THE DIVISION 6 SOUTH DECLASSIFIED KEY CLUB SURVIVAL GUIDE
SERVICE
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Key Club International is the largest high school student-led service organization in the world and it only make sense to live up to such a reputation with a variety of community service events. Service comes in all kinds of forms, whether it’s hands on helping at your local soup kitchen or taking a day to pack some energy bars and dental kits for the military. Coming up with an idea for an event and deciding what you want to incorporate into your club’s term may be difficult, but there are many resources out there to help your club host an event or find an opportunity to join one! • Work together with your officers or your committee to plan your project. • Always research what you want to do and what you need to do. • Ask for help when you need it - everyone is willing to give your club advice on how to make your service events successful. • Your sponsoring Kiwanis club and your faculty advisor are always there to guide you on the right path. • Publicize - let people know there is an opportunity for helping the community. • Give it your all. Serve for the cause, not for applause.
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service events: 1: making knot tie blankets for loma linda children’s hospital 2:refurbishing the murrieta boys and girl’s club 3: trick-or-treat for unicef 4: Canned food drive for the temecula food pantry
Service Ideas: • Canned Food Drive • School Beautification • Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF • Distribution of meals to families in need
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•Providing families in need with necessities • Care packages for military • Knot-tie blankets • Toys for Tots •Salvation Army Book Drive (in 6
accordance with the Kiwanis First Lady’s Project)
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• Cards for Children’s Hospitals • Hosting a Blood Drive • Goodwill Drive Truck • Birth mats for mothers
Volunteering Opportunities: 8
• Race for the Cure or other charity marathons • School festivals • School tutoring (elementary + middle school) • Help the special needs student service events: 5: picking up trash and Cleaning up lake matthews 6:volunteer to help decorate the rose bowl parade floats 7: Help out behind the scenes at the annual kiwanis spaghetti feed 8: Pediatric Trauma Program dolls to comfort children in hospitals
programs • Animal shelters, PetCo, etc. • After-school Teacher Aid • Rose Float Decorating • Retirement Homes • Habitat for Humanity
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FUNDRAISING Another big element to balance is fundraising. Whether it’s raising money to fund your club’s future activities or supporting Key Club International’s preferred charities, Fundraising increases awareness about the causes your club supports and provides an opportunity for others to give, while supporting means for your club to obtain the financial resources for those initiatives.
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• Consider and research your options whether it’s: • Going door to door or around school and asking for donations (1) • Charging money for a service like a car wash or dog walking (2) • Hosting a restaurant fundraiser (3) • Hosting a fun event like a dance, gaming tournament, or awake-a-thon and charging admission • Have a goal in mind. • Publicize - fundraisers need supporters. • Show your supporters the money that you raise goes a long way. • Ex. Showcasing the fact that $1.80 can save a family from MNT • Don’t be discouraged. Everything adds up. • You always have other opportunities to fundraise and reach your goal.
SOCIALS Key Club is more than just service. Though the club changes and evolves with every new year, friendships remain a natural by-product of the group service it provides. Bonds have formed between Key Clubbers that can last forever. It doesn’t matter what school you go to or what division you might be in, you can always find a friend in Key Club. One of Key Club’s core values is inclusiveness. It’s super important that members don’t feel left out of their club, so hosting a social might help those members get out of their shell and feel more connected to their club or division.
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Take the time to have some fun with your members. With these fun experiences, your members can tell their friends about Key Club, and your club can grow even more.
