Action Step 4: Keeping your Club Going

As the year progresses, you may run into some problems keeping your club’s momentum going. Never fear, with the help of past club leaders, we have addressed many of normal issues you will face. If your questions aren’t answered here, remember to contact us for help.

Keeping Members in the Club

Although it might be easy to get members excited at the beginning of a big project, it is sometimes harder to keep club members excited throughout the year. It is normal for the number of members in your club to drop during the year as classes become harder, AP testing comes around, etc. Here are some ways to keep your passionate members engaged:

• Club members are there because they want to help so make sure you give them input into projects and continuous opportunities to get involved in projects throughout the year.
  
• That said, a good club shouldn’t expect to host 10 major events throughout the year. Think of your club year in waves—sometimes the wave is high while you get ready for a big event, then it comes down to let everyone catch their breath!
  
• Get to know your members – If you get to know your members on a personal level, they will feel more involved, meetings will be more fun and members will be more willing and comfortable with sharing their ideas!
  
• Have fun! Don’t just work together; play together. Organize member movie nights, club retreats, warm-up activities at the beginning of meetings, etc.
  
• Think positively - keep morale high even when events are not working. Give praise and remind your club how hard they’ve worked and how far they’ve come.
  
• Maintain Structure & Efficiency – Make and keep agendas. This ensures that your meeting will be productive and that all club leaders will participate. It also makes your meeting more official and reliable so that club members will take the meeting seriously. Turn to the end of this section to read “Getting it Done in 30 Minutes or Less: How to Run a Quick and Successful Meeting.” If meetings are lagging and your project is inactive, club members will begin to lose interest.