It is time for The AEGEEan’s Choice Awards again! From March 10th until April 10th you can let us know who your favorites are in categories like Best Video, Most Original Mascot, Most Impressive Roll Call and, of course, Most Effective Recruitment. For the last category of Most Effective Recruitment, The AEGEEan has found five nominees, namely: AEGEE-Budapest, AEGEE-Gdańsk, AEGEE-Moskva, AEGEE-Kyiv and AEGEE-Amsterdam. In this article we will tell you all you need to know about how these locals recruited new members and why they should win.
AEGEE-Budapest
The AEGEEan: How did you recruit new members last year?
We usually use the same tools to get members every year. We try to put as much effort into promotion as possible and try to grab as many different opportunities for places to appear as we can. In the beginning of the school year, most universities have freshmen’s camps, many of which we try to attend and present our association. Then whenever we organize a training, workshop, meeting or anything that might be worth to hear about for outsiders, we promote them on posters and school newsletters. We also try to appear in university press and there usually is an AEGEE info-desk at the school corridors during the promotion period.
One of the biggest local events we organize every semester is the AEGEE-Budapest Freshmen’s Camp. We start promoting it weeks before it starts with different tools and we hold “Info nights” at universities where we give a 30-45 minute presentation about what we do and which possibilities AEGEE offers for newcomers. These camps usually host 70-100 people – new and old members as well. It is two to three days long and offers more “formal” activities (such as workshops and presentations about AEGEE) and informal ones (such as city rallies, games and party). The people are usually put into groups and there is some kind of competition for a prize among them – that leads to even stronger bonds and great team spirit in the groups. Check out the video from our fresh camps last spring and last autumn.
We also try to appear on other platforms. One of the great opportunities Budapest has are job and mobility fairs. There are plenty of them during the autumn and spring period, and they usually host an “international corner” where organizations like AEGEE have the possibility to introduce themselves, collect email addresses etc. We also try to appear at more and more summer music festivals (Sziget and others), because they usually provide places for NGO’s as well, and many young people visit them. These promotion opportunities all help us gain new members, but the most important one is the camp because it is a relatively big event and provides the freshmen with the opportunity to get to know not only the organization, but its active members as well.
The AEGEEan: How did you get the idea for these actions?
We at AEGEE-Budapest believe that aside from international possibilities and European values, it is the local community that keeps members active in the organization. Because of this, these camps are great – the new people do not only learn about AEGEE, but also build friendships and connections that may just as well keep them here as the work itself.
The AEGEEan: How many new members did you get with your recruitment action?
Every semester we gain about 30-40 new members though these activities. Most of the people who stay active were introduced to AEGEE through the Fresmen’s Camps.
The AEGEEan: Do you have any recruitment tips for other AEGEE locals?
Camps and excursions are great because of the team building opportunities and also, being “locked up” together with new people leaves no other option but to socialize and talk and hopefully ask – and that eventually may lead to active membership. Also job fairs and festivals are great opportunities! We don’t know about how they work in other cities, but in Budapest they are definitely welcoming towards student NGO’s and it makes us able to reach tens and hundreds of people per day.
The AEGEEan: Why should your local win the Most Effective Recruitment award?
We work really hard and constantly look for and work on new possibilities to reach new people. Being one of the biggest antennae helps, but it doesn’t automatically stay that way – we have to do something every day in order to keep our human resources the way it is at the moment. Great new people come but just as easily go if we don’t prove them that this is an organization worthy for their attention.
Find AEGEE-Budapest’s Facebook page here.
AEGEE-Gdańsk
The AEGEEan: How did you recruit new members last year?
We’ve made posters and leaflets, which were distributed to the universities and other schools before the applications were opened. Then there was a huge promotion on Facebook (because it’s the fastest source of information) and we used word-of-mouth marketing between our friends, who told their friends about is. It worked really well! The spring recruiting of AEGEE-Gdańsk in 2013 was very “mysterious”. In many places at universities black and white flyers appeared. On one side were the words “Nie podnoś mnie” (which means “Do not pick me.”). On the other side there was a text saying that we congratulated their courage and that is a beginning. There was instructions about what to do later. People should go to the webpage niepodnosmnie.pl (which means “do not pick me”). There they had to enter a secret code number given on the flyer. After entering the code, the website redirected people to the application form. These flyers attracted the attention of many people.
The AEGEEan: How did you get the idea for this action?
The idea for this action came up during our Public Relations WG meeting. We wanted to do something different and not obvious, that would highlight us from the other organisations in Tricity (the area of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot in Poland), so we brainstormed and then…BAM! Someone proposed to make mysterious leaflets, only with the words “don’t pick me”, no logo, nothing that could connect us visually with this leaflet. The idea was accepted immediately and everybody enjoyed it, so we settled on colors (white words on a black background), printed hundreds of our amazing leaflets and you know the rest of our recruitment story.
The AEGEEan: How many new members did you get with your recruitment action?
We got 30 new members during the spring recruitment and 37 during the fall recruitment. We had more applications, but we decided to choose only the best, people with motivation and power to act.
The AEGEEan: Do you have any recruitment tips for other locals?
