As the new national membership director, I can feel the power of Mary Shelley’s quote, “Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” It’s a fitting sentiment for DAV’s National Membership Department right now, and the humor in the quote doesn’t fully land until you realize it came from the author of “Frankenstein”!

The novel offers a surprisingly suitable—and slightly dark—metaphor for the changes DAV’s membership department is going through right now, both in leadership and in new-member recruitment. The core connection lies in the theme of creation, responsibility and the search for belonging.

Stick with me on this and I’ll explain.

Just as Victor Frankenstein labored to assemble his creature from disparate parts, DAV works to bring together veterans from all walks of life—each with their own unique experiences, skills and perspectives. The goal is to create something powerful and cohesive: a community. However, much like Frankenstein’s creature, this new community needs more than just assembly; it requires active engagement, support and a sense of purpose to thrive.

Frankenstein’s great failure was not in his creation itself but in his abandonment of it. He fled from his responsibility, leaving the creature to wander alone and misunderstood.

This is a crucial lesson for DAV. Attracting new members is only the first step.

The true challenge—and the measure of our organization’s integrity—is in how it embraces and supports its members. If they feel like they’re being signed up and then left to fend for themselves, they’ll become disillusioned and may even turn away, much like the creature who was spurned by society.

The creature’s profound loneliness and desire for connection is the central tragedy of the novel. He yearned for companionship and a place in the world. This resonates deeply with the experience of many veterans transitioning to civilian life. They often feel isolated and misunderstood, searching for a community that understands their background and the challenges they face. DAV must be that place of belonging—a sanctuary where their voices get heard and where they can find camaraderie and purpose.

Ultimately, the lesson from “Frankenstein” is this: Creating a new community is an act of responsibility, not just an act of recruitment.

Use all our available resources to help with this, specifically our recruitment resources. If you’ve only used one of them in the past, it may be time to change up your way of thinking and create a new plan for recruitment.

And further, we must not abandon our new members once they’ve joined. We must nurture them, integrate them and show them that they are a vital part of something greater than themselves—forging a legacy of giving back. By doing so, we prevent the kind of alienation that led to the creature’s despair and instead build a strong, supportive and active organization.

The bottom line: We are changing. Change isn’t easy and can be chaotic. But for veterans, change is nothing new. Every veteran has endured great and sudden change, and every day you adapt and survive. It’s that shared resilience that makes our community so strong, so let’s forge ahead and, unlike Frankenstein, embrace our creation and build a stronger, more resilient DAV together.