Getting Started

I've seen many "recovery efforts" for various clubs in my time in Toastmasters, and there's a few symptoms of a "normal" club rescue versus a RDG (or Really Dang Good) club rescue. Having experienced quite a few of these efforts, I can tell you what separates the mediocre from the marvelous. Here's some typical "symptoms" to watch for:

"Normal" (read: mediocre) Club Rescue

• Low awareness of real issues causing guests to not return, and members to leave
• Middling "planning" with lots of nice ideas and "should dos", but little or no follow up
• Low initiative to seek out and correct issues 
• No effort by leadership to improve themselves
• Confuses having tools or setting up technology with affecting real change
• Little engagement of the club

RDG Club Rescue

• Starts with BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) like "Achieve President's Distinguished for 3+ Years" and "reach 30-35 active members"
• Effectively and consistently engages the officers and the members to play roles in the recovery
• Proactively seeks out issues, challenges, and problems, then makes action plans with deadlines and assigned members to take decisive action on them
• Clearly and consistently explains why it's worth working toward these goals, creating mental images that both push toward goals and pull away from failure
• Leaders continuously pushing their own development
• Effectively uses tools and technology to save on unnecessary work, but knows they are just pieces towards a larger strategic vision
  

If pressed to identify what separates a "normal" from a RDG rescue operation in a tl;dr (too long, didn't read) format, it would be "Identifies and attacks weaknesses in the club with intelligent, consistent, and effective action". Many officers meetings list a lot of things to do (usually as "this would be nice for the club"), but not a lot put deadlines on them, or decide who will do them. RDG Rescues demand accountability and consistent motion toward goals.