NAMI North Carolina Affiliate Tool Kit | When It’s Time for a Tune Up

It’s natural for long-time members to have a strong sense of ownership in their affiliate. Often, they’ve devoted many hours in the early days of establishing the affiliate. They may have served as president since the affiliate’s founding, or they may have held every office at one time or another. Their dedication to the affiliate is beyond question.

Unfortunately, the closeness and familiarity these members share can sometimes, over time, cause their affiliate to stagnate. Newcomers feel unwelcome. Members outside the inner circle lose interest, feeling their ideas will not be accepted.

When an affiliate stagnates and fails to function as a service organization should, the community is deprived of the support, education and advocacy services they need.

Of course, socializing with the friends you’ve made in your affiliate is fine so long as you make it a point at affiliate meetings and events to include new NAMI friends and make them feel welcome. Remember, your purpose as an affiliate member is to help support others with needs similar to the ones you had when you first got involved with your NAMI affiliate.

If you suspect your affiliate needs a tune-up, your state office staff understands and wants to help you formulate an action plan to revitalize your affiliate and redefine your roles within it. Contact the state office for help.

Signs Your Affiliate Needs a Tune-Up

• The same people serve as officers year after year.
• If one of your officers becomes ill or leaves town for more than a day or two, you have no back-up, and important affiliate operations grind to a halt.
• Membership numbers are low, static or declining.
• First-time visitors to your meetings leave early and never come back again.
• While you may have support group meetings, you no longer have regular business or educational meetings, or the meetings you have are poorly attended.
• Your telephone contact person has stopped returning calls.
• None of your members has spoken with a state office staff member in recent memory.
• Your local state mental health agency has never heard of your group.

Signs Your Tune-Up Worked

• Membership is growing steadily.
• Your membership includes a mix of newcomers, experienced members and seasoned affiliate veterans.
• Mental health care providers refer families and consumers to you for help.
• Your Board of Directors varies from year to year to include a variety of members.
• Board members and committee heads delegate as many tasks as possible to give more members a chance to be involved.
• You offer support groups that meet regularly.
• You have monthly educational meetings.
• You have a monthly newsletter.
• You know the people at your State Mental Health Agency and they know you. One or more of your members may serve on the agency’s board.
• You conduct fund-raising events.
• Your contact person returns all calls within 24 hours.
• You have a means for contacting members quickly to respond to Alerts.