Sage advice from Papa Aug

21-February-2006

The following is the (slightly updated) body of an email I used to send out to students trying to start groups back before SSA had any staff or the like. Now days we encourage people to request a group starting packet , but I think this email still has some very simple advice without too much fluff getting in the way.

I only ever wrote up details for the first five steps. If anyone wants to add comments about the last five, I'm sure they would get read and used.

The following is a general bit of staring advice I send out to people that want to start groups. I'm not sure how all of it will apply to your particular institution. But I'm sure you're more than clever enough to adapt it. It's long. Remember you don't have to do this all in a day.

The following is not fully linear (that is to say that you don't have to be 100% done with #1 before you start #2 or #3, and so on). Perhaps you've already done some of this.

So, odds are since you've given this some thought already, you'll have come up with a good deal of this on your own. But I know I had to learn a lot of this by trial and error when I started my first group back in '97, so hopefully you'll find some of this helpful.

The process looks something like this:
1) look at examples, ask questions, read up
2) assess resources and situation
3) work on acquiring any needed leaders
4) plan, name, and formalize
5) create supporting structures and acquire missing resources
6) plan first meeting(s)
7) Advertise, Advertise, Advertise
8) hold first meeting(s)
9) plan, advertise for, and hold first big event
10) Onward and upward!

I want to make it very clear that although I am very willing to help, that this is your process and your group. If you ever think I'm butting in too much, let me know and I'll butt out. Also, this may seem like a huge job at first, but it is really quite doable when taken one step at a time.

Oh yeah, although I've started, helped start, and watched the start of many groups, I'm still learning all the time. So I strongly encourage your feedback and ideas.
Anyhow, on to the steps...

1) look at examples, ask questions, read up

Here are the web sites of some successful freethought campus groups... they might give you some ideas for what you want to do with your group...
http://www.sffosu.org
http://orgs.jmu.edu/freethinkers/
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sane/
http://www.k-state.edu/freethought/
http://www.unl.edu/cfa/

Other rich tools for gaining more context are
SSA's Group Running Guide -- we're happy to send out a print copy of this if you don't already have one.
CFION's group running manual: http://www.campusfreethought.org/docs/og.pdf -- CFION will likely send a print copy of this if you ask them.

Also feel free to join SSA_Share http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SSA_Share/ to talk with experienced group leaders.

2) assess resources and situation

Also start thinking about what kinds of resources you'll need and what you've got on hand. You're likely going to need three student leaders--folks willing to be a president, a VP, and a treasurer. They might be people you already know, they might be people that you'll meet after advertising the idea and talking it up a bit. Most groups find they can make use of more than three officers. You're going to need a faculty advisor. You won't need a ton of money to start, but a little bit of money to copy some flyers and buy a staple gun may be quite helpful. If you don't have money for that, the SSA may be able to help you (very likely in fact).

Be aware of the services the SSA offers.

We are happy to mail flyers (on neon paper) to you and tools to hang them if you want to find more people before you go past this step.

3) work on acquiring any needed leaders

In finding the other people to help you run the group, it will be vital that you are able to clearly articulate what you want the group to be about and what kinds of things you want to do. Looking at the web sites of other groups will help you get an idea for the kinds of events and the kinds of values these groups have. It'll make you much better at explaining it.
It's likely you already know someone who could be the advisor. If not, the philosophy department is a great place to look for an advisor. How many friends do you have that you think might be interested? Talk up the idea to them, see how they feel about it and if they would be willing to help.
If you don't think your friends will be game, the next thing to do is hang up flyers. I can send you a PDF of some flyers we have (we can tailer them to your campus). Or you can make your own.
I can send you some SSA brochures (or the PDF of our brochure if you can print them out on your own). That might help as well.

4) plan, name, and formalize

From here on, you're pretty well going to need to have at least a couple of other leaders in place, just so you know you'll be on the same page.

You'll want to figure out what you want your group to do, how you're going to do it, and govern it. You will want to write up a constitution. Your school's office of academic affairs will likely be happy to offer a sample constitution. The SSA has a sample constitution as well.

