Active Chapters Thrive

April 17, 2015 -I’ve visited a lot of chapters over the past two years, and read newsletters and spoken with leaders from many more. As I have said before, leadership is an important key to a chapter’s success. Digging deeper into what a good leader brings to the table is a little bit harder, but one fairly common trait is the idea of being active.

“Active” is more than a meeting with a great guest speaker and showing the chapter video magazine once a month. The reality is that people like to do things with their hands. Chapters that are building or restoring aircraft tend to feel pretty successful. Chapters that fly Young Eagles or do frequent fly outs also feel pretty successful. I know chapters that have built pedal planes, organized food drives, and hosted a monthly breakfast or lunch - all seem to have higher than average feelings of success!

Organizing a few hands-on activities for your chapter can be a great way to build interest and positive energy in your chapter. There’s an interesting thread on the EAA Forums site I hope you’ll visit to get some ideas—or even share with others. We are all in this together. Let’s have some fun!