Here are a few ways to get other Kiwanis family members involved in your club’s service.
By Tony Knoderer
When your Kiwanis club is involved in a service activity, it’s always a great idea to partner with fellow clubs from the Kiwanis family — including one or more clubs from our Service Leadership Programs. More volunteers mean more impact, of course, but collaboration also builds a relationship between clubs. That’s especially important when you sponsor an SLP club. For a successful collaboration, use these tips:
- Encourage participation. Which of the Kiwanis club’s service activities would be a good fit for SLP members? Ask your club’s advisors to the SLP clubs you sponsor — and then have them share information about those opportunities at SLP club meetings. (Extra idea: Have the Kiwanis advisor hold a vote for the SLP members to choose the service they’re most interested in supporting.)
- Issue invitations. Create an invitation email or card for one or more activities. Include dates, times and locations of each event if you already know these details. Give the email or card to the Kiwanis advisor to send to the SLP club and collect RSVPs for the Kiwanis club.
- Make sure everyone feels comfortable. Help SLP club members learn about Kiwanis. For example, the Kiwanis advisor can talk about the similarities of the two clubs. And during a Kiwanis club meeting, encourage your own members to visit the SLP program’s website. (Links can be found here.) If you’re partnering with an Aktion Club and have members who haven’t worked with adults with disabilities, it might also help to read and use the guidelines for working with Aktion club members.
- Make volunteering with SLPs easy for your own members. Have your club’s webmaster work with the Kiwanis advisor to create a page where the SLP clubs’ service activity schedules can be posted. Include an invitation for Kiwanians to participate — with the Kiwanis advisor’s contact information so people can reach out and sign up for an event.
Does your club have a success story based on collaboration with club from one of our SLPs? Let us know! Email shareyourstory@kiwanis.org. We might share your story with other Kiwanis clubs!