Recruit New Members
In addition to planning, member recruitment and retention are vital aspects of building a successful chapter. The more motivated and committed individuals you have in your group, the more you can accomplish. Use every opportunity to recruit new members. Stay in touch with individuals once they express interest.
As a PHR student chapter leader, it is important to recognize that your involvement and the involvement of others requires commitment—especially so because as a student in medical, nursing, or graduate school, time and energy are very precious commodities. The key to encouraging and maintaining students' involvement is to help them realize what they stand to gain by dedicating their time and cultivating their commitment to advancing health and human rights.
The 4 C's of Recruitment
These four "Cs" of organizing provide a structure for recruitment activities.
- Connection - Do your homework: try to find some interest you have in common with a prospective member - a class, hometown or neighborhood, mutual friends, etc. Some point of common ground will make your interaction more personal.
- Context - Give a brief background/history on the issue; help your prospect understand why he or she should care about it.
- Commitment - Be direct when you ask for an action or commitment, e.g., attend a meeting, staff a PHR table, get 15 others to sign a petition, etc. Don't be afraid to ask whether you can count on their support - this lets them know that you are relying upon them. Encourage students to let you know in advance about whether or not they can do what you've asked.
- Catapult - Be clear about what you have agreed upon, what the next steps are going to be, when you are going to see/communicate with him or her next, and end on a positive note ("it was really great talking to you…").
Wholesale vs. Retail Recruitment
There are two fundamental recruitment strategies. "Wholesale recruitment" is an opportunity to engage a large number of people using as few resources as possible. Ideas for wholesale recruitment include:
- Presentations and meetings
- Posters and flyers
- Phone banks
- Mass emails
The second strategy, "retail recruitment," targets individuals. The key to retail recruiting is to remember that individuals can often be engaged through direct contact with someone already committed to your chapter and to health and human rights. Retail recruitment can be time-consuming and is best done on a one-on-one basis. Ideas include:
- One-on-one meetings
- Individual phone calls and emails
- Tabling, petitioning, and postcards
Tips on Tabling:
Tabling can be a very effective tool for retail recruitment. Action tables tend to work best when you:
- Craft your message. Be sure the purpose of the table is clear—whether to solicit support for a specific issue or to recruit new members for your chapter.
- Stand in front of the table and "proactively" approach passers-by. Engage them by asking "Are you aware of (the specific issue)?" or, "I'd like to give you some information about a student group doing wonderful work to promote health and human rights."
- Set up the table in a high-visibility area – e.g., the student p.o., common study area, cafeteria, internet cafe, etc.
- Staff the table with at least two people at all times
- Set a specific time period for tabling; divide that time into shifts
- Set goals for the numbers of letters, postcards, signatures, etc. you hope to have by the end of the event, broken down by shift
- Display a lot of energy and enthusiasm about what you are doing
- Get to the point quickly, but can engage in a more detailed discussion if warranted
- ALWAYS have a sign up sheet –to obtain names, contact information & interests of all who want to get more involved
General Tips
- Be clear about your chapter's purpose: to promote help by protecting human rights, and to leverage PHR's vital advocacy.
- Start small - Talk to your friends and known allies (people you know are going to be receptive, such as other Health and Human Rights groups). Keep your core group engaged and involved.
- Follow-up with new recruits immediately. Welcome all attendees and thank them for coming to your event. Ask why they came and about their interests. Follow up in timely fashion to involve them in specific tasks will make them feel invested.
- Bring a Friend – When recruiting, ask prospective members to bring a friend(s) to your event or meeting.
- Vary your message - Know what will appeal most to the group you are recruiting. For example, emphasize PHR's work on women's health and rights when talking to women's groups. See Collaborate for more suggestions.
- Make recruitment a priority. Recognize that this is going to be one of the most important aspects of your role as a chapter leader, because it will increase your chapter's ability to sustain activity from year to year. Every event should include a recruitment component. Bring a sign-up sheet to all events; include those who signed up on all future communications.
- Ask everyone to take a role, whether it's hanging 10 flyers, collecting 20 signatures, asking a professor to support an event, or contacting the media to attend. Every person should play some active role in putting on an event; consider which members are best for which tasks.
- Promote participation, even if for only one event. You know only too well how busy health professional students are—welcome participation on whatever level works for them.
- Keep members and prospects in the loop. Add anyone who attends an event to your chapter listserv or email list, and include them in all future communications. Email your Event Sign-in Sheets to Danielle Fox at dfox [at] phrusa [dot] org to add students to the PHR online Action Center so they can receive issue updates and action alerts from PHR.
- Think about your future needs. Recruit early if you know you are going to need individuals to attend a rally or help organize an event.
Practice Exercise
It has been difficult to build up your campus chapter, but your officer team feels that this is only because recruitment has not been done effectively. In previous years, other chapter leaders have not attempted to recruit new members during the right time in the school year, or at ideal campus events. You know that there are three major campus events coming up: an orientation for new students, a campus-sponsored party for returning students, and a student organizations fair. How do you go about using these events to your advantage? What can you do to ensure that students you recruit will be long-term members
Don't go it alone. Recognize that as a leader, you can be most effective by delegating responsibility to others. Organize the big picture and let others help you address the smaller pieces.
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