We can’t share our secrets! :) Just kidding. Dears, stay opened and cheerful everywhere, you would be surprised at who’s watching and listening. It can be a potential AEGEEan, so don’t waste any chance to show people how awesome we are. Also you have to treat candidates individually on interviews, sometimes it’s really hard for someone to show his personality on the first meeting. You have to help them, encourage them to do it. If you do, you will get great members, developing themselves every day and there’s nothing better than watching it and being proud of them! Finally, the most important tip: show your spirit to people, talk about your experiences in AEGEE, meet with AEGEEans – they will come to you sooner than you expect and say the magic words ” I want to be one of you!” . Believe us. :)
The AEGEEan: Why should your local win the Most Effective Recruitment award?
We truly believe that the last year was one of the most important in the whole AEGEE-Gdańsk history. Why? Because in January 2013 we could still count the amount of active members on two hands. Now, 14 months later, we have over 50 active members and this amount is still rising, and we are more known in the Tricity than ever. We are proud to have them in our AEGEE community and this award would be an award for them, for their work and engagement. As you can see, for example on the statutory events, AEGEE-Gdańsk is now more powerful than ever!
Find AEGEE-Gdańsk’s Facebookpage here.
AEGEE-Moskva
The AEGEEan: How did you recruit new members last year?
For AEGEE-Moskva the best period to recruit new members are early autumn and, obviously, spring. Last year we recruited during both times; in spring with presentations in different youth organizations and universities and in autumn we went to the birthday party of our partner, High School of Economy, which was also during a holiday. It was in the park, with stands and good weather, so we prepared some materials, like letters, posters, pictures and of course our AEGEE-spirit :) We made an energizer, small quiz about Europe and provided information about AEGEE and projects for the upcoming year. We also put videos from SU’s and events on the TV screen. And in the end: a photo session with some people and AEGEE-letters.
The AEGEEan: How did you get the idea for this action?
During a team brainstorm. I prepared the letters 1,5 year ago for some pictures to promote our presentations. Right now we are doing letters in different colors – for Visual Identity purpose ;)
The AEGEEan: How many new members did you get with your recruitment action?
We got around 50 people who gave us their contact information, so we could provide them with information. Around ten members joined us on our meeting, and some of them joined AEGEE instantly.
The AEGEEan: Do you have any recruitment tips for other AEGEE locals?
Be creative. Never think only in boring way of just presentations. With each action show your spirit, show how cool you are and obviously they will want to join you. Use big letters, huge flyers, wave with AEGEE-spirit and always be positive. And don’t forget to remind them, that the application period will close on the 23rd of April :D.
The AEGEEan: Why should your local win the Most Effective Recruitment award?
In my opinion it wasn’t the most effective, because we didn’t get enough members in the end (you know, sky is the limit), but I think we made it interesting. And more creative recruitment actions are coming this season!
Find AEGEE-Moskva’s Facebookpage here.
AEGEE-Kyiv
The AEGEEan: How did you recruit new members last year?
We recruit many new members every year and are working in few different ways for it: presentations in universities, meetings for newcomers, social activities which are open also for non-AEGEE members, becoming info-partners on youth forums and trainings and so on. This year’s board created a special event – “Fridays with AEGEE-Kyiv”, which is organized twice a month in one of the most popular youth bars, called Fazenda. This is not a party, but a social meeting, where we invite new and old members so that they can communicate. Of course, one or two board members are also there. Usually we start around 8 pm when there are not so many people in the bar and we easily can answer all questions in a non-formal atmosphere. In the end we usually finish around late night or early morning :) What’s more, usually we have more people who want to join AEGEE because we meet them in this bar. We always have our new stickers and maps, so it’s a good PR. We had an idea to organize “Mafia with AEGEE-Mafia” where we invited our oldies and people who were not members of AEGEE yet to play and talk to people who already are in AEGEE. But due to protests in Ukraine we postponed this event to the end of Spring.
The AEGEEan: How did you get the idea for these actions?
We are keeping good traditions from previous boards. And we also had an idea from our PR-Responsible Anna Pykhtina, who actually loves the bar where we usually gather. In AEGEE-Kyiv we are not only previous-current board – we are real friends, so we meet really often. Seeing that usually it’s around 15 people, Anna suggested to make an official event. And now we already had six Fridays with AEGEE-Kyiv and got so many new and excited members!
The AEGEEan: How many new members did you get with your recruitment action?
Around 60 each year and we are proud of it!
The AEGEEan: Do you have any recruitment tips for other AEGEE locals?
We liked the idea of AEGEE-Zaragoza who meet every Friday. We wanted to do something more, to create the platform for meeting new interesting people in the same place at the same time. So when an AEGEEan doesn’t know where to go and he doesn’t have a company to join – he can easily find someone at this meeting!
The AEGEEan: Why should your local win the Most Effective Recruitment award?
AEGEE-Kyiv is still one of the biggest locals, despite the fact that we didn’t have so many local events and couldn’t host European ones due to the protests. Nevertheless, we changed our strategy offering our new and old members, people who want to join AEGEE, the opportunity to talk and discuss anything they want. AEGEE-Kyiv created not just a recruitment tool, but a very effective and needed platform for communication in these times.
Find AEGEE-Kyiv’s Facebookpage here.
AEGEE-Amsterdam
Sadly we were not able to get in contact with AEGEE-Amsterdam about their recruitment. Find their Facebookpage here.
Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen