Make it fun to be with your club by considering a few ideas beyond the usual Kiwanis activities.
By Tony Knoderer
The strongest Kiwanis clubs grow because people want to join — and want to come back. That requires a very important element: fun.
Sometimes it’s good to do things besides your regular club meetings and service projects. Here are a few ideas for going beyond the typical format to build camaraderie:
- Rent space at a local sports venue for pregame snacks, drinks and appetizers. Then share a seating block to cheer on the home team.
- Try a team-building activity such as a ropes course or an escape room.
- Schedule activities around the seasons: a hayride or bonfire in the fall, hot cocoa and cookies in the winter, a nature walk in the spring, an ice cream social or outdoor concert in the summer.
- Host an annual thank-you event in a casual setting. Whether it’s brunch at a local restaurant or an outdoor picnic or barbecue, members will appreciate a time and place to relax and converse.
However you build fellowship in your club, make sure potential members are welcome too — so they can see that Kiwanis is about fun as well as service. Want an idea? Watch our recent podcast episode in which a member of the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, discusses its monthly “Kiwanis Socials.”