Every member is on the membership committee! Be sure you are prepared to explain the Association and why you are a member to people you meet in all areas of your life. Here's a list of tools and resources you may find helpful.
Key resources
- Membership Tool Kit
- A wealth of resources for all membership chairs and others interested in recruiting new members.
- Membership Workshops
- Energize the entire branch to be member-recruiters. Use the resources from the Association or the North Carolina version which incorporates more details from the 2001 Association convention.
Recruiting branch members
- Get copies of brochures that help explain the Association to others
- Keep membership brochures, public policy brochures, EF booklets, etc., on hand to give to friends and those you meet as you're out and about. Leverage the resources that have gone into producing these documents! See also the NC list of all brochures.
- Discounts for branch membership
- To encourage branches to host "events" that attract the public and new members, the Association offers discounted memberships for those who join at these events. Be sure to use review the instructions and use the forms and you can save new members up to half of their first-year Association dues.
- Member benefits
- How many reasons can you name for why people join the Association? Review this complete list, and create your own "elevator speech" that's apt to grab those you meet.
- Find a branch: national, North Carolina
- If you meet someone at a statewide or national meeting, make sure they know how to find a branch in their area.
Recruiting at-large (individual) members
- Form to join online
- Make sure those who want to join at the "national" level know that they can join online.
- North Carolina at-large membership
- Do you have friends or contacts who just aren't going to be persuaded to come to one more meeting? You might not get them to join the branch, but consider having them join both the Association (see above) and North Carolina as at-large members. Some branches make this choice explicit in their recruiting. See the "new member" forms in the NC Resources section.
- Give a Grad a Gift
- If you know of a recent graduate (someone who received a first bachelor's degree this calendar year or last), you can sign them up for a free one-year membership in the Association. Of course, you may also give them a membership in the branch or encourage them to join the branch and state, but the "give a grad" program is a free "at-large" membership for the new graduate.
Recruiting on the campuses
- Benefits of College/University membership
- Did you know that two- and four-year colleges and universities can join the association as institutional members? They name a member of the faculty or staff as their "representative," and s/he gets full at-large member benefits. Check out the list of benefits of such a membership.
- How to join as a College/University member
- Dues are on a sliding scale. Use this online form and there are brochures available to mail to the campus or to take to an in-person discussion with key decision makers.
- Student affiliates
- Students at two- and four-year degree granting institutions are eligible to become "student affiliates" of the Association. Dues are substantially reduced (North Carolina charges $0 dues to student affiliates). See the benefits and the membership form. Just as with regular members, branches can collect fees from student affiliates (with a branch charge that varies from branch to branch), and they then become student affiliates of the branch.
- List of colleges in North Carolina
- Think there aren't many recruiting possibilities? Compare this list to the list of current College/University members in the state.