NCGA
Members, State Associations Win Prizes for Top Recruitment
Efforts
(10-22-04)
The National
Corn Growers Association (NCGA) recently recognized individual
corn growers and state associations for outstanding
membership recruitment efforts for the third quarter of the 2004
calendar year.
Darrin Ihnen, a Hurley,
S.D., grower and chair of NCGA’s
Biotechnology Working Group, won a drawing for a $1,500 travel
voucher from Denmark Travel Service Inc. Ihnen, who said he was
surprised by the announcement, was one of 26 recruiters who qualified
for the drawing by accumulating at least 30 recruiter points during
the quarter.
“I wasn’t even thinking about winning the prize,” he
said. “I was just lucky I guess. It was a nice surprise.” The
recruiter prizes serve as good incentives, Ihnen said, but most
recruiters are motivated by other factors.
“The association is something I believe in,” he said. “And
when you have an association that the members truly believe in,
it makes it much easier to encourage other farmers to join. We
have an association that is recognized by legislators and other
commodity groups as a leader in agriculture. We’ve got strength
in numbers – that’s why it’s important to join.”
The Minnesota Corn Growers Association added 157 new members during
the quarter to claim the prize for total membership increase. The
Colorado Corn Growers Association took the prize for the highest
membership percentage increase with a 10.2 percent spike in membership
during the quarter. Both associations received a new Dell laptop
computer for their efforts.
NCGA Manager of Member Services Byron Keelin said recruiters have
the opportunity to win a Dell home computer system in the final
quarter of 2004. Additionally, the state associations that record
the top total membership increase and top increase by percentage
will each win a $500 gift card to a store of their choice. Winners
will be announced in early January.
The quarterly recruiter
and state association prizes are part of NCGA’s Association
Marketing and Membership Program. The 2004 program is sponsored
by Syngenta Seeds and Syngenta Crop Protection.