Norma Lansing, director of the Greater Effingham Chamber of Commerce in Effingham, Illinois raises about $2500 in extra revenue through the creation of special interest groups that serve the needs of specific types of organizations present in her Chamber. For an extra membership fee, special perks and services are provided to these members.

Melody Longstreth, director of the Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania has been with the chamber for almost 20 years, and she still doesn't know how to crochet.

Answering questions from businesses interested in coming to the area is Connie Elias, President and CEO of the Alvin-Manvel Area Chamber of Commerce's specialty. She has assembled a group to host scouts from prospective businesses and introduce them to the area and answer questions they might have. This program gets great feedback, and it has helped to bring new businesses and more than 500 jobs to the area. For more information, Connie Elias can be reached at (800) 331-4063 or the Alvin-Manvel Chamber website, www.alvinmanvelchamber.org.

Crisanne Zamponi, the director of community development at the Harlingen, Texas Chamber of Commerce raised more than $25,000 for renovations to the children's hospital in her community. In addition to improving the hospital, she was able to teach 20 people some of the best ways to raise money through community involvement. For more information, contact her at czamponi(at)harlingen.com or by calling (800) 531-7346.

10 little members start a chamber... will they make it work, or will one roll over and one fall out?

Amy Sherman of the West Chamber in Jefferson County, Colorado established a nice program for the 100 Health and Wellness businesses in her 900 member Chamber of Commerce. By analyzing the needs of all members, she found they all had a few things in common, and now, with the networking established, she has a healthy chamber.

A small chamber like the Lancaster, Texas Chamber of Commerce doesn't make all of its revenue from member dues. With only 350 members, Joe Johnson, CEO, says these dues only pay about 60 - 65% of the overall operating cost of the company. So, he hosts a golf tournament every year that makes about $38,000. For more information, he can be contacted at jjohnson(at)lancastertx.org or (972) 227-2579.

John Williams, President of the Randolph-Metrocom Chamber of Commerce doesn't run a typical chamber. His chamber extends across 10 cities. To hear more about how he does it, he can be contacted at john.williams(at)randolphmetrocomchamber.org or (210) 658-8322.

Kent Dykes, Executive Director of the Greater Easley, S.C. Chamber of Commerce says about 250 people visit his chamber's Web site every day. He invites you to visit at www.easleychamber.org and see how a well-performing chamber Web site looks. For more information, Kent Dykes can be contacted at (864) 859-2693.

Torance Hinland, Executive Director of the Union County, S.C. Chamber of Commerce knows that a small chamber sometimes needs a little help to make ends meet. His recommendation: Combine the city's economic development board with the chamber and have shared board members to avoid confusions that may arise from the combination. Torance Hinland can be reached at torance(at)unionsc.org or toll-free at (877) 202-8755.