Michigan Garden Clubs, Inc.

Member of National Garden Clubs, Inc

  • Quarterly Publications
    • NGC: 40+-page, The National Gardener is full of national, club and region news.
    • MGC: 16-page, Thru the Garden Gate is full of state, district and club news
  • Newsletters
    • NGC: President’s Keeping in Touch
    • CR: Central Region Newsletter
  • Annual Conventions/Conferences/Annual Meetings:
    • NGC: Hosted each year (usually in May) by a state(s).
    • CR: Hosted each year (usually in October) by a state within the region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin)
    • MGC: Conference hosted each year (usually in June) by clubs/districts within Michigan
      • These provide:
        • Educational seminars
        • Tours
        • Opportunity to meet fellow gardeners and share ideas and make new friendships. (across the country and international affiliates/region/state)
        • Opportunity to invite non-MGC members, as guests.
  • District Annual Meeting/Conference—at least one/year
    • Speaker/program/tours
    • Opportunity to meet fellow gardeners from across the district and share ideas and make new friendships.
    • Opportunity to invite non-MGC members.
  • Websites (NGC, CR, and MGC): An up-to-date website with much information available with some downloadable information. Each has a member-only side where more information is available.
  • Education
    • Classroom Style for the four NGC schools:
      • Gardening (GS)
      • Landscape Design (LDS)
      • Environmental (ES)
      • Flower Show (FSS)
    • Each school is composed of four courses generally held over a two-year period: The successful student of GS, LDS, and ES who is also a member of MGC earns NGC-Accredited Consultant status. After completing FSS successfully, the student who is a member of MGC earns NGC Accredited Flower Show Judge status.
      • Refresher: Education to maintain GS, LDS, and ES NGC accreditation and opportunity to earn “Master status.”
      • Symposium: Education to maintain FS NGC accreditation and opportunity to earn “Master status.”
      • Consultants and Judges may join the Michigan Consultants Council (MCC) and/or the Michigan Association of Accredited Judges (MAAJ) respectively. These organizations provide additional educational opportunities. Provisional Consultants and Provisional Judges (those who have completed at least two courses in a series) may join MCC or MAAJ on a provisional basis.
      • NOTE: In order to maintain NGC accreditation, a consultant or judge must be a member of an NGC member organization and refresh their credentials by attending NGC-accredited education events in the required time period.
      • A person completing all schools successfully earns the 4-Star standing and after earning “Master Status” in all schools, earns the 5-Star standing.
    • Educational lesson plans, suitable for club programs, are available from NGC Member Services and available from MGC website—member side.
  • Calendar program: Photographs from the photography contest are used in the production of the NGC’s Calendar of Beauty.
  • Exhibiting: Entering horticulture, floral designs, botanical arts, and/or educational exhibits in NGC-accredited Standard Flower Shows and opportunity to win a prestigious top award.
  • Opportunity to serve others in leadership positions at various levels: local, district, state, region or national, as well as at special events.
  • Leadership Development: Club Presidents, Vice Presidents, other club officers, and those interested in aspiring to become a leader have the opportunity to attend presentations to develop their leadership skills further by attending leadership sessions at the District and/or State levels.
  • Youth Gardening Programs:  NGC/MGC supports the formation of youth garden clubs. MGC clubs provide opportunities involving youth. MGC sponsors youth wishing to enter NGC contests, such as Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl poster, sculpture, high school essay, poetry contests and win awards.
  • Scholarships: Available for students in fields of study related to the MGC Mission and at the NGC and CR levels.
  • Club Programs/Projects: Support available from NGC, CR, and MGC.
  • NGC (Plant America and others) and MGC Grants (Plant America; Grow and Share): Available to MGC member clubs.
  • Annual Awards: Club, MGC, CR, and NGC prestigious awards (some cash awards) available to adults and youth.
  • Free Advertising of Member Club Events: Member garden clubs can advertise their events on the MGC Website public-viewable calendar.
  • Eligible for 501(c)(3) for voluntary participation in the MGC Group Tax Exemption Program to those clubs that wish to participate.

A 501(c)(3) organization is recognized by the IRS as a non-profit organization and may solicit tax-deductible donations from corporations and individuals. The process of becoming a 501(c)(3) organization is usually too complex and expensive for most small clubs. The MGC program provides a simplified and less expensive process for getting this official status from IRS. In addition, the major benefit for applying for a 501(c)(3) is to limit member liability. If someone attending a club’s meeting or event should happen to get injured, all the club’s members could be sued equally.

  • Member Club General Liability Insurance: Provided by MGC.
  • Club officer and club organizing materials and assistance: Available from NGC and MGC.

JOIN A GARDEN CLUB

National Garden Clubs
National Garden Clubs Central Region

Michigan Garden Clubs, Inc. is a member of National Garden Clubs, Inc. and Central Region, Garden Clubs, Inc.

www.MIGardenClubs.org www.NationalGardenClubs.org www.NGCCentralRegion.org

Download PDF: Benefits-of-belonging-to-NGC-CR-MGC-2019