The Genealogy & Family History Social Network

Save Our (Local Genealogical) Societies

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Discussion, Tips, and Innovations to strengthen and help local genealogical societies with growth and ideas for activities

Members: 39
Latest Activity: Sep 7, 2019

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Started by Allison Fredrickson. Last reply by Allison Fredrickson Jan 23, 2014. 2 Replies 0 Likes

Started by M. Diane Rogers Dec 11, 2010. 0 Replies 0 Likes

Started by Deason Hunt. Last reply by Deason Hunt Dec 3, 2010. 4 Replies 0 Likes

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Comment by Ellen Healy on November 17, 2010 at 10:30am: Hi, Sally, I don't know if they do this, too, but my first thought was try the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), www.fgs.org. Is your society a member of FGS? I know they do By-Law check-ups for member societies, and I have purchased some of their Stategy Papers. They also have "A Guide for the Organization and Management of Genealogical Societies", but I didn't see anything on corporate sponsorship in there.

Comment by Deason Hunt on November 17, 2010 at 9:10am: Hi Sally,
I'm not sure. We haven't had any discussions along those lines. I would be interested, however, if you have any more ideas about that sort of thing. I'll also keep my eyes open for groups who have done that and pass on anything I see.

Comment by Sally Nelson on November 13, 2010 at 12:14am: Help, please.
Where would you suggest I look to find copies of agreements between Societies like ours and industry/corporations where they would sponsor our Society? I know that is badly worried but it is after 1:00 a.m. and my thought patterns are sleepy. LOL

Comment by Sally Nelson on November 11, 2010 at 8:37pm: A thought for consideration. Our Society just ran an antiques and collectables road show to raise money to help fund an all-day conference next spring. It was the largest fund raiser we have done in our 7 years of existence and it was done with very little knowledge on how do do it. Pleasantly it turned out very well and we have learned a lot of "how to do's" for our upcoming conference and other fund raisers. My food for thought is--we found that our membership became very excited about the project and were pleased to be asked to help either in putting flyers around their community, setting up for the day, baking for a bake sale, etc. Other groups may have found this useful as well. (We even had a couple of members renew their memberships that evening.)

Comment by Ellen Healy on October 3, 2010 at 6:58pm: I thank you, too, Deason, for the kind words. As far as what is on the free pages, and members only pages, we also put the reports and newsletter and minutes and podcast and handouts on the members only page. But any databases that we have been given is on the main free pages for all you visit our site to see. We do, of course, keep the surnames list and directory behind the password accessible members only section, for the privacy of our members. We also have a "do not show my email" tab for those members who do not want their email made available. Sharing this information about our societies will hopefully help each of us- I'm glad to see this group!

Comment by Deason Hunt on October 3, 2010 at 6:32pm: Sally, Most of our content is on the web page but business meeting minutes, treasurer's reports, and member contact information is in a member-only area. The contact information is that to offer some privacy to members by possibly harmful "eyes" with internet access. We also have the serialized version of a locally-written history which we are publishing as a teaser open to the anyone part of the site but most of the chapter is in the member-only area to create value for that area for paying members.

Comment by Sally Nelson on October 3, 2010 at 6:07pm: Deason--thanks for the kind words. I believe you started this group to enable us to share and grow our groups. Technology, attitudes, and just plain "me, myself, and I" people tend to slow us down.

One question for everyone--If your society has a web page, how much of it is open to the public and how much of it is for members only. We have recently put our newsletters behind the members only page to encourage people to join.

Comment by Deason Hunt on October 3, 2010 at 5:54pm: Ellen and Sally, I am blown away by the quality of the comments you are sharing here. A few of these ideas have been floating around in my thoughts in some form or another as I think about society functioning, but you are doing some things that I think are really vital to our societies going forward into the 21st Century. You have clearly stimulated by thinking and excitement for usable ideas which we could all consider.

Comment by Sally Nelson on October 3, 2010 at 4:22pm: Hi, Ellen. I think the tv programs have sparked an interest, but too many people think they can just go on line to get the information or go into their local library and say "show me the book where my ancestors are." It sounds like you are doing all the right things to get your name out. Word of mouth by members is a big help, too.

Do you have any special interest groups? Sometimes they will bring in people.

Comment by Ellen Healy on October 3, 2010 at 3:08pm: Hi, Sally, Yes, our Annual meeting is usually the first of the season and will be coming up on Oct. 9th. This year we are a part of the Hudson County History Fair (New Jersey) celebrating the 350th founding of the settlement of Bergen from which Hudson County grew. We have had a few tables at local church fairs and library book fairs, but they really didn't generate much interest. Maybe the success of "Who do You Think You Are" and "Face of America" will help jump-start more interest at this upcoming fair. Plus, it being a History Fair, maybe more folks will be interested in our topic, also. :-)