PDA

View Full Version : Looking for ideas to grow our dojo



Ken-Hawaii
12th February 2007, 07:08
My wife & I belong to a dojo that was formed in 2001, & that has grown to 23 students. Both kendo & MJER iaido are taught, kendo three times a week, & iaido once weekly. We use a very large room in a central recreation center at a local school that has both excellent bamboo flooring & mirrors along one wall. We have five nidan students & six shodan, with all but the newest deshi in bogu. Sensei holds nanadan in kendo & yondan in iaido. With few exceptions, students must reach shodan in kendo prior to being allowed to study iaido.

I have been asked by Sensei to come up with ideas on how to increase dojo membership, as well as how to plan to build our own facility over the long term. This construction of course will require considerable funding. Raising the (to us) very low monthly fees is not an option. There are no other kendo or iaido dojos on our side of the island of Oahu, where a significant percentage of our population lives & works. I see this as an advantage, as prospective local students would have to drive quite a way to attend another dojo. But the last few students to join happened to hear the "commotion" from kendo practice, & wandered in to see what was happening. This doesn't feel very efficient to me....

Sensei is not a big believer in putting on demonstrations, but does allow us sempai to do so with his advance approval. My wife & I have conducted two iaido demonstrations recently with remarkable success. I have spoken with senseis in other states who fund nearly all their dojo activities (including international trips for their students) via these types of demonstrations, but I have no experience in how to go about this.

So what I'm asking falls into three categories:

1) How do you grow & maintain your own dojo membership? Advertising? Public service announcements? Demonstrations? Fliers & pamphlets? Something else?

2) How do you raise funds for activities?

3) How do you plan for long-term growth?

Thanks in advance.

toejoe2k
15th February 2007, 14:33
I know a very successful business man who does lecture circiuts in Houston. He chants a motto for making any business successful:

Late to bed and early to rise
Work like hell and ADVERTISE

He attributes his success to his enormous advertising budget.

I hope this helps...good luck.

Bob Blackburn
15th February 2007, 15:05
Growing an adult base is harder then kids. A few things come to mind.

Start a high school club.
Put bookmarks in the martial art sections of the local book stores. In books. Ask permission from the store.
Offer an open house on a Saturday. Free classes and demos.
See if the paper will run a story on Sensei. Local trade papers may be more willing.

Shindai
15th February 2007, 17:04
I think I found aikijutsu AND aikido via stories in the paper. I know that's where I found aikijutsu. I guess that'd be a good place to start before spending a load of money advertising elsewhere.