Membership

REMEMBER: This is all a matter of time and dedication. Be patient, especially if you’re a new club or an established one with graduating members, as you try different recruiting and retaining activities. Always feel free to contact us if you’d like us to help you with any of these activities or if you’d simply like us to help assess your club needs.

Getting New Members
 

Getting Started as a Club…

1. Search for interested students and in the process build up a database of names, emails, & phone numbers.

a. Ideas for this:

i. See: Tabling under Events.
ii. See: Take a Poll While Tabling under Events.
iii. Clip boarding

1. Stand at a busy corner of the campus with a clipboard and ask “Are you pro-life?”
2. If they say ‘yes’, then ask them if they would like to sign up to join the new club.    If you can give them a small flyer with information on the first meeting or the pre-meeting, that would be easier. If they say ‘no’, graciously wish them a good day.

iv. Facebook: Create a Facebook group for free (www.Facebook.com) and spread the word to all your friends and anyone else you think might be interested! Do a search for the list of people in your school (you may want to search through conservative and religious students if you're at a non-religious school). Send them invites to join the club's Facebook group with a message about the club and its plans for the semester.

v. Website: create a website for your group and post upcoming events and meeting dates and times. Make sure your group’s website or Facebook is on the school's list of club websites.

vi. Attend school fairs/events as a club: look up what fairs/events take place each semester at your school and sign up to have a table there. See: Tabling under Campus Events. E.g. go to events such as Welcome Week or Passport where incoming freshmen get to know the campus & its activities. Talk to your student government for more information on what fairs/events your school has.

2. Find an advisor who is 100% on board with the pro-life cause and get the necessary paperwork done to get registered as a club. If you need ideas for writing up a constitution for your club, see: Sample Constitution & By-Laws under Resources.

3. Once you have a handful of interested people, decide with them on a date and time that works for them and set it as the first meeting of the semester.

4. Email and/or Facebook message the meeting details to everyone you found during your search. When using email, use BCC so the email message doesn’t end up being too long.

5. Also, prioritize your list in order of most to least interested and CALL as many people as you can to remind them the day of the meeting (once you're more developed as a club, split these calls among the officers or delegate this task to the Membership coordinator).

6. Bring a list of activities that you can do as a group and at your first meeting develop a plan for the semester. See: Campus Events & Fun Activities for suggestions.

First Meeting of the Semester/Year Agenda Items

1. Discuss the club's purpose.

a. Go around the room letting each person answer why they're there.
b. Explain why you're there and stress the importance of the club's purpose.
c. Possibly show a video to highlight the importance of the pro-life movement. AZRTL has a library with videos you can borrow for free. Call us at: (602) 285-0063.

2. Approve constitution/founding documents.

3. Hand out copies of the descriptions of available officer positions. See: Suggested Officer Positions & Descriptions below. Have them write their name on the page and circle which position they are interested in running for, or if they're not interested in an officer position, what tasks they'd be interested in helping out with. Explain that each officer will simply lead a subgroup of related tasks.

4. Discuss what activities the group would be interested in doing that semester. See: Campus Events & Fun Activities for suggestions.

5. Give everyone a task/responsibility based on their interests. Remember to later pair the members who do not become officers with the officers of the area of work they are interested in. Have officers develop relationships with their "assigned members" and be in charge of calling them to remind them of meetings, etc. Note who seem to be potential leaders.

6. Decide on a regular meeting schedule (weekly if possible and within ½ hr – 1hr). Also, try to always be planning some event or fun activity at your meetings so members have something to look forward to and work on at every meeting. See: Semester Template below for suggestions on how to work out your semesters.

7. Have food/snacks/refreshments afterwards.

Post-First Meeting Suggestions

1. Make a list of all those who are running for office and those who would like to be a part of a subgroup. Have elections by the third meeting at the latest. In the meantime, make sure to keep plans going (you can always reassign tasks after elections if needed).

2. Assign members to new members to call them and remind them to come to the meetings. Have officers make calls to the members who are working with them.

3. Begin networking.

a. Network with other campus clubs who might be interested in co-sponsoring events with you or at least announcing events to their club members (see: Potential Co-Sponsoring Organizations under Resources for more ideas). You can also meet local campus clubs at events that The Underground Project puts together for them. Make sure to email: Info@theUndergroundProject.com.
b. You may even want to network with clubs that are not related to yours but may be interested in helping you out. E.g. Ask the art club to help you with logo designs.
c. Network with local high schools and/or church youth groups (this idea may pertain more to college clubs).
d. Attend club meetings of clubs that may have negative stereotypes of your club. Help break down the negative stereotypes associated with pro-lifers by explaining your respectful approach. They will not necessarily agree with you, but at least they’ll see you’re respectful. You may even be able to find events in common and be invited to table at their events. Make sure to know your facts and be respectful! You may want to discuss this with a speaker/trainer before trying it out.
e. Continue to build up the club database of all the interested people and organizations you make contact with.

