Increasing membership and making members more engaged, more often, is the number one in a series of priority actions targeted by Macra na Feirme in its first ever strategic plan.

Achieving this will mean having a social element in all Macra activities; regional recruitment teams to establish new clubs; mentoring for new or struggling clubs; a review of competitions; yearly consultation with members and more training including more leadership training.

The plan covers the years 2017 to 2024.

It was carried out partly to meet requirements on regulation and governance of voluntary bodies. But it is also aimed at ensuring the organisation meets the requirements of its 9,000 members spread across 200 clubs.

Remaining relevant

“As the world around changes, every organisation must adapt to remain relevant,” Macra president James Healy said, “but our members have told us how important it is that we maintain our core values of personal development, education and social interaction, in particular for young farmers but also for all those with a rural connection.”

Macra chief executive Denis Duggan said: “We intend to grow and develop membership in our organisation across rural Ireland providing valuable services and social outlets.”

Other planned actions include improving governance and structure; better utilising past members; better engagement with policy making and closer integration of staff and voluntary members.

The strategy identifies a number of challenges ahead including maintaining funding, appealing to both farmers and non-farmers and balancing its social, developmental and policy work.

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