Membership drive a sweet success

How do you get college students interested in Circle K? You tell them about it. How do you get them to join? You ask them.

New members, who were required to wear white and black/navy blue to the installation ceremony, are thrilled to finally call themselves Circle K’ers.

You can read more about the University of Technology’s member-recruitment efforts on the In Action section of the Circle K Web site. All Kiwanis-family clubs are encouraged to use their respective “In Action” site to share information and photos with other clubs.

Circle K’ers at the University of Technology in Jamaica did just that during their membership drive, conducted during freshman orientation. Circle K’ers set up a booth and spread the word about their club and its projects. And megaphones, they discovered, come in handy when trying to get attention.

“With the help of committed board members and the lieutenant governor for Key Club Jamaica District’s Division 1, who were around mingling in the crowd, we recorded a total of 101 people (who visited the booth) over the three-day period,” says club president Paulette Smith.

That’s quite a crowd. Paulette kept things in order by using a laptop to enter all visitors’ information into a database. But she didn’t stop there.

“I also volunteered my services as a tour guide so I could reach more individuals,” she says. “What I did was take the paths on campus that allowed me to say, ‘Oh, Circle K members painted that building. We planted that tree. We volunteer at the daycare center.’ I also showed them the room where our club meets.”

Paulette kept in touch with these potential new members by sending text messages to their phones.

“I would send numerous text messages thanking them once again for signing up and telling them I’m looking forward to seeing them at the next meeting.”

All this extra attention—plus gifts for the 50th and 100th persons to visit the booth and knickknacks and sweets for all other visitors—paid off. The club secured 20 new members.

“At our first meeting (after the membership drive), I was so happy to see that the room couldn’t hold any more people,” Paulette says.