You can also find some constitutions here:
http://www.sffosu.org/Resources/Constitution/const.html
http://www.k-state.edu/freethought/constitution.html
http://www.msu.edu/~msufa/constitution.doc
http://www.ku.edu/~soma/constitution.html

You're also going to have to come up with a name for your beloved organization. There's a section in the Group Running Guide on this. And you can also look over the names of the current SSA affiliates.

You'll also want to file with your school--they are likely to give you at least a few resources and a little money when you do this. You'll also want to set up a bank account. This is often far easier than you might think. Most banks offer free or nearly free checking to nonprofit student groups.

5) create supporting structures and acquire missing resources

There are three main supporting structures that you will find very helpful: a web site, a planning listserv, and a brochure or business card for your group.

Lucky for you, the SSA is happy to provide all three at no cost to you.

WEB SITE
The web site you can actually get via our partner organization the Institute for Humanist Studies. They have a project called humanists.net and will be more than happy to setup free web space for your group if you ask for it. You may also be able to get web space through your school, however, odds are that the space and service that the IHS is going to provide you will be better than what you school with give you.

IHS only provides free web hosting, not domain names. You will either have to pony up the $9 a year for a domain name of your own, or you can take a "third level" domain name like YOURGROUP.secularstudents.net or YOURGROUP.humanists.net for free.

PLANNING LISTSERV
Listservs are getting to be a popular way of communicating in general. They are invaluable for student group organizing. All students have email and most students check it very often. yahoogroups.com and topica.com both provide free listservs. The SSA is also happy to hook you up with an ad free listserv if you like (just ask). This will be a great way for the leaders of your organization to stay on the same page.

You may also want to create two other listservs: one for general discussion amongst your members of whatever they feel like talking about and a second one for sending out announcements from the leadership to the membership.

In addition to a listserv, we recommend you take things to the next level and sign up for the SSA's TurnKey service. The Turnkey is a multi-user, password protected, web-based system which allows groups to keep track of members, events, pictures, agendas, finances, to send E-Mail announcements, hold on-line elections, and handle membership renewal. While all of these tools interact seamlessly, it is possible for a group to use only the tools that they need to use. With the Turnkey, all of a group's leaders can share resources, coordinate group management, and update their website with a single, easy to use interface.

That may all sound kinda scary, but it's actually easy to learn and use and it will end up saving you a lot of work in the long run. Just ask us if you're interested. Again, it's free.

BROCHURE or BIZ CARD
Having something paper you can hand out to people when you're tabling or when the group comes up in conversation is very useful. Many groups have made brochures, but in the day of the web, a business card with your groups URL on it is really almost as good. If you'd like us to print up 250 biz cards for you group for free, just ask.

There are five more steps on my list, but these first five should keep you busy for a while. Once you're ready to move beyond these steps, you should be able to get a lot of what you need out of the Group Running Guide and talking to other leaders and us at SSA. Remember, there's no deadline. Take it easy.

Ideas on group starting...

29-February-2008

A good starting point is our Group Running Guide, but the electronic version (http://www.secularstudents.org/grouprunningguide) will prove better than nothing.

There is some general group starting advice here: http://www.secularstudents.org/node/379

Many of our student leaders find that Facebook.com, MySpace.com, and Google Groups are very useful organizing tools for them. You can read a little about Facebook here: http://www.secularstudents.org/node/609 It's not as detailed as we like, but it's a start.

An overview of our services is here:
http://www.secularstudents.org/community/services.html

Some meeting ideas are here:
http://www.secularstudents.org/node/377

Harnessing the power of Facebook

15-March-2007

Two weeks ago, the idea of starting a secular student group on my campus was just a pipe dream. Today, we are an officially registered organization with 150 students on the mailing list.
How did we grow so fast? In the beginning, it was just my 2 roommates and I, who are woefully undermanned for distributing flyers all over campus. I decided a cheap and easy way to get the word out would be to use Facebook. I created a group, typed up a short message, and started sending it out to everyone in my school's network with something secular-sounding listed under their “religious views.”

Constitution and Bylaws

22-February-2006

So the SSA has a sample constitution, but it's fairly new and untested. Do you have any war stories about particular elements of an organizational document failing you? Something that really saved your butt? Let us know.

Secular Student Alliance: Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics & Others - Group Starting Troubleshooting

Sage advice from Papa Aug

Ideas on group starting...

Harnessing the power of Facebook

Constitution and Bylaws