Congratulations on your decision to be a leader at the club! Regardless of your position it is a good idea to be aware of the internal processes. Below will help with the knowledge transfer as you take on your new role.

Officers have admin access to the club website. The club website domain name is registered through Go Daddy which will expire in 2029. The back end portion of the site is free to the club through FreeToastHost. FreeToastHost is a group of Toastmasters who made the site to make meeting agendas easy to sign up for. Not all clubs use it but most do. The creators have linked the Pathways projects and evaluation forms into the agenda. They have no affiliation with Toastmasters International. If you call TMI and ask for help on the club website, they won’t be able to help you.

There may be varying levels of access to the club website depending on Officer position. There is also an administrator login account that will be made known to the incoming team.

The club website pages can be edited when logged in as the admin as well as some of the Officers. The pages are static and remain unchanged most of the time. When an agenda is added it automatically posts in the club calendar section. An Officer should post in RED at the top of the homepage when a meeting gets cancelled. Simply click the little pencil icon in the top right of the page when logged in. An editor will pop up where you can change information on the page. If a meeting is cancelled, then it’s a good idea to remove the cancelled meeting agenda so the club calendar section is updated as well. The cancelled meeting notification should also be posted on the Facebook page.

There is a “Membership Management” section where most of the Officer interaction happens. The Officers can be updated under the Membership Management” section. That Officer will then be able to receive email to the president@, VPE@, VPM@, etc. email address.

The “Membership Management” is also where New Club Members get added and old Members removed. There is also a section with old guests names and emails if an officer wants to send out a mass email. All emails have to be approved by the owner after they are entered into the database. This acts as a Spam control for the email address owners.

A Prospect can download a club application and pay dues under the “Join the Club / Pay Membership Dues”. Toastmasters International requires a New Member submit an application to the club. When a New Member submits an application and pays, then they need to be added to the club website.

Go to “Membership Management” and a window pops up. The default tab across the top is “Members”. You will see a list of the then current Members. At the top of the left column is “New”. Simply type the New Member’s name under “Name”, their email under “Email Address” and phone number under “Phone”. Then hit save. This will then generate an automatic email to the New Member asking them to approve their addition to the club website. Their name will appear in the list with a line through it until they approve it. Once approved they will have access to the agenda and to sign up for roles. Have the New Member monitor their SPAM folder because sometimes the approval request goes there instead of their inbox. There is a New Member Manual under the Membership Info Tab above that explains what the automatic email looks like as well as how to sign up for roles.

IMPORTANT – Occasionally the club website will not accept certain email addresses. I don’t know why this is. Have them try another email address if available. Otherwise a support ticket with FreeToastHost will need to be created to figure out the problem. You can reserve roles on their behalf under your name on the agenda until they have access.

When a Member leaves the club their name needs to be removed from the club website. Login and check the box next to their name. Then, next to Membership Tools there is a drop down box. Select “Move to Former Members List” in the drop down menu. Then click Save at the bottom. The outgoing Member’s name is then moved to the former Member’s list.

The New Member’s information also needs to be added to Toastmasters International Website (www.toastmasters.org). Club Officers have access to enter the New Member’s name under “Leadership Central – Club Central”. Simply add the New Member’s Name under “Add Membership”.

The club collects all dues and then pays TMI on the Member’s behalf using the club credit card. After the New Member’s Name is added, go to “Submit Payment” to pay the TMI portion of dues. Obviously you will need the credit card to do so and currently only one card exists. The team will have to work out the logistics of this to maximize the speed at which a New Member has access.

The dues breakdown is under the “Membership Info” page at the top of this blog. You can refer prospective Members here to save yourself time on questions about cost. The club could potentially reduce some of the club portion of the dues if meetings stay virtual and room rental is no longer a fixed cost.

When a Member completes a level in Pathways then an Officer (usually the VPE) will need to approve their completion in Pathways AND in Club Central under “Submit Education Awards”. The Pathways approval is immediate while the submit education award takes 24 hours to show up in the “Distinguished Club Report” section.

After a New Member is added to TMI’s website then an automatic email is sent to them for approval. Once approved they can login and select a Pathways.

For unique billing circumstances, the club’s Paypal account can receive payment via the treasurer@lakenormantoastmasters.com email address. Only the Treasurer is notified when payment occurs. The club may want to look to expand and facilitate payments with other mediums like Vimeo and Square.

Overall, it’s a good idea that all Officers are aware of the on-boarding process and how a New Member can pay in the event a Prospect is ready to join and the VPM is not in attendance.

The President, VPPR and/or VPM usually oversees the Facebook page and posts as they see fit. It’s a good idea to have a couple Officers monitor it in case one is unavailable or leaves the club. Occasionally someone will communicate through FB Messenger but it’s rare. An Officer needs to be assigned and then approved to have access as an administrator of the FB page.

There is a “Find a Club” tool on TMI’s website where prospects can query via zip code to find and contact a club near them. The prospects email then goes to whatever email address is listed as the club contact person. Only about one of two of these emails will come through per month.

New agendas have to be periodically added at the discretion of the VPE. There are a few templates already available to use or special occasion agendas can be created. The VPE usually oversees who will serve as Toastmaster. Some VPE’s like to assign them a month in advance while others prefer to collaborate at the end of the meetings to fill the role for upcoming meetings.

Good Luck and Cheers to your leadership as an Officer!