Starting a Community Outreach program can be challenging. However, once you have gone through the checklist, you are ready to go. Make sure that your chapter has established an Outreach Committee. It is a good idea to have your Primary Contact Staff bring in the Regional Community Outreach Consultant to assist the Committee until they are up and running. When your Committee meets for the first time your Primary Contact Staff, Community Outreach Consultant and Chapter President should be in attendance.
When the Committee is together you should do the following:
- Get to know each other as a committee—it is important to share why you are interested in community outreach.
- Talk about commitment, expectations and why it is important to be committed to the committee.
- Discuss meeting dates, time and place.
- Look at Association timeline.
- Discuss the Associations purpose for Community Outreach.
- Talk about Next Steps.
- Adjourn the meeting.
After you had your first meeting and have learned more about your colleagues, looked at the Association purpose, timelines etc., your next meeting should focus on the following:
- Overview of previous meeting.
- Look at sending out community outreach membership survey.
- Look at purpose and brainstorm ideas and strategies of how you are going to follow through.
- Brainstorm who are the shaker and movers in the community. Think about who your Association
should be contacting and developing a relationship.
- Brainstorm how the Association can be more visible in the community.
- Look at your Next Steps for next meeting.