Host an Incarceration Nation themed meeting to educate your new recruits and get them plugged in to your chapter. Make sure you plan in advance, schedule a room and time, and go over the plan with your chapter’s leadership. Contact your Regional Director (rd@yaliberty.org) to discuss a strategy and choose a topic, speaker, or film for your meeting. We have a great seven-minute documentary you can show. This is your opportunity to lock in new members and expose interested students to the ideas of liberty.
Host a productive follow-up meeting/event
You only have one chance to make a good first impression. Your first meeting after your tabling event should set the proper tone you want to convey as a chapter. That’s why YAL created a guide to running a successful meeting so that you can know exactly how to retain your new members with your meeting.
Here are some great resources for your informational meeting.
Request a YAL University speaker for a live, virtual presentation
Follow up or fail
Sign-ups are worth nothing if you don’t execute a proper follow up with each new contact you have and get them to your follow-up event.
This is the perfect time to talk with the new students that you engaged with during your project about the importance of understanding the dangers of wealth redistribution.
Follow up in multiple ways
Don’t rely on email follow ups: no one reads them besides the government. Be sure to give each interested student a personal phone call and ask them if they can come to your next meeting. Remember, students are more likely to follow through with something that they verbally commit to do.
After you’ve called everyone, send a follow up text the day of your event to round up any stragglers who wouldn’t show up otherwise. Try something like this:
“Hey [name], this is [name] from YAL. Thanks for stopping by our Incarceration Nation event the other day. It was great getting meeting you. We’re all getting ready for our follow-up meeting and social right now. Can’t wait to see you at [time]!”
Email will only serve as a good reminder to those whom you’ve already reached by phone, text, and social media.
Engage
Host your event to featuring a speaker, a documentary screening or a presentation as soon as possible. Your event should be within a couple days of your tabling activities so students don’t forget.
Schedule the meeting during an evening time slot which will conflict with the fewest number of classes possible, and don’t schedule events (other than socials) on weekends — don’t give your new recruits any reason not to attend!
At the meeting, begin by introducing YAL and explain how to get involved in your chapter. Next, screen your film or give your speaker the floor. After the meeting, offer an opportunity to socialize by going out for pizza, drinks, or whatever works best for your chapter to discuss the meeting and the ideas of liberty.
Suggested Documentaries
Conduct follow ups consistently even after students have come to their first YAL meeting. Consistent communication with students is the only way to ensure that they establish lasting friendships within your chapter, and therefore, stay involved after their first exposure to YAL. Use the Member Upload Tool to upload all your new members’ information to your chapter page.