Shannon Werner, Executive Director, Secretary-Treasurer
You are all aware of the membership challenges that go on within our organization, both formal and informal. It might make you recruit more members, give you the motivation to get your membership renewals in faster, give you a reason to join and learn how to process membership on Nationals ALA MIS, hold a membership rally, etc.
In my role, given the information I see daily, I suggest that Units make sure the written transmittals are accurate, complete, and error-free. Since January 2026, our office has returned over 70 transmittals due to missing information, missing signatures, missing paperwork, incomplete paperwork, duplicative member payments, calculation errors, checks for the wrong amount, missing eligibility information, etc. Those transmittals equate to 1,174 members that did not get renewed, rejoined, joined or processed.
Some transmittals are sent back multiple times for correction. If we get to the point where a transmittal has been returned three times, I contact the District President and the Unit President to request help to step in and assist in a resolution. Last week, there was a Unit that was getting the same transmittal back for the fourth time. The unit was at 82% of their membership goal; however, if the transmittal we were sending back again had been filled out correctly, they would have been at 98.7% of their goal. It makes a big difference, especially in smaller units.
There are many actions you can take to make sure your transmittals are received and input immediately. There is a Paperwork 101 training course on our website at www.michalaux.org that replaces any instructions or training you may have received before January 2025. Create a system or process to check and finalize your transmittals before sending them in. Ask someone in your Unit or District to review your transmittals for accuracy before you send them to Department. Find a mentor who has a history of successfully processing membership. Get a subscription to National’s ALA MIS (American Legion Auxiliary Management Information System) to update your process—it’s faster and will cut down on the number of mistakes that occur when processing transmittals.