For several years membership at the Association has been relatively flat, hovering in the range of 72,000 members. While many organizations would take great delight in these figures we knew we could do better. We knew that there are many untapped potential members and our growth should at the very least reflect the increase in the growth of lawyers in New York State.
In 2006 and 2007 we began discussions on plans for a 3-year Membership Challenge Campaign which would transform our stable membership into growth mode. We assembled a team of dedicated people, including our Membership Committee Chair Claire Gutekunst, and Membership Committee member Steve Younger, who have committed to take the lead by doing whatever it takes to promote membership at every level of our Association. Our Membership Committee, Sections, our leadership and staff have reinforced this message throughout the year and President Elect Bernice Leber has been an invaluable partner in developing our ambitious plans.
Today, I can report that our early efforts are paying off. As of January 1, 2008, we stand at 74,150 members and rising! That’s a growth rate of 2.9 percent since May. Great work by everyone!
The stage is now set to formally kick-off our 2010 Membership Challenge to increase NYSBA membership by 5 percent, increase Section membership by 10 percent and increase law student membership by 10 percent each year between now and 2010. I believe we can meet and even exceed these goals by our target date of December 31, 2010.
This challenge demands hard work and involves renewed efforts to share our good news, spreading the word about the privileges and the benefits of NYSBA membership. To achieve our goals we need the help of every member, every Committee, every Section and every NYSBA staff person to "think membership". In fact, I urge each member and all of our staff to reach out to one non-member attorney, express the tremendous value and relevance of NYSBA membership and encourage them to join.
We are the voice of the profession here in New York and the advocate of the people. In numbers there is strength, credibility and influence.
While we are off to a great start, we have much work to do over the next three years. I urge you to take up this challenge, contact your colleagues and bring them home to the New York State Bar Association. As always, I am interested in your thoughts. And if you have any suggestions about how we can increase our membership, I hope you will share them by posting your response on this blog.
Comments (1)
I see that you are completing your year as NYSBA President and I thank you for your service. I am writing in response to your message in the March/April 2008 issue of the Journal entitled "Celebrating Our Diversity". I trust you realize that diversity, as defined by the Association's diversity policy, exalts form over substance. We are no longer looking for the best or basing decisions on merit, but are instead trying to ensure that our leaders have certain outward appearances. Imagine the best candidate for a leadership position being told that s/he is being rejected because s/he is of the wrong color, national origin, religion, etc. It almost seems like we will have an unspoken quota system.
Lawyers should be experts in logical thinking and in reasoning. Choosing leaders to meet the arbitrary criteria defined in the diversity policy is illogical and unreasonable. The President's cabinet should not look like America and neither should the starting defense of the New York Giants. If that starting defense has eleven players and all are male and ten are black, no one cries that we need to diversify the defense. It would seem silly to suggest such a thing.
I look forward to the day when candidates and applicants will be judged purely on merit, ability, performance and the standards that relate to the task at hand instead of these arbitrary classifications.
Thanks for listening.
Posted by Jeffrey S. Battistoni | April 30, 2008 3:27 PM
Posted on April 30, 2008 15:27