Reference no: EM13175894

The Millersville Lions Club has been serving the Millersville, Pennsylvania and adjoining areas for more than 70 years. Originally founded in the 1930s by a group of local businessmen, the club is affiliated with Lions Clubs International, the world's largest service club organization. Service clubs like the Lions, Rotary, Sertoma, and others bring people together in an effort to provide service to local communities. The Millersville Lions have supported local schools through a "Student of the Month" program and a generous scholarship program. They conduct a litter pickup several times a year on a major local road. They financially support several other organizations such as Meals-on-Wheels and the local volunteer fire department. Holiday gift baskets are delivered to shut-ins. An Easter Egg Hunt, Halloween Party, and Santa Party are also sponsored. The club also operates the Lions Club Community Pool that provides a community recreational area, creates more than a dozen summer jobs for local youths, and generates more than $150,000 a season in revenues. These revenues are then returned to the community through wages and programming. In the United States, over the past decade, many organizations like the Millersville Lions Club have been experiencing difficulty in finding new members. As a result, membership has declined and the average age of a Millersville Lion is now above 60. Ironically, Lions Clubs International is still growing, with most of the growth now taking place outside of the United States. 

1. Clearly the Millersville Lions Club provides needed service to the local community. How would you define their market offering?

2. Since the Millersville Lions Club appears to provide services both needed and wanted by the local community, why has this club, along with so many other service clubs in the United States, faced declining membership?

3. Lions Clubs International continues to grow while United States clubs are in decline. How might this be explained?

4. How might Lions Clubs, and other similar institutions, address the problem of declining membership?