Member and Chapter Relations Committee – Civil Grand Jurors’ Association

Promoting membership growth and retention

The Member and Chapter Relations Committee (MCRC) is responsible for establishing and executing activities to enhance member recruitment, membership renewal, chapter development, and chapter support. These activities are in concert with and supported by the CGJA Board of Directors and other committees.

MCRC handles membership renewals and communications, maintains the CGJA database and membership lists, and provides contact information for all CGJA communications. CGJA now provides an option for new or renewing members to join a participating chapter when paying their CGJA dues, facilitated by MCRC.

MCRC provides free introductory membership to all current grand jurors and alternates trained by CGJA. MCRC invites outgoing grand jurors to join as full members after their term has ended.

Through its Chapter Relations Subcommittee, MCRC facilitates the exchange of information regarding chapter successes or best practices with other chapters of the association. MCRC develops and maintains a Chapter Formation Guide, with the assistance of the Bylaws and Policies Review Committee. It provides the Chapter Formation Guide and other information, guidance, and assistance to groups of sitting and/or former civil grand jurors who wish to form a new chapter or reactivate an inactive chapter.

Member Volunteer Program

The member volunteer program is overseen by MCRC. MCRC is the custodian of information about the expertise and interests of the CGJA members and their willingness to volunteer. The purpose is to determine the aptitudes and interests of those members who indicate a willingness to assist in the work of CGJA, and to provide a basis for the development of CGJA leadership.

MCRC provides a Volunteer Interest Form to be used with the Membership Application Form, and is made available with the CGJA’s invitation for membership or membership renewal.

Working in Partnership

The Member and Chapter Relations Committee works productively with other CGJA committees as follows:

MCRC facilitates the Public Relations Committee’s recognition of member and chapter accomplishments worthy of public exposure. MCRC notifies the Public Relations Committee of these accomplishments as they occur.
MCRC works with the Training Committee to encourage the promotion of CGJA introductory and voting membership during the various training programs conducted by the Training Committee.
MCRC engages with the Annual Conference Committee to ensure that the annual conference accommodates time and space for a gathering of members and chapter representatives to address matters of common concern.

CGJA Database

The CGJA database includes all current members plus other persons or organizations that CGJA communicates with regularly. The MCRC Chair appoints a member of the committee to act as the CGJA database manager. Sample uses of the database are:

Nominations-Election Committee: MCRC shall supply the Nominations-Elections Committee with the names and addresses of CGJA voting members eligible to vote for directors of the association as of the date set by the Nominations-Elections Committee in order to allow timely distribution of ballots.
Chapter member recruitment: For chapter member recruitment MCRC may release to any CGJA member in good standing a list of current CGJA members in their respective counties.
MCRC provides database extracts to the Journal Editor, the Training Committee and the Public Relations Committee for producing eblasts to members, current jurors and others promoting CGJA’s training, education and outreach efforts.