Top Tips
- advertise your meetings and events as widely as possible;
- hold fun, jargon-free and varied meetings;
- let new people take on responsibility and support them when they do.
Sheffield University P&P engage new people with creative campaigning at an Unfair Funfair
New members are the lifeblood of your group. Unfortunately they won´t just fall into your lap. Here are four ways to get new people involved.
Freshers Fairs
Freshers Fairs are crucial both in recruiting new members to your group and in getting off to a good start for the year. Your two main aims at a Freshers Fair should be:
- to get people’s contact details
- to get them along to your first meeting.
Your First Meeting
A good first meeting will excite people, but a poor one will ensure you never see them again. You want your group to seem friendly and dynamic from the start with something to get people involved — planning your meeting is the key.
Roles and Structure of your group
The success of a group depends very much on how its members work together. Make sure that the responsibilities within your group are spread out amongst those who are willing to take them, to empower group members and avoid one or a few people being overworked.
Different People & Planet groups use lots of different structures to divide up tasks and roles within their groups.
Inclusive, fun and sociable
Campaigning can be a serious business, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy yourself while you’re doing it. You’ll work better together if your fellow activists are also friends! After all, you already have something in common.
Watch that your group doesn’t become a clique though; new members should feel welcomed, not alienated.