7 Ways to Attract and Retain Students in Your Campus Group

By now you’re into the grind of school; summer has definitely disappeared, and you have made it through the major student recruitment time for your conservative campus group. Now your group’s focus turns to making an impact, which will be much easier if you can keep students returning to your group.

Students leave groups for a number of reasons. Some might notice they signed up for way too much, others might not enjoy a group they thought they would, and others might just forget that they ever signed up for a group. Here are 7 ways we at American Majority have to help you to keep students returning to your campus group:

1. Provide incentives

There are several incentives that can keep students coming back. Providing food (but don’t only ever have pizza) at some of your meetings, giving group members titles (see point 6), and using your group connections, whether with professors or in the community, to create more opportunities for your group members when it comes to internships, group trips, and guest speakers.

2. Get to Know Them

Every student in your group is a unique individual. While they most likely all believe in the group mission it may not be for the same reasons. Figure out what drives students to be not only a part of your group, but of campus groups as a whole. Some students are there because they want to have a leadership role. Other students attend hoping to get into deep political discussions. Others are simply there to socialize. None of these reasons are bad or wrong, but those reasons are what you need to find out if you want to know how to keep each student returning.

3. Find Their Strengths

Once you get to know students in your group, figure out what their strengths and passions are. You can then get them involved by having them help out in ways that those students excel. Helping the group can be through communication, social media, networking, graphic design, recruiting, etc. Whatever someone is good at can help your group and excite that student into coming back and staying engaged!

4. Have a Variety of Events

Don’t simply have meetings where you have a discussion as a group and then leave. Sure, this is necessary sometimes, but too much and students will start to lose interest and find other ways to spend their time. Instead have different events with different appeals for different tastes. You can bring in professors or community leaders to speak about their favorite topic, which can lead to open discussion, questions, or debate. You can host watch parties, whether of a current political event or a politically themed movie.

Meeting in public, not just in a classroom, can be a great way to draw interest from passersby. You can also have group debates on political issues to get students thinking through topics. A great option is an American Majority campus training. Our trainings equip your group members with information to help you succeed, whether on social media; getting involved in campaigns; winning student elections, or any other activist or campaign related skills you may need for success.

5. Create Interest Groups

Maybe some students have more narrow interests when it comes to your group that they’d like to talk about or bring other students to. Create interest groups as a way for your group to have more membership than just during your main meetings. These groups can be about campaigns, current events, foreign policy, philosophy, or whatever else some group members might enjoy. Find what that interest is and then put a theme together for those meetings. Maybe some meetings happen over breakfast and other meetings at a campus coffee shop. Wherever you choose to meet, students should feel they are part of a group that is tailored to their interests.

6. Give Roles and Responsibilities

Students all have different strengths, passions, and motivations. As you learn those differences, try to figure out a role or responsibility each student could fill. Giving students titles will help make them more invested in your group and the group cause. Titles are also helpful to the student because they will help to bolster resumes when students are looking for internships and jobs.

7. Stick to Your Mission

Make sure your group’s mission is constantly being helped and not hindered by the different ways you work to retain students. If your events are losing focus, students are more likely to lose focus and drive when it comes to supporting the group. Make sure you take a step back when planning events to look at the group mission overall and the students presently involved, so that you don’t end up missing the mark and losing more students than you gain.

 

Recruiting students in the beginning of the school year is only the first step to having a successful group. The best groups find out how to energize and to retain their members, so that their group stays strong in the years to come. If you aren’t sure how to get started or have other training needs, please request a training with American Majority at: https://www.americanmajority.org/requesttraining/.