4. Work on a logo and make a banner when you have sufficient funds.

Keeping Current Members Actively
Involved in the Club

1. Hold training sessions on how to dialogue about abortion.

a. To book a speaker from AZRTL, contact Education Director, Melanie Pritchard at: Melanie.LEC@gmail.com.
b. Trainings are KEY: People get even more passionate & confident when they learn better techniques on how to speak about the issue! Do not shy away from contacting any of us whenever you need to! We can go to your school at your convenience.
c. Consider holding a training session (or attending one) at least once a semester/year so everyone in the club is trained.

2. Watch a short video on life issues.

a. This can also be something you do in between training dates to raise interest in getting trained. You can borrow videos from our AZRTL office library anytime. Call us at: (602) 285-0063.
 

3. Have a display outdoors on campus like the Life Matters display. It is very important to give your members an opportunity to practice talking to others about abortion therefore refining their dialoguing skills. See: Friendly graphic displays under Campus Events.

4. Have a table out regularly (see: Tabling under Campus Events) to continue getting the club exposure and providing members with more opportunities to practice talking about abortion.

5. Host a baby drive or other event. See: Campus Events.

6. Have fun days (e.g. play volleyball at a park) and/or blend work with fun (e.g. after volunteering at a pregnancy center, go get lunch as a group). This is important, so you can build relationships and create a sense of community as a club. It’s important for the life of the club to balance work with fun! See: Fun Activities for more ideas.

7. Do volunteering activities together such as:

a. Pray outside an abortion clinic monthly or 2-3 times a semester. To pray with The Underground Project check out: www.TheUndergroundProject.com/Events.htm.
b. Volunteer at a nearby pro-life clinic. See: Lists of where to volunteer under Volunteering.

8. Hold regular meetings so members can better remember when the club's meeting. Also, try to always be planning an event or fun activity at each meeting, so you’re constantly working on something as a group.

9. Spice up regular meetings by doing something different every once in a while before getting to the work items on the agenda. For example, read excerpts from books that help you continue learning & growing as a club, watch a short video, or have two members do a mock dialogue between a pro-lifer and a pro-choicer. Follow with a short discussion. See AZRTL's library of videos. For YouTube videos, check out www.TheUndergroundProject.com/Resource_Links.htm and scroll all the way down to the Video Resources section.

10. Make sure to give members doable tasks either as an officer or simply as a member. This helps them feel they are an important part of the club mission and feel a sense of ownership with the work they put into the club. Also, don’t forget to appreciate them for the work they do! Encourage them to take whatever opportunities they get in inviting other students to the meetings. Bringing new members in can also give them a sense of ownership.

Suggested Officer Positions & Descriptions

Each event suggestion in the Events section is organized into the different tasks needed to complete the event successfully. You will want to delegate these tasks according to officer/member interests and duties. Also, during meetings, each officer should take notes for his/her area of work during the meeting.

- President

o Emails updates and reminders for upcoming meetings and events.
o Runs regular meetings.
o Has a list of the semester’s activities and makes sure meetings are completing the necessary tasks for each of these activities and on time.
o Holds each officer accountable and oversees their work.

 Each officer in turn must hold accountable the members that are helping them in their area.

o Assesses successes and failures of each event and works with officers to continue to improve areas where improvement is needed.
o Notes what contacts, speakers, donors, etc. are good (or really terrible), works with respective officers to confirm this info, and documents it for future reference.
o Ensures work is acknowledged and appreciated. Makes sure overall group morale is good and club mission is being carried out. If not, sees what areas need improvement and makes suggestions to officers.

 Officers in turn should extend their appreciation to the members who work with them.

- Membership Officer

o Focuses on recruiting & retaining members at every club event.

 E.g. is in charge of having sign up sheets available at every event and obtaining student information.

o Is in charge of getting people to staff events/club activities such as tabling.
o Is in charge of planning and carrying club socials/fun activities out.
o Makes newcomers feel welcome at club meetings and activities, helps them figure out what areas they would like to help out with based on their interests, and introduces them to the officer in charge of that area.

