We were thrilled to be chosen as Member Organizers for Canyons School District. As a relatively new district, we are still working on ensuring our organization is run efficiently and has all the necessary support in place to help our current members and grow our membership. One strategy we believed would significantly impact was supporting our Association Building Leaders (ABLs or building reps) more. We felt this would be a strong way to recruit new members, as effective ABLs lead to strong members. Additionally, supporting our ABLs would increase our association’s visibility, especially since it would be challenging for us to conduct site visits at every school. ABLs are the eyes and ears at the school level.
Our first step was to increase ABL attendance at our monthly meetings. We utilized the app Hustle to send reminders to each ABL about meetings and other important information every month. This approach was well-received, resulting in a 20-30% increase in meeting attendance. It also provided us with important updates, such as identifying new ABLs or alternates when they could not attend.
Our UniServ Director played a key role in recognizing schools without an ABL or with an inactive ABL. She conducted site visits at these schools, increasing our visibility and supporting members who didn’t know where to turn without an on-site ABL. While not all visits resulted in the immediate appointment of ABLs, they did contribute to growth in our membership numbers.
With our $1,500 Member Organizing grant budget, we’ve planned to host an outdoor family movie night this fall for current members and new teachers to the district. The event will be held during the new teacher training week, and we’ve secured an outdoor facility at a middle school in the district. The district will provide a movie it already has rights to, Horace Mann will sponsor popcorn, and our UniServ will supply candy and drinks. We like the idea of an event honoring current members to ensure they feel valued and understand the benefits of the union, while also serving as a springboard for new members to see the value we provide. The executive board and UniServ Director will have a table at the event to increase visibility and engage with members.
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