Linda Mitchell, the director of marketing, PR and charitable giving for the Newtown Athletic Club (NAC), won the Julie Main Woman Leadership Aware at this year’s IHRSA convention. Take a look at our CS exclusive interview with Mitchell to discover how NAC impacts its local community in Newtown, PA.
Q: You won the Julie Main Woman Leadership award at this year’s IHRSA convention in honor of your work with local charities and non-profit organizations. How it did it feel to receive the award?
A: This was a huge surprise and a great honor. To somehow stand in Julie Main’s shadow is the biggest honor I will ever receive. This is also a great tribute to our club and the vision of the owner, Jim Worthington, who has always supported me in our community work.
Q: How important is it for clubs to stay involved in their community?
A: Community involvement is crucial. Your relationship with your community is like a friendship. It has to be constantly cultivated. The payback is immeasurable. When you create a good name for yourself in the community you are aligning yourself with good values that everyone respects and who knows how many people that influences to join your club. By being involved you get to know people, and you know the old saying — “It is not what you know, but who you know.”
Q: What advice can you give to clubs on how to get involved in their community?
A: Join, join, join. Join the Chamber of Commerce, the Local Business Association, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, etc. Serve, serve, serve. Serve on a committee and make a contribution. This is the best way to create relationships and gain the respect of others. Donate what you can and volunteer your time or ask your employees to volunteer when they can. Reach out through your employees to groups that they are involved in, like churches, clubs, Boy Scouts, etc.
Q: How difficult/easy is it to fund raise or host charity events? What resources would a club need?
A: To do this requires a commitment of time, manpower and money. But the payback is great. In order to host events successfully, you do need to have the space, we have a large club and two large gymnasiums, so we can do a lot. If you are a smaller club, you can still do the same, just on a smaller level. The ability to invite people into your club for another purpose (not to join) gives them a chance to get to know you without any obligation. As we know, many people are not willing to even step inside a health club. When we host their events, we make every effort to assure that the event is a success, so that they will hold us in high regard and we have the satisfaction that we have made a difference for a cause that is important to them.
Once you start doing this you will be surprised how quickly word of mouth will spread the news. This requires no extra marketing effort on your part.
Q: Can you tell me about the Newtown Athletic Club Financial Assistance Program?
A: We began this program over 10 years ago when faced with an unfair competition challenge from a YMCA being built in our town. It was brought to our attention that they offered financial assistance. We did as well, but on a case-by-case informal basis. So we formalized our system patterned after what the “Y” did, only we made our guidelines less stringent. It is actually easier to get financial assistance from us than from them. We do require some documentation of income and expenses and listen to each and every request individually. Based on the information we receive, we honor every request with a reduced rate arrangement that is reviewed annually. This has been very well received and we are very proud of this program.
Interview by Rachel Zabonick
