[ckisubregionf] CKI: Make Em' Stay
Kristen Reed
We heard lots of great ideas about member retention from CKI members like you. Some sources who shared their insight with us are Lance Demonteiro, president of the Circle K Club of the University of Texas, Austin; Becky Wilson, president of the Circle K Club of Purdue University; and Kristen Lear, president of the Circle K Club of Ohio Wesleyan University, as well as other CKI members on Facebook. --CKI Magazine
A new crop of students has just arrived on campus. And a couple dozen of them have joined Circle K International. But what’s going to happen when papers are due, parties start bumpin’ and football season is in full swing? How can you keep them engaged in your club and the service you do?
Make meetings matter
“The meeting is the most
helpful tool in retention. If your meetings are fun, people will go. If
they are not, members will skip them and be out of the loop and on their
way to inactivity.”
—Lance Demonteiro
KEEP THEM FUN. Start with an ice-breaker—especially early in the year or whenever new people visit.
KEEP THEM SHORT. Make announcements via e-mail. Focus meeting time on topics that need to be discussed, upcoming events and member responsibilities.
KEEP THEM INTERESTING. Something new should be presented at each meeting to keep members excited about the future. Also, if the discussion stalls, do something spontaneous. Have a game ready that can easily be played in teams such as Pictionary. A new perspective might spur new thoughts.
KEEP THEM MEANINGFUL. Incorporate service—such as tying fleece blankets, knitting, sorting or packing food or wrapping presents. Remember, hands and ears work independently. Becky Wilson notes that at her club’s first meeting, members made paper maché piggy banks for children. “It was a two-week project, so that really encouraged members to keep coming back,” she says.
KEEP THEM CONSISTENT. Meeting every week will avoid the “Is-there-a-meeting-this-week-or-not?” confusion.
Knowledge is power
Make sure members, old and new, know about CKI’s schtick. Here’s how:
USE ONLINE ORIENTATION Give each new member an access code so he or she can complete the online orientation program on www.circlek.org.
READ THE CKI INSIDER Help new members learn
the ABCs of CKI with CKI Insider abbreviations, an online newsletter
that will acquaint them with CKI jargon so they don’t feel left out at
meetings when the acronyms start flying. This is just one of many CKI
Insider educational pieces available at
www.circlek.org/insider.
EXPLAIN IN PERSON Let club members and guests
know that can always ask you to clarify,
answer any questions and share the specifics about your particular club.
USE VISUAL AIDS Carl Fridh, a CKI member from the Florida District, wrote on Facebook that an issue of his district’s newsletter acts as a handy guide for new members, covering the three tenets, what to expect at convention, etc. “Instead of trying to explain what our clubs do, they have a visual aid of sorts,” he says.
What Circle K’ers say
How important is fellowship?
Open the door
“Circle K provides a fun and
friendly atmosphere in which students can be involved with service. We
encourage new members to stay involved and keep coming back by just
being open and friendly. Students who are truly interested in service
can fulfill this passion while making new friends and becoming part of
the fellowship.”
—Kristen Lear
Get off on the right foot
“Fellowship has its crucial moments—mainly in the beginning of the
semester. If new members have friends in the club then they’ll want to
stick around. Socials, ice-breakers and Big K/Li’l K are ways that we
get members to get to know each other so they’ll want to go to meetings
and projects to see their new friends.”
—Lance Demonteiro
Keep it fun
“Have social events as well as service. Most people join to get to know
more people who love doing things for others too.”
—Grace Bice-Williams, CKI alumnae from Bevill State Community College
What Circle K'ers say
How important is service?
Do it every day
“Service should never be a chore. Always have interesting things to do
and make them fun! Since Purdue is a large campus, we’re aware that we
have to keep interest high to keep members coming back. The thing I
highlight most about our club is that we have service opportunities
every day. During the week we consistently volunteer at the Hanna
Community Center, having fun with kids while enriching their lives. We
do different things every weekend as well.”
—Becky Wilson
Speak the truth
“When you
recruit, you have to be realistic about what your club provides. If you
advertise as a service organization, you should do service soon after
recruitment—even something small, like a PB&J-a-thon for a soup
kitchen or bookmarks to donate to the library. People don’t want to join
a meeting club, they want to join a service club. Once they have a
meaningful service experience with your club, they’re more likely to
come back.”
—Beth Paris, CKI member at the University of Central Florida
Keep
in touch
“E-mail people, call them or message someone on Facebook. Don’t stalk
them, but let them know you’re thinking about them and that they really
matter to the club. The more personal and friendly a club is, the more
likely it will have an awesome attendance.”
—Becky Wilson
Everyone likes to be heard
Get your new members to share a little insight with you and use that information to keep them interested.
What to ask
What
motivates you?
What to do with that information
Incorporate these motivating factors into your club meetings, projects
and social events.
What to ask
What are your
favorite causes?
What to do with that information
Take these causes into consideration when planning the club’s service
projects.
What to ask
What other service project ideas do you have?
What to do
with that information
Do as many as you can.
What to ask
Can you bring a friend to our next service project?
What
to do with that information
Maybe once these friends see what CKI does, they’ll want to be involved
too.
What to ask
What do you want from CKI?
What to do with that
information
Make sure they have realistic expectations, then live up to them.
DON’T JUST LET THEM GO
With so much competition for members’ time and resources, names on your roster will come and go. But find out why people leave and do something to improve the situation before others follow suit.
Reasons people leave CKI
Unorganized or
boring meetings
No friends in the club
Finances
and what to do about it
Get organized, and liven up those meetings! Duh! Commit to setting an agenda to keep meetings on track. Then add a little variety to that agenda with speakers, in-meeting service projects and socials.
Avoid cliques by mixing it up, plan ice-breaker activities and warmly welcome new people. Involving people in committees and event planning allows them to work with a new group of people too.
Get creative and ask for help. “Some of our dues money is paid for by our student government at the beginning of the semester,” says Hasani Wheat, a member of the OWU club. “This way, students don’t have to worry about becoming a dues-paid member, and that means they can participate on a wider level with CKI. In other words, money is not a turnoff!”
PROBLEM: Time (or lack thereof)
“In a college student’s schedule, free time is a
rarity. I find that homework and studies are generally why people miss
events and meetings. Also, with a nationally ranked basketball team, we
tend to have small attendance when there’s a home game.”
—Becky Wilson
SOLUTION: Set up study groups with your members and host an event where you all watch a game on TV.
5 reasons people join CKI
1. To make a difference in people’s lives
2. To make new friends
3. To have fun
4. Because it looks good to future employers
5. To learn leadership skills
Accentuate the positive
• Use positive feedback/reinforcement.
• Celebrate small
accomplishments.
• Encourage new members—never forget they can bring new ideas and creativity to a club.
• Make sure all members feel they are making a contribution to the club and the community.
• End the year on a good note. “An end-of-year celebration/recap of the year is a good way to send off members for the summer so they have Circle K fresh in their minds,” says Kristen Lear. “Also, getting started early in the fall is a good idea so you can catch former members before all the other campus groups get started.”
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