Distinguished Club Program FAQ

The Distinguished Club Program (DCP) runs from July 1 through June 30 each year. The program consists of 10 goals for a club to achieve, using the Club Success Plan as a guide. To help keep track of progress toward these goals throughout the year, updated reports are posted daily on dashboards.toastmasters.org. At year-end, the number of goals the club achieved is calculated. Based on the goals met and whether the qualifying requirements have been met, the club may be recognized as Distinguished, Select Distinguished, President’s Distinguished, or Smedley Distinguished. Learn more in the Distinguished Club Program Manual.

To be eligible for recognition in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP), a club must meet the following qualifying requirements:

1. The club must be in good standing according to Policy 2.0: Club and Membership Eligibility, Section 4: Good Standing of Clubs.
2. The club must have either 20 members or a net growth of at least three (3) new, dual, or reinstating members as of June 30.
3. The club must submit the Club Success Plan by September 30.

To earn Distinguished Status or higher, your club must earn at least five (5) goals throughout the program year and have either 20 members or a net growth of at least three (3) new, dual, or reinstating members as of June 30. Transfer members do not count.

When your club meets all qualifying requirements and does the following, it is eligible for Distinguished recognition at year-end:

Some Toastmasters clubs do not belong to Districts. If that is the case for your club, recognition may be earned by achieving one goal less than listed above for each of the four recognition levels.

Please review the Club Status Guide to see how your club’s status affects different areas of the Toastmasters program.

The Club Success Plan is integral to a club's quality. It is a helpful resource for the Club Executive Committee and club members to strategically plan and map out how the club will achieve its desired goals within the Distinguished Club Program.

Membership base is defined in the Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan as the number of paid members the club had on June 30 of the previous Toastmasters year.

Membership-to-date is defined in the Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan as the current number of paid members a club has at a given time. Transfer members are not counted in this total.

Net growth is defined in the Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan as the “Net growth of the total members at year-end (June 30) that exceeds the membership base.” This includes new, dual, or reinstated members.

No. Only new, dual, and reinstated members count towards DCP goals 7 and 8.

Visit dashboards.toastmasters.org. Type the number of the club you want to find in the box on the upper left of the screen, then click the magnifying glass.

DCP reports and educational achievements are updated daily; however, the current month's data may not yet be reflected if the previous month has not yet closed for business. Please view the month-end closing schedule for more information. If you think the DCP report may be inaccurate, contact the Club Quality and Member Support Team at membership@toastmasters.org or +1 720-439-5050.

At the beginning of each month, Dashboard updates are temporarily paused while World Headquarters finalizes the previous month's submissions. During this time, Daily Reports continue to update daily. Once the prior month’s processing is complete, the Dashboard resumes daily updates. Please note that high-volume periods, such as renewals and year-end, may extend the pause.

After an award is approved by a club officer, it will appear in the Distinguished Performance Reports within 24 hours.

Club officers can find this information by visiting dashboards.toastmasters.org and following these steps:

• Type the number of the club you want to find in the box on the upper left of the screen, and then click the magnifying glass
• Click Daily Reports on the left navigation bar
• Click Educational Achievements (current year) or click Educational Achievements Archive for previous program years

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on June 30. There is no grace period; all information must be received by World Headquarters by this time.

Documents and payments must be received by World Headquarters by midnight, Mountain Time, on the deadline date, even if the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday. Because no changes may be made after the documents are received, club officers should be careful to submit accurate information. Be aware that it is your responsibility as the sender to ensure the successful transmission of any document or payment. World Headquarters is not responsible for any illegible or incomplete documents it receives, for fax machine malfunctions or failures, or for busy signals.

Whether your club elects annually or semi-annually, the submission deadlines are listed under goal 10 in the Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan.

If your club elects officers annually, you need to submit your officer list by June 30 of the current year for it to count as a point toward next year's DCP. For example, to receive on-time credit for submitting its officer list for the 2025-2026 DCP year, a club that elects annually must submit its list by June 30, 2026. If the club is semi-annual, it has two opportunities to earn DCP credit: the first deadline is June 30 of the previous year, and the second is December 31 of the current year.

Club officers must attend training twice a year for DCP credit. Please review Goal 9 in the Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan for more information.

Yes! If a member completes both Level 4 and Level 5 in a program year, these awards will fulfill the requirements for both goals 5 and 6.

A member's awards will remain in their profile to reflect their achievements; however, clubs are limited to credit in the Distinguished Club Program for one award type per member per program year. As an example: Pat Smith receives a Level 1 award in Presentation Mastery in July. Their club receives credit toward a goal. Later in the year, they earn Level 2 in Presentation Mastery. Their club receives credit toward a goal for this award, too. However, in the same Toastmasters program year, Pat earns a second Level 1 and a second Level 2 in Dynamic Leadership; for these awards, their club does not receive credit toward Distinguished Club goals.

Perhaps your club did not qualify; please review the qualifying requirements as listed in the Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan. If you suspect the DCP report is inaccurate, contact the Club Quality and Member Support Team at membership@toastmasters.org or +1 720-439-5050.

The club base is calculated as the number of paid clubs as of July 1. If a club submits its April renewals payment after July 1, it may cause the club base to increase. If a suspended club reinstates, this may also lead to an increase of the club base. Distinguished levels are based on a percentage of the club base and can change due to a base increase.

Please ensure that your Area meets the qualifying requirements to become Distinguished. Areas must have at least four (4) paid clubs in the club base* along with no net club loss and at least 75 percent completion of the Area Visit Reports before the Area can qualify to participate in the Distinguished Area Program. You can review these requirements in the District Recognition Program.

*Provisional Districts must have at least three clubs in the club base.

The charter submission fulfills the DCP requirement for submitting an on-time club officer list for the year. New clubs that charter between July 1 and September 30 receive partial credit toward the goal for submitting an on-time officer list. To earn full credit, new clubs must submit dues for either the April or October renewal period by the due dates of April 1 and October 1, respectively.* New clubs that charter between October 1 and June 30 will automatically receive credit for both the on-time submission of the officer list and the on-time renewals for one dues period.

*Please note: Membership dues must be paid by a chartered club during the program year. Recently chartered clubs should be aware that a club is considered paid and in good standing when the dues for the current period have been received by World Headquarters for a minimum of eight (8) members—at least three (3) of whom were members of the original club charter. The first renewals will be prorated for all charter members and will be due by April 1 or October 1, depending on the month of charter. Club officers will receive an email reminder of the prorated membership dues renewal amounts, to help ensure that the club will submit the dues on time and remain in good standing.

An email is sent to the outgoing Club President in August, once year-end processing is complete and Distinguished statuses are finalized, to notify the club whether it earned a Distinguished Club Program award during the previous program year.

Distinguished Club Program awards are sent to the club's mailing address on file. Award distribution begins in September.

World Headquarters can send a replacement as long as ribbons are still available. Please contact the Club Quality and Member Support Team at membership@toastmasters.org or +1 720-439-5050.

The new program requirements and Smedley status went into effect for the 2025-2026 program year. Previous years' DCP achievements are static and will not be modified to align with program changes.

As stated in the Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan manual, World Headquarters cannot make any changes to awards that have already been submitted.

On March 25, 2020, the Board of Directors decided that clubs will no longer receive credit for the ALS during or after the 2020-2021 program year.