Starting a club or organization in high school is a great way to develop valuable leadership skills. However, the question of how to promote a school club, particularly a new club, can often seem challenging.
So how do you attract students to join a club? How can you convince students to take time during the school day or after school to attend club events?
In this article, I will provide 11 easy club recruitment ideas that you can use to promote a new school club or a pre-existing club.
By using several of these methods, I was able to grow a new club from 1 member (just me) to over 20 in just 2 months. Since then, the club has grown even larger and is still active.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Method #1: Use traditional word-of-mouth
One of the easiest—and best ways—to advertise a club is through word-of-mouth. Tell classmates about your club, and encourage them to share the information with other classmates.
When telling people, make sure to communicate the purpose of your club and what people can expect to gain from joining.
Additionally, you’ll need to ensure that you have some way of contacting interested students. A good way to do this is by passing around a sign-up form for people to fill out their name and email address or phone number.
Method #2: Contact the morning announcement team
A portion of morning announcements is usually reserved for club announcements. As such, a good way to promote a school club is to reach out to the morning announcement team for a small feature.
Additionally, the morning announcements is a good time to advertise the date and location of the next club meeting.
Method #3: Put up flyers around school
Another way to promote a school club is to put flyers in conspicuous locations around school (bulletin boards, hallways, classrooms—with your teacher’s permission).
Tips for Designing Flyers:
- Create a logo and short tagline (for branding purposes)
- Stick to the same color scheme
- Use minimal text and large font (let’s be real, no one’s going to spend a few minutes reading a lengthy paragraph)
- Include the club’s mission statement (if you don’t have one yet, make sure to check out this post for how to construct a mission statement step-by-step)
- You may want to abbreviate it or separate it into bullet points for easy readability
- Include your contact information
My favorite tool for designing flyers and other marketing graphics is Canva. You can create unlimited designs, even on a free account, and its interface is very user-friendly.
Method #4: Ask teachers for permission to speak on behalf of your club
This one takes some guts, but it’s a quick way to advertise a club to many students at once.
You can ask a teacher if you could address the class at the end of a period. Or, if you’re already part of other clubs, you can ask to present to members of those clubs about your club.
Method #5: Use social media
Since most teenagers use some form of social media, setting up social media accounts is a quick way to promote a school club.
Tips on How to Promote a Club on Social Media:
- Establish good branding by using your logo, tagline, and a similar color scheme consistently
- Follow classmates’ accounts
- Create an aesthetic feed
- Again, I suggest using Canva, which has many wonderful free templates (I’m not sponsored, I promise!)
- Share club meeting information and pictures of club events
- If you’re using Instagram, share stories and have classmates reshare those stories on their accounts
Method #6: Get a feature in the school newsletter
Reach out to the staff who manage the school newsletter, and ask to have a blurb included about your club. Also, make sure to send a digital flyer that they can include.
People are more likely to pay attention to a colorful flyer than a few lines of text in the newsletter. Additionally, this is a good place to include your contact information for interested students.
Method #7: Plan a fun but meaningful first meeting
To attract new members to a club, you’ll need to plan a fun first meeting that students will be excited to attend.
Here is a good structure for an engaging first meeting:
- Icebreaker activity
- Brief slideshow presentation about your club
- Small game/activity
To encourage members to keep coming, you’ll need to provide a clear idea of what events people should expect if they join.
Will they be having guest lectures from experts? Will they receive mentoring in competitions? Will they be participating in community service projects?
In any case, if you want students to keep coming, you need to let them know what they can gain from joining the club.
Method #8: Create a Google Classroom
Instead of using the classic sign-up sheet, you may want to create a Google Classroom for interested students to join. Setting up a Google Classroom is super easy, and students can join using a simple code.
However, you may need to set one up using your faculty advisor’s email address (most schools don’t allow students to set up Google Classrooms using their school email address).
Setting up a Google Classroom is a great way to promote a school club because you’ll be able to send out meeting notices and other updates in one place.
Additionally, you can attach Google Forms for meeting attendance, officer applications, etc. to be filled out by a certain deadline.
Method #9: Offer freebies
Everyone loves freebies! Letting people know you’ll be offering freebies at your first meeting is an easy way to attract students to join a club.
Examples of freebies include:
- Snacks/food
- Branded items (like club pins or bookmarks)
- Small gift bag with candy and branded items
Additionally, you may want to set up a freebie reward system to encourage members to bring more students. For example, you could give a club bracelet to members who bring two more students to the next meeting.
Method #10: Build a website
In addition to using social media, creating a website is a great way to promote a school club online.
Especially given the variety of beginner-friendly website builders available, creating a website is not a difficult task.
Which website-building platform should I use?
I’ve used several website-building platforms before, and here are the two I most recommend:
- Wix has a very beginner-friendly interface and a variety of beautiful templates. Even if you have no website design experience, you can create a professional website quickly using Wix. However, if you’re looking to eventually scale your website or add more customizations, it is not very flexible.
- WordPress has a steeper learning curve and a more complicated user interface. You will need to spend a few hours watching tutorials and playing around with the dashboard. However, it is highly customizable and integrates seamlessly with millions of plug-ins (these are apps that add extra functionality to your website). It is the best choice if you want great flexibility and scalability. (By the way, I built this blog using WordPress!)
Tips for building an effective website:
- As always, use consistent branding
- Choose a clean theme with an easy-to-read font
- Include your mission statement
- Add pictures of club meetings and events
- Include testimonials from current members
- Add an application form
- Add a contact form
- Include social media links
Method #11: Create a distinctive booth for club fair
Club fair is probably the best time to promote a school club and attract new members. As such, you’ll want to create a booth that is engaging and memorable.
Tips for creating a distinctive booth:
- Prepare a small game and/or freebies
- Hand out colorful flyers
- Go all out with fun colors and designs on your board
Final Takeaways
Recruiting members for a club, particularly a new club, can seem like a daunting task. However, there are a variety of ways to promote a school club, many of which can be implemented quickly and easily.
By using traditional word-of-mouth, taking advantage of school resources, and establishing an online presence, you can get the word out to a large number of students efficiently.
Additionally, by offering freebies, setting up an efficient communication platform like Google Classroom, and informing people about what can be gained from joining your club, you can keep students coming back.
For more on leadership in high school, make sure to check out these articles:
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