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Social Ideas: • Ice Cream • Wii Games • Board Games • Lazer Tag • Beach Trip • Camping Trip
• Ice Skating • Broomball • Bowling • Relay Games • Capture the Flag • Movie Night tourna slide ment
Club rush Club Rush is the opportunity to expand your club, but to advertise everything that your club is about. I personally have not worked the Key Club booth at the club rush at Heritage but I have worked the booth for the theatre department, and I have a tip that works for both groups. For the theatre booth at club rush, we like to get our props from shows, costumes, gargoyles, wigs, to give people a taste of what we deal with. It only makes sense for your Key Club to have your spirit gear there to let potential members know that not only are we about volunteering, but also spirit. Dress up as if you're on your way to fall rally, bring your polar bear themed items, your keys, anything to show that the club is a lot of fun. Something else to truly get a lot attention to your club booth is to make a photo collage. For theatre, we print out photos taken during performances and post them on a cardboard tri-fold and decorate them. This will work great for your Key Club booth. This is meant to show off your group in action. Have your Key Club board decorated with photos from events, socials, conventions, anything that will showcase the awesome adventures you experience with Key Club. The main thing that will bring people to your booth and have them stay is attitude. As long as you project a positive and happy tone about your club then people will know it is truly a club that can change their lives as it did for many of the people reading this. Good luck! -Alan Baez, Spirit Coordinator
EDUCATE Key Club International is vast and complex, which is why it’s important to educate your members on the various components that make up the organization. Take it slow with the new members - not everyone can get used to the acronyms, systems, and sometimes, cheers. Eventually, they should understand the basics of which schools are in the division, or why your club really pushes fundraising for the Eliminate Project. • Cover the bare necessities - who your officers are, your club advisor, and your role • Slowly introduce other clubs in the division: • Start with nearby schools • Use division events to introduce all schools • Let them know who their Lieutenant Governor is and what a LTG does. • As you volunteer and fundraise for various charities, explain the fundamentals: • Charity’s mission • Charity’s importance to your club or Key Club International • How the member’s work plays a role • You may be very knowledgeable about a topic, but first and foremost, make sure your members understand it • Let your members know that they can ask you questions • Don’t overwhelm them - you don't have to cover everything. Things to Consider: • Acronyms can confuse members - use them sparingly. • Doing cheers very early can sometimes intimidate people. • Key Club has a FAQ
ATTENDANCE Remember to think of those that attend your events. And always remember that the members are the foundation of your club! Hosting an event is difficult, better yet awkward, without much of a crowd! Reaching out to the public is crucial for a service event, fundraiser, and/or social to be successful! • Reach out and tell everyone you can. • Whether it’s your members or people outside of your club, let people know something is going on • Talk to people personally about the event. • It may seem easier to talk about the event to the entire club, but talking to your members personally about the event may help in getting them to attend. • Build a relationship with your members! • Encourage your members to make new friends or to bring another friend. • Make the event sound like they can’t miss out. • Be excited when you tell people about an event - in turn, they will be excited • But be short and to the point with the “What, with who, when, where, what time, and why” Double check with the people you invited that • they’re going. • At the event, make sure everyone is having a good time. • Don’t let anyone be lonely - go up and talk to them, be their friend, so they can feel good about going to the event! • Inclusiveness is key! Let your members know that they are more than welcome! Keep in mind: • Getting a ride might be hard for some people • Try arranging a carpool deal • Giving some kind of incentive or telling the person there’ll be (something they like) at the event can easily raise the chances of them going. Thank you to Marielle Formoso for the contributions!
PUBLICATIONS Spreading the word about a community service opportunity, fundraiser, social, or anything, can’t be done without properly publicizing it. Social media, text, email, are just some of the platforms that you can use to make your activities known. How you present your event can also have an effect on whether people decide to go. By creating a good publication to promote your club, event, or anything else, you also create an image for your club. It's part of professionalism, you want maintain a pristine image since you represent Key Club International. Various publications have various purposes. The most common are those to publicize events, but you can make educational programs, and even recruitment flyers to promote your club at club rush!
