One of my duties as your president is to present an Annual State of LLI Report at the annual meeting. Because not all LLI members were able to attend the Spring Fling/Annual Meeting, I will provide the main points from the report here.
Our LLI is in good shape when it comes to member satisfaction. A recent membership survey reflected a high level of satisfaction in both the content and the delivery of our courses.
Like many volunteer organizations, we lost a significant number of members (over half) because of COVID, but our membership is progressively rising and is up 65% over our numbers in 2021. Membership currently stands at 775 members. A big THANK YOU to all who have talked to your friends and neighbors about the benefits of joining such a great organization.
Membership Growth Over the Past Five Years
This chart shows LLI paid members for the past five years. There were 508 members from July 2020 to June 2021 (FY20), 609 during FY21, 648 during FY22, 677 during FY23 and 767 in FY24.
LLI has accomplished a number of initiatives this past year. These include:
- Securing a major grant from Rennes Group to the Division of Community Engagement and Workforce Training at UW-Green Bay, within which LLI resides. Our Division Executive, Jess Lambrecht, and LLI Program Specialist, Heidi Leiterman, deserve kudos for securing this.
- The Publicity and Promotions committee adopting and implementing a marketing campaign to increase our membership. This included a direct mail campaign to 15,000 homes, the development of a professional promotional video, developing visuals showcasing LLI at local events and an annual LLI promotion on the UW-Green Bay campus with “a sample lecture” shown to new and prospective members.
- Upgrading commonly used LLI classrooms to offer live streaming of courses from the Christie Theater and Rose Hall. This will allow those who have mobility issues or are out of town to still access LLI courses.
- Creating an LLI Futures Fund to support the long-term viability of LLI.
- Our Curriculum Committee offering at least 200 LLI courses each semester.
- Continuing and expanding our enjoyable day bus trips to various state-wide locations.
- Adopting a Code of Conduct policy to ensure a safe, respectful and enjoyable experience for all LLI members.
- Adopting a “metrics dashboard” to so we can serially archive LLI activities and attendance numbers every quarter to readily and accurately tell our story.
- Creating an LLI newsletter. Special thanks to Lynn Gerlach for offering her services in content editing.
Finally, I want to offer my sincere thanks to so many people who have helped to make LLI the great organization it is. But special mention needs to be made:
- To UW-Green Bay staff Jess Lambrecht, Kerry Winkler, Heidi Leiterman, Janalee Laundrie and our student employees Tayler Chvala (UWGB ’25), and Anna Leism, part-time for travel.
- To LLI Board Members, committee chairs and all committee members and our reliable office volunteers.
- But most of all, many thanks to YOU and all LLI Members for your continued support of LLI by participating in our many courses and adventures and sharing your experiences with others.
—By Norm Schroeder, LLI President 2024-2025