Unique Membership Drive Helps LSC Meet 2019 Membership Goals

By Jackie Harrison-Jewell, 2/26/20

People join Legacy Solar Co-op for different reasons, and we’re happy to welcome everyone, from those who just want to be a member to those who join so they can buy bonds, support a particular project or actively participate in some other way. We really love it when our members are so excited about our mission here at Legacy that they come up with their own ideas about how to help.

For example, when John Stolzenberg joined LSC, right away he had an idea he wanted to try. John attends the First United Methodist Church in Madison, and every year they have an alternative gift fair each December weekend before Christmas. The fair is an opportunity for congregation members to support other worthy causes with their gifts. John thought that a booth selling gift memberships to Legacy Solar Co-op would spread the word about us, help support our mission of growing solar in Wisconsin, and maybe bring in a member or two.

We agreed that it was worth a try and we were happy to work with John, in preparing signage, creating a gift membership format, and even sending over some of our Legacy Solar Co-op tee shirts to sell. John and another LSC member, CR Boardman, manned the tables each Sunday last month and by Christmas we had 4 new LSC members.

That might not seem like a lot, but it was enough to push us over our annual membership goal and we appreciate every new member we get. Even more than the memberships though, was the opportunity to talk with people about Legacy Solar Co-op. These conversations often started, John noted, with a reminder that the Co-op was highlighted in a program at the church last fall on sustainable and responsible investing that CR led and was not a totally new concept to members of the congregation. CR and John are hopeful that all those conversations will lead to further memberships in the Co-op.

Overall, we consider this small pilot program a great success and we’d love to do more of it. So, if you are a member and you would like to have a table at an event for your church or organization, or if you’d like a small display to put up in your lobby or community room, let us know and we’d be delighted to work with you.

To find out more, please contact Jackie Harrison-Jewell at jackie@legacysolarcoop.org or at 608-473-4215.