EVENT PROMOTIONAL CHECKLIST: • NAME OF EVENT • DATE • TiME • LOCATION • PRICE (IF APPLIES) • WHAT THEY NEED TO BRING • ANY IMPORTANT URLS • contact information (If needed) • Other necessary details
• Think about what exactly you want to publicize. • Who are you promoting it to? • Consider how you’ll publicize it. • Is it a flyer, a picture, or poster? • Is it a physical promotional? • Will you use social media? • When creating a publication: • Ensure you have all the necessary details (sample checklist on bottom left corner). • Make it the best representation of what you are promoting • Is it simple? Do you want to be more complex? • Bottom line - make it eye-catching. • *If you’re promoting Key Club directly, make sure you follow the Graphic Standards (find it on the CyberKey)! • Get feedback from your team. • Make sure everything you need is on there. • Constructive criticism brings out a better creation. • Keep promoting consistently!
member retention
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As the term progresses, you may see a decrease in attendance of member or not seeing some particular faces as often. Keeping your members involved can prove to be a challenge for any club. However, it is not impossible to bring them back or even bring in new members. Below are some strategies you can use to improve member retention by making sure that your members are engaged and committed to service. • Encourage member involvement by inviting them to events and showing how much your club values their participation. • Provide your members with valuable resources and experiences, you can ensure that they don't forget the value of their membership. • Communicate appropriately to your members - quality is more important than quantity. Make sure that all communications you send are relevant to your members, to the point, and timely. • Create a connection with your members by becoming friends with your members, you can make it known how much they are appreciated.
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MEMBER RETENTION: 1: MAKE CONVERSATION WITH YOUR MEMBERS AND REALLY GET TO KNOW THEM 2: don’t forget to have fun with your members 3: remind the members what the club is about 4: Perform service with your members
key club moment Getting a member to find something more in Key Club shouldn’t be forced. Every member that walks through your doors will have a different experience from the member that they walk in with. It is nice to have your members realize something more profound in the organization, but don’t feel bad if some of your members don’t. For some, their realization for what Key Club is may come instantaneously, but for others, it may be a gradual growth, with them getting more comfortable or passionate. • Show your members what Key Club is about and stands for. • Sometimes, people don’t realize that Key Club is more than hours on a sheet, but an organization that promotes service, leadership, and character building. • Don’t overwhelm them. • It doesn’t hurt to be informed about how things work in Key Club (i.e. club, division, district, international logistics), but by teaching your members gradually how KCI works, they won’t feel like it’s too much to handle. • Don’t be overbearing. Not everyone will find the same meaning that you or other members may have. Let members do their thing. It’s up to them to find or want to find that love or appreciation for KCI. Give your members time. • • Like stated before, not all Key Club moments are the same. Let them discover for themselves.
Thank you for reading! Service: justserve.org // volunteermatch.org // idealist.org keyclub.org/service Fundraising: http://bit.ly/1CKLN0u (Key Club Fundraising Ideas) fundraiserinsight.org/ideas/ // giveforward.com/p/fundraising-ideas Socials: http://bit.ly/1e4qF9B (List of Social Events) Club Rush: http://bit.ly/1I86yFH (Reasons to Join KCI - credit to the PNW District) Education: http://bit.ly/1CGH8wD (Key Club 101 - credit to the PNW District) // eliminateproject.org // cnhkiwanis.org/ptp.html keyclub.org/service/fund/osp.aspx cnhkeyclub.org // keyclub.org Questions? Contact your Division Leadership Team! Sally Tsai, Division 6 South Lieutenant Governor - d06s.cnhkc.ltg@gmail.com Nessa Vu, Executive Assistant - d06s.keyclub.ea1@gmail.com Andrew Hong, Executive Assistant - d06s.keyclub.ea2@gmail.com Alyssa Alegre, Division 6 South News Editor - d06s.keyclub.dne@gmail.com Dana Truong, Division 6 South Secretary - d06s.keyclub.dsec@gmail.com Mitchell Kaake, Division 6 South Treasurer - d06s.keyclub.treasurer@gmail.com Guide created by: Alyssa Alegre, D6S DNE (15-16)