Membership Mission and Vision: Recruit, retain, and reinstate a stable and growing membership base.
Membership Goals and Benchmarks:
- Special Bravo Zulu recognition for Posts reaching 107%
- Recruit new, and recover unpaid members at 105%
- Retain existing membership of at least 75%
- Increase Life membership by at least 5%
- Increase Legacy Life membership by at least 1%
The best way to grow a stable membership is for your Post and Auxiliary members to be active as a group in your community.
We must improve the way we communicate with our Post members. Take the lead.
We must:
- Take care of our members and their families
- Stay current on veteran issues and advocate at the local, State, and Federal levels
- Be involved in our local community by leading and partnering with other veteran and local organizations
- Be the organization the community thinks of when they think of veterans
A copy of the Commander's Book, which contains the full membership program, is available in the Member's Only section.
SUCCESSFUL POST CRITERIA
Mandatory Requirements
- Attain 105% in membership for the year ending June 30. This increase will be determined using the starting membership numbers for the previous year.
- 75% membership retention (see Department Memstats report under Members Only)
- Participate in the Department Membership Round-Up.
- Submit an entry for District judging in two of the three core programs (All three are required for All-American consideration)
- Voice of Democracy
- Patriot's Pen
- Smart/Maher Citizenship Education Teacher Award (at least one teacher)
- Make donations to all three (3) of these programs:
- Veterans and Military Support
- National Home for Children (Georgia House)
- Commander's Project
- Post Commander (or in their absence, the Post Sr Vice or Post Jr Vice) attends all District meetings. Attendance must be verified by signature on sign-in sheet. There must be no more than one Zoom attendance/Excused absence.
- Post Commander (or in their absence, the Post Sr Vice or Post Jr Vice) must attend all sessions of Georgia Leadership Training (GLT). Note: Must only attend the full session in one location. Officers from the same Post do not have to attend the same session, they just need to attend one of them.
- Post Quartermaster and anyone on the accounts must be sufficiently bonded in accordance with Section 703 of the National Bylaws for the current membership year.
- Post Service Officer must attend the VFW sponsored Service Officer Training class.
- Submit all four (4) Trustee Audits to the State Headquarters by these dates.
- Apr - Jun by August 31
- Jul - Sep by November 30
- Oct - Dec by February 29
- Jan - Mar by May 31 (Apr 30 for initial All State consideration)
- Purchase at least three (3) Buddy Poppies per member (use starting membership) before April 30. (Minimum order is 500. Only sold is blocks of 500.)
- Consistently submit Community Service reports in the Programs Dashboard throughout the year. Best Practice: Submit them as you do them.
- Pay all Department and District obligations.
- Submit at least eight (8) Chaplain Monthly Reports to admin@georgiavfw.org
- Have an active Social Media account for the Post. Your Post cannot be listed as a "bar", "lounge," or other such designation. Send the link to tech@georgiavfw.org
- Correct any and all issues identified on your Post Inspection form.
Minimum donations are based on Georgia Divisions, established exclusively for Georgia and are not to be compared with National Divisions. Divisions are based upon the starting membership number for this membership year.
| Division 1 | (286 and over) | $200 minimum |
| Division 2 | (130-285) | $175 minimum |
| Division 3 | (89-129) | $150 minimum |
| Division 4 | (70-88) | $125 minimum |
| Division 5 | (up to 69) | $100 minimum |
ALL-STATE TEAM OF POST COMMANDERS CRITERIA/AWARDS
Criteria
- All "Successful Post Criteria" from the list above.
- Post must attain at least 105% membership this membership year.
- At least 1% of Post membership is new and/or reinstated, plus 75% retention of membership.
- In determining the All-State Team of Post Commanders will receive
Award
Each member of the All-State Team of Post Commanders will receive
- "All State" Post Commander's cap award, pin, and citation
- Post Commanders that meet the criteria by April 30 will receive a travel/trip award of $150 to help defray expenses to the Georgia VFW State Convention. The awardee must attend the State Convention to receive the award. Department Council of Administration (COA) members and Past State Commanders are not eligible for the travel/trip award. Members cannot receive multiple Department travel awards/stipends.
- Posts that meet the criteria by April 30 and are selected by the Awards Committee will receive these awards at this year's Georgia VFW State Convention.
- Posts that meet the criteria after April 30 but by June 30 and are selected by the Commander will receive their awards at the next Georgia Leadership Training (GLT).
- Only Posts that qualify by April 30 will be considered for the All-State Captain honor.
In determining the All-State team, Georgia VFW posts will be divided into the divisions listed above. These divisions are established exclusively for Georgia and are not to be compared with National Divisions. Divisions are based on the starting membership for this membership year. Two (2) Posts may be awarded in each Division.
Notes
Additional winners may be selected from each division at the discretion of the Awards Committee and Commander.
The Captain of the All-State team will be selected from the All-State Team of Post Commanders by the Awards Committee. All divisions will be considered in the selection process. Only those Posts qualifying by April 30 will be considered for this honor.
