.  

The Constitution Committee’s blog will also highlight key Articles/Sections of our governing documents and issues/questions that you share with us. Look for new blogs to be posted by the 2^nd Tuesday of each month.

We welcome your comments and look forward to hearing from you as we all prepare for the constitutional international convention in Austin, July 16-20, 2018.  Join us as we embrace “moving forward ever” through the documents that govern our Society.

Plan, Plan, Promote

Getting someone else to tell your story is what publicity is all about. It is usually at no cost and effective. The media are willing to promote a non-profit.

General Tips

• Recognize that your group must constantly work to communicate with the outside world.
• Ask what can you do without much (or any) cost.
• Set short-term goals to become more visible to community groups.
• Set more general, long-term goals that will reach beyond your immediate group.
• Collaborate as a team, make a master list of the best ideas and work these into your goals.
• List ways to bolster your PR, i.e. press releases, promotional events, Internet marketing ideas, etc.
• Designate who is responsible for what, including a time frame for each campaign.

Basic Publicity Tools

• The News Release: This should present your story/event after it occurs and include the 5 W’s. There should be a “hook” at the very beginning, much like the lead paragraph in a news story. Including quotes from an expert, board member or keynote speaker lends credibility and puts a human face on the subject.

• Backgrounder: This is an overview of your group (mission, etc.) and would be included with press releases to provide additional information.

• Media Advisory/Media Alert: An advisory is like an invitation to the media to attend your event. The alert is used to promote an event and is sent out a week or so before the event. In both instances, the 5 W’s are always included.
  
  Clip Art is CC0 at this address: https://pixabay.com/en/newspaper-article-journal-headlines-154444/