Recruiting

By: Drew Cooper

We’ve all been there before; recruiting new Key Club members can be an absolute nightmare! In my own home club we used to have issues, but some simple things helped us through it. First of all, make sure you make your club seem fun, nobody wants to join another boring club just to put on a college application; they want something that will help them in the future and they can enjoy right now.  Make it a point that service projects are fun and beneficial for a lot of people, not just busy work that your advisor comes up with. Finally, even when you have members, make sure to listen to them and fix things accordingly; if people think meetings are boring, spruce them up; if people think service projects are lacking; ask for new, fresh ideas.  In the end it’s really just a group effort!

In my own experience, I’ve seen people join Key Club just to look good for a college application, I’ve seen people join it for friends, and I’ve seen people join it just to help others.  For me, I joined because it looked fun, and nothing will attract teenagers more than that.  If someone comes to your meeting as a guest and sees ice breakers and maybe even food at your meetings, they’ll be thinking this is way better than most clubs.  Another thing that has been successful for us is to have your club host fun things for the school’s general public like dances and such just to keep everyone’s spirits up throughout the year. Remember, being fun is one of the best parts of Key Club, and you should advertise it!

Service projects are a huge part of Key Club, and without them it wouldn’t be what it is.  I’ve had people ask me about Key Club and they always say the service projects make them weary of joining, but I tell them it’s the best part.  Most people think of it as taking their free time to do more things for school, but you should tell them it’s an excuse to see your friends and have fun while helping the community in any way possible. A lot of Key Club recruitment is making people understand what it’s all about, and service projects are the biggest thing you need to make clear.

Last, but not least, make sure things don’t get mundane and boring, or you will lose your newly recruited!  Meetings can be a boring task sometimes, so try to spruce them up with a great icebreaker or pizza every once in a while.  Nobody likes doing the same service projects every year either, so make sure you have new and innovative ideas.  Surely, between your members, friends, and community members, you can find some new ideas every time your club needs some projects to do. While you’re at it, do things like a picnic or group project with Kiwanis, and get the adults involved too. What you do means a lot to them, and it’s a refreshing thing for all of your members.

As you can see, a few simple things will make your club’s membership problems simply go away.  Go out there and get Key Club’s name out, and emphasize all the fun there is to be had!  There are plenty of new service projects out there for many new Key Club members to do and have fun with.  Key Club is the perfect example of having fun while you work and change lives; keep that in mind while you’re out there getting members. Come on, who doesn’t love to help out others?