Congratulations, Chapter President! You have signed up on Connect, which means you and your chapter are now an official part of our HSAFP community! You have full access to our curriculum, blogs, forums, and many other resources!
Your Chapter’s First Meeting
We’ve created a very brief slide deck for you to use to help explain HSAFP and the benefits, found below.
Presentation Slide Deck about HSAFP: https://tinyurl.com/HSAFPintromeeting
Future Meetings
See our current month’s curriculum, and past months’ curricula, for ideas for your future meetings!
Recruiting Members
Now that you have everything ready for your chapter, here are some highly effective strategies that have worked for schools across the nation.
Advertising at the Club Fair
- If your school has a club fair at the start of the year, set up a booth/poster with your officer team and advertise your club to interested students. Have them sign up using a QR code linking to the Google Form you made earlier in this module.
- Check your school’s website and talk to the school club manager to learn about unique opportunities to promote your club as there may be more than just a club fair.
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Putting Up Flyers
- You and your officer team should divide and conquer by printing out flyers and distributing them to every classroom on campus. Remember to reach out to teachers of all subjects, as students interested in the club can come from any class. You should also ask previous teachers that you and your officer team have had as it’s important to diversify your club’s grade levels.
- You can either design your own flyer or use the template provided here: https://tinyurl.com/HSAFPromotionalPoster
- It is also perfectly acceptable to approach teachers you do not know; if you are committed to growing your club’s membership, proactively go door to door and request permission to display the flyers.
- Kindly request that the teacher place the flyer in a visible location and either mention it briefly at the beginning of class or highlight that students interested in the club should scan the attached QR code.
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Utilizing Social Media
- Create an Instagram post as mentioned in the previous module and have all officers repost it.
- Additionally, message the students who manage leadership accounts (e.g., class of 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028) and ask them to post your flyer. These class Instagram accounts often have 100s to 1000s of followers, ensuring that your post gets maximum visibility.
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Mass Communication
- Request permission from school administrators, such as those in the college and career center, to distribute digital flyers or send school-wide emails about your club, what it offers, and a link to the Google Form sign-up page. This method has been effective for HSAFP at many schools in the past.
- Utilize school announcements, video bulletins, and any other communication channels to reach a wide audience.
- Expand your reach by posting in community bulletins, parent WhatsApp groups, or Facebook groups. Ask your parents to help by sharing messages in these groups. Advertising your club to parents is often very effective, as they can encourage their students to join if they see its value.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Flyers and social media are among the most powerful tools for recruitment, and these exact methods have helped chapters gain hundreds of active members. Even if you host a community health fair or another public event for all students at your high school, most of these strategies (excluding the club fair) should still be effective.
As a result, developing these skills now will greatly benefit your chapter’s growth and engagement, so try experimenting and see which methods work best for your chapter at your high school!
