Launching a New BNI Chapter
If you’ve ever been to a BNI meeting, you know that the members are enthusiastic
about BNI and, specifically, their chapters. And for good reason! BNI chapters pass
thousands of dollars every week and help members form lifelong friendships and other
relationships. But what happens when all those great local chapters already have a
member in your profession? That’s when you may want to consider launching a new
BNI chapter.
If you’ve visited one of our local chapters and seen how well it runs and how many
members are in it, you may have a hard time picturing that when it began, it was
probably the passion of only 1 or 2 people.
Those people probably visited another BNI chapter and decided they wanted one to call
home, too. And to do that, they had to go through the process of forming and launching
a new BNI chapter.
Launching a new BNI chapter is typically a several-month process. That can be
intimidating when you begin, but it’s also rewarding to be one of the founding members
of a new chapter. Luckily, throughout that process, you have the support of BNI, its
existing and proven successful methods, and a BNI director.
Who Supports You In Launching a New BNI Chapter?
To start a new chapter, the first thing you’ll need is interest and passion. Of course,
passion without direction won’t get you very far, which is why BNI offers you several
resources.
The Director
The second thing you’ll need is the contact info for a BNI Director. Don’t know who the
one in your area is yet? No worries!
If you’re reading this for the West Virginia region, then your BNI Executive Director is Brian
Alcorn.
If you’re outside of the region, you can contact one of your local BNI chapter members
and ask them. Finally, if there are no local BNI chapters in your area, go to the BNI
website, enter your information, and get connected!
Training & Support
Depending on your region, you may be assigned a Regional Director, Executive
Director, or Chapter Launch director to help you along your chapter launch journey.
Whoever is helping you build them will also have the full support of BNI as an
International organization with all its processes and training materials.
Other Chapters
Finally, with a philosophy of Giver’s Gain®, it won’t surprise you to hear that some of the
most helpful people to talk to when launching a New BNI Chapter are members of
existing chapters.
They know the value of BNI and that more chapters just bring more name recognition
and lead passing for everyone.
The Process of Launching a New BNI Chapter
Interest
Generally speaking, launching a chapter begins with the local director having an
interesting call with the interested potential members and seeing who wants to go to the
next step.
Building
That step is picking a meeting place and time and working hard to invite other
applicants. Gaining new members is the longest part of the process, but it can be a lot
of fun when you add in a friendly competition between teams in the forming chapter.
This is also the applicants’ chance to learn about the basics of BNI.
Training
Once your forming chapter has a sufficient number of member-applicants, you get into
your official training. During this time, you’ll learn all the rules and processes of BNI.
You’ll also select your very first leadership committee.
Launch
After your 6 weeks of training, you’ll have an official BNI launch event. Now is your
chance to introduce your chapter to the public. It’s also an excellent opportunity to invite
visitors and fill out your chapter with some unfilled designations.
BNI!
After launch, it’s official: you have a BNI chapter! Now it’s time to have your weekly
meetings, pass referrals, and live the values of BNI.
It may be disappointing to learn that your profession is already represented in your local
BNI chapter, but it can also be a blessing in disguise. Anyone who’s successfully
launched a new BNI chapter will tell you what a great experience it is and how special it
is to be there at the beginning.
So don’t despair if there isn't a spot available for you. Be a founding member!
