This site is a static archive. Visit the current IWW website at iww.org ▸
Skip to main content

How to Recruit People to Your Organization

This website is based on the manual, "How to Recruit People to Your Organization", by Michael J Brown, © 1994. Therefore it may not be reproduced and sold for a profit under any circumstances.

Recruiting People to Your Organization

It's 7:30. You were looking forward to this meeting. There is so much to do. You look around the room. The same faces. You had flyers up all over. You had an ad in the paper. Where are those people you thought were going to show up? You can see the disappointment in the faces of the few people who always show up. They probably see the same expression in your face. You wonder if they are thinking what you're thinking. 'Why aren't there more people at our meetings? Why is it always the same few?"

If these words have ever passed your lips, welcome to the club. If you have ever wanted an answer to this question, this is for you. What matters is building the organization, not the kind of organization it is. It may be a neighborhood group, a union, a PTA. a coalition to deal with community problems, a community, religious, or civic group--any kind of group that needs people. You want to know: How do you get people to join and stay involved?

This is geared toward people who want to deal with immediate problems and think they need to get a group together to do it. This is for people who want to build a democratic. member-run organization. as opposed to a group that has a paid staff that does all the work and has members who only contribute money. Here you will find methods that have worked for many organizations. They will work for you.

By using this resource, you will learn:

  • Why you should always recruit new members.
  • The benefits your organization gains from recruiting.
  • What you gain personally from recruiting.
  • The importance of making clear what kind of organization you are asking people to join before you start recruiting.
  • How your organization's name can affect who joins.
  • How to set clear, specific membership criteria to get the kind of members you really want. and how to make these criteria work.
  • How to find people with the values, background and interests that are right for your organization.
  • How to make specific agreements for members and leaders to establish the right "group norms"
  • How to deal with money and dues.
  • The real reasons people join organizations.
  • The most practical and effective method to recruit people.
  • How building relationships builds organizations.
  • Two specific listening methods to recruit people: with verbatim dialogue as a guideline.
  • A simple method of keeping records of your recruiting efforts.
  • How to recruit volunteers for a specific task in your. organization--some practical guidelines.
  • How to divide up a large project into "bite-sized" tasks to make it easy for people to help.
  • How to plan a recruiting visit.
  • How to think about media and mailing in recruiting.
  • When to go for "numbers" in recruiting
  • How to motivate and keep members and volunteers
  • How to build member "ownership" of your organization