DAV members from the Cornhusker State take top recruiting honors

If you’re a fan of college basketball, you’re no stranger to March Madness! It’s that time of year where every team who makes “the Big Dance” brings their best effort, their most experienced players and sets their sights on the national championship.

DAV has such a tournament, but we call it March Membership Madness and every state and territory in the tournament brings their best recruiting game to the table.

This year 52 departments participated in the tournament, in six rounds, to see who could shatter their recruitment numbers and continue the growth and influence of DAV.

The famous Elite-8 saw powerhouse departments like Virginia, Georgia and Ohio, but also featured some underdog departments like Nebraska, Michigan, Louisiana, Indiana and Washington.

The winner of the tournament was a Cinderella story, according to the department adjutant, Mr. Jamie Jakub. “It was pretty awesome competing against states like Virginia and Georgia,” Jakub said. “To be the underdog and win, that’s pretty amazing.”

The Department of Nebraska was anything but a favorite to win the tournament, but it wasn’t a fluke. It took a great deal of hard work and motivation to recruit new members.

Jakub credits much of the department’s success to the outreach efforts of the chapters and getting out to the veterans in Nebraska to talk about and demonstrate how DAV is supporting veterans in the community.

“You’ve got to show them, talk about the impact, talk about the good works, but demonstrate it for them too,” Jakub said. “When you show them the impact DAV makes in the claims process, and that you understand how the VA works, they naturally gravitate to DAV.”

One of the biggest benefits of a tournament like this is that other departments can learn and replicate the efforts of Nebraska. “One-Team, One-Fight” is a perfectly appropriate motto for March Membership Madness, according to Doug Wells, DAV National Membership Director.

“We may be competing against one another, but we’re really building the membership base of DAV and increasing our legislative voice, our volunteer power, and our support of veterans and families,” said Wells. “The goal of the tournament was to motivate departments to work toward achieving their recruiting goals earlier in the year in the spirit of competition. At that, every state involved succeeded in advancing DAV’s mission.”

Jakub has a message for other departments that he believes will help in the recruiting effort. “You have to just ask, put yourself in a position to ask, and be creative in the way your chapter finds audiences.”

As tournament champions, the Department of Nebraska will be honored at the 2017 DAV & Auxiliary National Convention in New Orleans.