How to Retreat

What is a retreat?

What really is a retreat?

The word retreat, used in the context of an organizational activity, refers to withdrawing from the normal scene of meetings and organization business for the purpose of reflection and evaluation.


Retreats can also give organization members much-needed opportunities to recharge, contemplate, bond and renew.

Why have a retreat?

  • Retreats give individuals an opportunity to take a step back to assess the organization. They are also a great time for individuals to brainstorm ideas, express concerns and provide praise in an informal environment.

  • Retreats could be used to introduce new members, set or redefine goals and objectives of the organization, plan for the next year or semester, or work on communication, socializing and conflict resolution between members.

Planning a Retreat

Discuss these questions with your executive board when planning a retreat:

  1. Who is the target audience?

    • Who will be attending: general body members, officers (incoming & outgoing), new members?

  2. What are the goals the retreat will achieve?

    • Have you decided on the agenda or schedule of activities that could be done that help achieve your goals for the retreat?

  3. When is the ideal time for the retreat?

    • Have all the members been contacted about the selected the dates to make sure there are no conflicts? Has an alternate date been selected as a backup?

    • If the objective of the retreat is to plan for next year or for officer transition, maybe schedule it for the middle of the second semester of the year or after the new officers have been elected?

    • How long will be the retreat? If it goes longer than a day and the retreat is off-campus, what accommodations can be considered?

  4. Where will the location be, and how does the location serve your retreat's goals?

    • Does your audience want it to be on or off-campus? Will your downtime activities include physical activities like hiking/biking/canoeing? Does your location have access to such activities?

    • If the event is off-campus, how does the group plan to get there? Are carpooling or rental vehicles an option?

    • How will you serve food at the retreat? Are you catering or are students bringing their own food to the retreat? Or are you going to cook for yourselves at the retreat site? Does the site have kitchen facilities available for free or for an extra cost? Catering would increase the budget for the retreat.

  5. How do you plan on financing the retreat?

    • Will your retreat be part of the budget put forth to the Student Funding Board? In that case, the retreat must be planned ahead of time, in order to receive the funds in time.

    • Will your retreat be partially or fully financed through membership fees or will members have to pay for participation? Remember, not all members will be in the financial situation to pay for the retreat, so plan accordingly.

Retreat locations near Clemson

One Day/Drive-in Retreats:

Please note: most only available for daytime bookings

  • Snow Recreation Center

  • Clemson's Barnes Center

  • Clemson Experimental Forest

  • South Carolina Botanical Gardens

  • Watt Center

  • Madren Conference Center

The Barnes Center hosting Trivia Night

One-Day or Overnight Retreat Venues

Camp Bob Cooper's Gymnasium at YLI

Clemson’s Youth Learning Institute (YLI)

    • Low cost comparably

    • Both dormitory and hotel style accommodations

    • Clemson affiliate

    • Onsite Dining options

    • Learn more at: https://yli.sites.clemson.edu

Alpine Climbing Tower at Pleasant Ridge

Greenville County Rec: Pleasant Ridge Camp and Retreat Center

Timeline for Planning a Retreat*

Four months in advance:

  • Set the goals for your retreat

  • Decide the target audience of the retreat

  • Start looking into retreat locations and possible retreat dates

  • Start looking into possible presenters or consultants

Three months in advance:

    • Decide on the date (or dates) of the retreat, length of retreat and announce it to all members

    • Choose one person from your organization to be the contact person who reserves your retreat site to avoid confusion in the future.

    • Ask other organization members to be part of the retreat planning committee

    • Make a preliminary budget and identify funding sources for retreat expenses

Two months in advance:

    • Secure funding for the retreat

    • Determine the format and goals of the retreat

    • Begin to develop retreat agenda/schedule of activities

    • Contact any outside resources/speakers needed to facilitate the retreat and/or sessions

One month in advance:

    • Finalize retreat agenda/schedule

    • Send information to members detailing the retreat and travel arrangements

    • Arrange for equipment (i.e. overhead projectors) or needed materials

    • Plan a menu and secure food reservations/purchase shelf-stable food

Two weeks in advance:

    • Send a reminder to members about the retreat and what members should expect

    • Send maps, an agenda, and a list of what to bring to participants

One week in advance:

    • Contact the retreat site to finalize arrangements

    • Organize a final committee meeting to make sure people know what they are responsible for

    • Make a checklist of who is responsible for bringing

    • Make sure all the supplies are ready (agendas, nametags, worksheets for group activities, etc.)

After the retreat is over:

  • Clean up afterwards

  • Evaluate the retreat

    • Depending on the scale of the retreat itself and how much depth of information you want from participants, you may simply distribute a short evaluation questionnaire, or you might split people up into small groups and have them engage in a discussion.


*Adapted from the Illinois University Housing guide and Kanas University Community Toolbox

Activities During a Retreat

Remember to schedule unstructured free time between activities/sessions where your retreat participants can indulge in downtime activities (hiking, biking, bowling, golf, canoeing, etc.) at or near the retreat facilities.

Icebreakers

BYOI Host an icebreaker "happy hour" and ask everyone to BYOI (bring your own icebreaker). Put them all in a bowl and randomly select a few to play.

Jenga questions: Write thoughtful questions on each block to open up conversations – it could range from favorite ice cream flavor to career goals. As each person pulls a block, they answer the question written on it.

Play Mystery Drawing: Two people sit back to back. One person has a pen and paper; the other has a picture. One person must draw what the other person is describing. The person describing the picture has to do so without actually saying what it is.

Group Bonding

Karaoke: rent a karaoke machine or pull up a YouTube compilation of instrumental songs!

Find 10 things in common: participants are assigned to groups and must find ten things they have in common with every other person in the group. However, all the commonalities must have nothing to do with the organization. This helps everyone explore shared interests and connect with one other.

Scavenger hunt or an escape room-esque activity: these activities require diversity in thinking styles and personalities to successfully complete, and they’re also a way to give people who typically don’t work together a chance to collaborate.

Puzzle Race: use a recent picture of your team, a memorable selfie from a student event, or a talented student photographer’s amazing campus snapshot and turn it into a puzzle.

Officer Transition

Custom trivia questions could include office procedures, student trends, organization history and traditions, important resources and connections that the new officers should be aware of. The questions could be created by the outgoing officers.