- Media Officer

o Makes media contacts from school and local newspapers and pro-life or Christian media.
o Gets media coverage for the club and its events.
o Responds to any media coverage that has questions on the club and its events.
o Encourages students to publish articles and opinions pertaining to life issues and writes some himself/herself.
o Writes press releases.

- Officer of Volunteering

o Contacts local pro-life clinics and/or women's shelters to see what their needs are. See: Lists of where to volunteer under Volunteering.

 If they need supplies, coordinates a drive on/off campus. See: Baby drive under Campus Events. Works with Campus Events Coordinator if done on campus. If they need volunteers to help at the clinics, finds out which hours they most need help and puts together a group of volunteers.

o Makes sure members are trained to talk to pregnant women who are abortion minded as well as women who've already had abortions.
o Arranges prayer vigils outside abortion clinics. See: Sidewalk Counseling under Volunteering.

- Campus Events Officer

o Makes sure everyone is trained to talk about the issue before events take place.
o Plans and sees campus events through.
o Comes up with ideas and presents them at meetings to decide on which events should be planned. See: Campus Events.
o Do the necessary booking of speakers & room.
o Ensures the main focus of campus events stays on educating on life issues.

- Public Relations

o Makes sure event activities are posted on school calendar and creates and maintains Facebook events.
o Comes up with ideas on how to best publicize events.
o Designs templates for flyers, banners, posters, etc. and prints them out when needed.
o Puts together a group of members to help post materials where needed.

- Treasurer

o Plans fundraising activities ahead of time. E.g. each fundraiser should ideally be for the following semester's activities.
o Makes sure to keep club in line about how much can be spent. Balances risk taking. E.g. if you have two events per semester, make sure you have the amount needed to pull off those two events and still have money for socials at the beginning and ending of the semester.
o Plans budget for each semester based on activities.

 E.g. Spring ’08 Budget:
• Cemetery of the Innocents: $ 50
• Car Wash: $ 30
• Speaker: $2,000
• Total expenditures: $2,080

o Finds funding sources such as school funding and fills out the necessary applications to receive such funding.
o Works on finding donors. Keeps a list of donors and makes sure they are thanked right away for their contribution and receive club updates on upcoming events and current club

 successes.
o Tracks how much is spent and pays expenses as they come.

 Uses these records to better estimate future events' budgets.

Optional positions:

- Training

o Schedules training for members 1-2 times a semester.

- Political

o Updates members with the latest in politics concerning life issues.
o Helps members become aware of anti-life candidates’ agendas and helps coordinate events or put together materials to spread the word to campus.

- Networking/Outreach

o Networks with other pro-life-friendly clubs.
o Meets other clubs’ members and represents the club. Tries to find things in common.
o Advertises events to other organizations.
o Makes connections with local and national organizations.

Meeting Agenda Template

After the first meeting of the semester, the rest of your meetings should follow a similar template to the one below:

- Do a recap on activities that recently took place and assess successes and areas needing improvement. Officer in charge of that event should take note.

- Reports from each officer (each officer should bring a list of tasks for each activity they are planning).

o Any upcoming events should have priority.
o See what tasks have been done and which are left to do.
o Delegate tasks needing assignment.
o Reassign tasks if needed or requested by a member/officer.

- Vote on items needing decision-making. E.g. choosing a speaker to come to campus.

- If you can, save some time for refreshments and socializing after the meeting.

Semester Template

- Attend campus Welcome Week or other school fair/event (usually in the fall).

o See: Getting started as a club… above.
o Main focus is on recruiting new members, especially incoming freshmen who are ready to get involved.

- Renew club registration if needed (usually in the spring).

o Find out deadline from your student government

- Host a training session. See: Keeping Current Members Actively Involved in the Club above.

- Host at least two events. See: Campus Events.

o Do one early in the semester and another around the middle of the semester. Try to avoid doing events near or on busy weeks such as during midterms or finals because these dates are when the least amount of people will show.
o Depending on your event, try to double-check that you won't be booking an event like a lecture around the same time as a football game or other major school event.

- Tabling once or twice a week is great to get club exposure. See: Tabling under Campus Events.

- Hold one or two socials. E.g. something simple as a pizza party after the first meeting of the semester and then something bigger like a BBQ at the park at the end of the semester.

- At least one fundraiser. See: Fundraising.

- Future semester planning: decide on what speakers and events you want to host next semester and start scheduling them (you may want to start planning after you're done with the major events for the current semester).