Running an Effective Club at Clark University Office of Student Leadership and Programming University Center 3rd floor, Asher Suite 508-793-7549

Understanding Your Resources Knowing Your Organization Overview Understanding Your Resources Knowing Your Organization Utilizing Your Advisor Building an Effective Executive Board Running a Successful Meeting Growing, Engaging, and Retaining Your Membership

Understanding Your Resources SLP is here for you! Utilize our staff and services whenever you need assistance. Set up a meeting with Riley Fickett (riley.fickett@clarku.edu) for club support and Ali Knopf (aknopf@clarku.edu) for event support. Review the “Clark University Club and Organization Update” PowerPoint. From this PowerPoint, you should know: Who’s Who in SLP Types of Clubs and Organizations… which one are you? Details for Club Events Service Providers on campus Policy and procedures for clubs and organizations

Knowing Your Organization What is your organization’s mission and purpose? This should be the core of all of your organization’s operations and decision making. Review your organization’s constitution often with your executive board and membership and make improvements and adjustments when needed. What is the climate of your organization? Is your membership satisfied with what your organization is doing? If so, how can you continue to improve your organization? If not, what do you need to change or work on? What are the goals of your organization? Think about what you want to accomplish as an organization and figure out an action plan to help you achieve those goals as a team.

Utilizing Your Advisor Keep them in the loop. Your advisor isn’t going to know how to help you if they don’t know what’s going on within your organization. Holding regular meetings with them to let them know what’s going on will help you out when you need their assistance down the road. Invite them to organization meetings or events. Advisors are often busy with their other roles on campus, but extending an open invitation to any of your meetings or events will give them the opportunity to see your organization in action and will help them fully understand what your club aims to do. (And attending your events and meetings are usually a nice change of pace from their day-to-day schedules!) Use their knowledge and network of contacts. Your advisor will most likely know a lot of on-campus resources and who to contact in order to utilize them. If you’re not sure how to accomplish one of your organization’s goals, make sure you ask your advisor’s help. They’ll be able to point you in the right direction!

Building an Effective Executive Board What type of leadership do you need? Not every organization is the same, and not every organization will need the same format for their executive board. From President to Director of Finance, to the Chair of Bringing Pizza to Every Meeting. Think about which roles you need as part of your executive board in order to effectively lead your organization. Who is best for the job? Remember to recruit individuals who are the best fit for the job. Seniority and popularity shouldn’t be deciding factors; knowledge, reliability, and effectiveness should. Stay on the same page. Holding regular meetings for the executive board is a great way to discuss issues, ideas, and create a plan of action for your organization. Communication is an important asset to any successful team, and your executive board should be no different. Set common goals and expectations. When your executive board can all focus on the same goal and hold each other to the same expectations, knowing what to work on and how to work on it becomes much clearer!

Running a Successful Meeting Create an agenda. An agenda is like the blue print of the meeting. On it should be what you want to talk about, what questions need to be answered, and what tasks need to be completed. An agenda will prevent you from forgetting anything important that you know you want to accomplish during the meeting. Try to stick to the plan, but don’t worry if things get off-topic (as long as it’s productive). Sometimes a discussion will take longer than anticipated, or a topic not planned upon will come up in conversation that may be more important to discuss than what you had planned. Meeting can be unpredictable so don’t stress out if you can’t get everything on your agenda completed! Allow open discussion. All members want to have the opportunity to be heard and feel like they are contributing to the organization. Be sure to allow plenty of opportunities for everyone to join in on the conversation!

Co-Sponsorship & Building Relationships Why? Co-sponsoring and building relationships with other organizations will often make executing events easier and more achievable. It will also open your organization up to a new pool of resources and knowledge! Organizations with similar interests: Find organizations that have similar goals and interests in mind, or work with organizations that are experts in something you’d like to try. Organizations with similar event ideas: Know of an organization that wants to put on a similar event or who’s mission may reflect the goals of your event? Involve them in the planning an execution process! “Two-Way Street” mentality: It is important to remember that you need to be willing to help out other organizations in need in addition to receiving help from other organizations in order to build strong relationships

Growing, Engaging, and Retaining Your Membership Take pride in your organization! Individuals like to be a part of groups that others are excited to be a part of. Show that you have pride in your organization and others will follow suit! Listen to and utilize your members’ input. Members want to feel like they are contributing to the organization. Be sure to utilize their ideas and listen to their input on how to accomplish your organization’s goals. Allow members responsibility. Hand over the reins to an event you’re putting on. Let the membership choose the theme for your next dance or topic for your next panel discussion. As expressed in the previous point, your members will enjoy their time in the organization much more if they feel like they’re contributing in a positive way. Show them appreciation! Club members are volunteering to attend meetings, events, and to help your organization meet its goals. Make sure you show them how much you appreciate them every once in a while! You could give out prizes, order food for a meeting, or even just telling them they did a good job. The more your members feel appreciated, the more they’ll want to help!

Thank You Please feel free to email Allie (ashilling@clarku.edu) if you have further questions/concerns or would like to set up a meeting.