December 2024 Leader Letter

Holiday Gift-Giving Idea — Alleviate some holiday stress with an easy gift idea that will leave you feeling good. Contribute to a worthy Toastmasters cause by visiting the online store, clicking on the Smedley Fund link, and making an honorary donation.

Snap to 100! — Finish the centennial year strong and shine with the Toastmasters brand by sharing photos and videos of you, your club, or your District with your Toastmasters swag—whether it’s your club banner, a Toastmasters sweatshirt, or special centennial memorabilia. Post on social media with the hashtags #Toastmasters or #Toastmasters100Years, and don’t forget to tag us.

Magazine Price Drop! — Get your Special Centennial Edition of Toastmaster magazine while supplies last; now available at a discount.

2025 Accredited Speaker — Is there a professional-level speaker in your club who should pursue this prestigious designation? The Accredited Speaker Program is designed for those who combine expert knowledge in a particular subject with mastery of the spoken word. Members who are interested in applying should review the Accredited Speaker Program Handbook form and email it to clubofficers@toastmasters.org and ensure that all application materials are submitted to accreditedspeaker@toastmasters.org between January 1 and January 31, 2025.

Submit Your Club's Semiannual Officer List — Does your club elect officers twice a year? Submit your new officer list on Club Central, or download the Club Officer Information form and email it to clubofficers@toastmasters.org by December 31 to receive Distinguished Club credit. Expired club officers have 30 days to access Club Central before access is lost.

Plan for Year-End Supply Orders — With the holidays fast approaching, it's important to place your supply orders by Thursday, December 12. All product orders placed by 11:59:59 p.m. Mountain Time on December 12 will be shipped no later than Monday, December 23. Due to the holiday schedule and year-end inventory reconciliation, all orders received after that date will begin shipping on Friday, January 3, 2025. This includes any orders marked for express delivery. If you have any questions or concerns, please call +1 720-439-5050, ext. 1406 from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Mountain Time, Monday through Friday, or email supplyorders@toastmasters.org.

New Tools for Club Growth — The new Prospective Member Management page makes it easy to view and track Find a Club contacts, so no one gets missed! Learn how to make the most of this system.

Celebrate All Cultures This Holiday Season — Learn 8 tips for making year-end club celebrations a way to celebrate cultural diversity, rather than focusing on just one tradition.

Lessons From a Toastmaster — Longtime Toastmaster (and regular Toastmaster Columnist) Bill Brown shares his top 10 tips for how members can get the most from their membership. Use his wisdom to inspire and engage your club.

New: The Answer Man is Here! — Encourage club members to submit a question to The Answer Man, Toastmaster magazine’s new column debuting in January. Longtime member Bill Brown will tackle members’ questions on anything from finding speech topics, to competing in speech contests, to Table Topics. Email magazine@toastmasters.org for a chance to be featured.

Transfer Member Refresh — A transfer member is an active member who has paid dues for the current period and wishes to transfer their membership from the club they paid, to another club. All transfer members will need to complete a Membership Application, including the month the transfer is effective, and the signatures of both the member and a club officer of your club. Currently, transfer members cannot be added online. Once the application has been filled out, it can be mailed, emailed (membership@toastmasters.org) or faxed (+1 303-799-7753) for processing. No payment is required, as the member already paid their dues to the club they are leaving. Note: transfer members will not show on the Dashboard as paid members until they begin a new term with the new club and pay all associated dues.

Verify Club Contact Information — Ensure your club contact information is correct by checking the details that appear on Find a Club. If changes are needed, a club officer may use Club Central to make the corrections. To update the club meeting address, time, and contact details, once you are logged into Club Central, select the option for “Club Contact and Meeting Information”.

• Enter the information in the appropriate fields as it should appear on the Find a Club page.
• If the meeting location has changed, adjust the map marker using the image on the right side of the screen.
• Keep the meeting time in a 12-hour clock (HH:MM), with a lowercase am or pm.
• The website and Facebook information submitted will appear as hyperlinks on the Find a Club page.
• The email address will be sent forms filled out by prospective members from Find a Club and Base Camp notifications.
• When finished updating, select “Submit” at the bottom of the page.

Updates submitted through Club Central will reflect on the Find a Club page within 48 hours.

Accessing Digital Store Items — Have you recently purchased a digital item from the store? To access the materials, log into the Toastmasters site and scroll all the way down to access “My Downloads.” If you have issues accessing the materials, please contact Supply Orders at supplyorders@toastmasters.org.