Lead a Club

Effective communication with your teacher sponsor, club members, and/or fellow club leaders is crucial. Consider the following practices:

• Get to know your fellow club leaders. It can be easier to work with people you know on a more personal level.

• Establish accountability and attendance measures for club leaders.

• Reevaluate your leadership structure. For example, is one club leader sufficient for a club of 60 students?

• Define leadership positions clearly.

• Commit to letting your teacher sponsors and club members know about meetings and activities well in advance! Consider creating a regularly updated club calendar.

• Make all club materials and links easily accessible on all of your platforms (e.g. an email signature or instagram bio). Linktr.ee and carrd.co are great tools!

Club leadership positions often lack diversity in race, grade, and ideas. Try to engage students outside of your friend circle with the following ideas:

• Have an Outreach Coordinator who's willing to reach out one-on-one to students who they think might be interested in the club!

• Lots of students don't apply for leadership positions because they feel that they don't have enough experience. Try setting up a "Shadow Week" in which you engage directly with club members and walk them through your role.

• Advertise club leadership elections well in advance, and encourage all eligible members to apply!

• Throughout the year, provide multiple opportunities for all club members to be a leader.

• Ask your club members about whether they feel the club is equitable. Identify specific practices that are and are not, then discuss and implement solutions.

• Make sure all materials and reduced prices are easily accessible to students who need it.

Are you actively engaging your club members or is membership waning? Try adopting the following ideas:

• Switch it up each meeting! Try playing club-related games or play breakout room "speed dating" discussions.

• Incorporating breaks into your meetings.

• Regularly ask club members what kinds of activities they find interesting throughout the year (and not just once)!

• Always showcase outcomes! Share screenshots, pictures, or reflections (ask permission to take pictures or share, of course!) from meetings. People like to know their participation was appreciated and actions were impactful.

• Collaborate with other clubs!

• Make every minute of every meeting worthwhile. Consider meeting less often or shortening meeting durations.

• Organize an in-club competition! Maybe it's a clothing theme, raffle, or month-long game, be creative!