Hi all!
This is a repost from our Greater Pacific NW Leadership post, so if you saw it there, feel free to disregard this message!
Thought I'd share a system / process / program that's working really well in Portland, in case you want to try it in your chapters as well!
Feel free to respond with questions or provide feedback about this or how similar programs work in your chapter!
It was Daniela Brod, Portland GL, who came up with the idea and Francine Chinitz who mostly organized the process, but I have been great fan of it - both as observer and participant twice! I think it really makes a difference when it comes to getting new members active. It is a pretty simple process.
Samples
Below is the sample sign-up sheet that we pass around during the meeting. At the break or after the meeting, we match people up by area of town (and maybe temperament if possible.) I also included a sample email we send to connect the new and experienced member. I tried to get these emails sent within a day or two of the meeting.
Resources
The experience members who have signed up to be a CCL mentor/buddy are season members. But we have thought about sending experienced members the attached set of questions and group contacts.
Survey
I sent a survey to the experience mentors (and a similar one the new members). I would send you the report, but I can’t export it easily with the free version of Survey Monkey. Overall the feedback was very positive. Based on the feedback, I added the section that says “If your buddy doesn’t contact you in a week, let me know and I’ll find a new one for you.” One person suggested meeting in groups (in case someone doesn’t want to meet 1:1), but we decided against it because it made logistics harder. Someone else suggested making it clear that the new member can reach out first as sometimes the experienced member is busy. Several people said they “hit the jackpot” with their buddy. We’ve had people become liaisons, table and find DC conference hotel roommates from these meetings. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NDFHYVZ
Let us know if you have questions.
Best,
Francine
503.419.8280
Sign-up Sheet | |||||
New or Experience Member? | Name | Email Address | Phone | Area of Town to Meet | Time (Day/Evening/Weekend) |
Sample Email
Subject Line:
CCL Buddy!
Hello Jane and Joe,
Thank you for attending yesterday’s Citizens’ Climate Lobby meeting! I hope you both got a lot out of it.
Congratulations and thank you for your interest in participating in mentoring program. Below is the contact info for each of you. Please reach out to each other to coordinate a day/time to meet. (Let me and/or your buddy know if I made typos.)
Name | Time | Neighborhood | Phone | |
Jane Smith | Any | SE | jane@gmail.com | (503) 555-533 |
John Doe | Evenings | SE, NE, N Downtown-weekdays | joe@gmail.com | (566) 545-5555 |
Jane – John prefers to communicate by text. I will send him a text to let her know about this email.
If you are not able to connect with your buddy after a week, let me know and I’ll find you another match.
Let us know how it goes, we'll be eager to hear!
Thanks!
Francine
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