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Maintaining Momentum
As you know, members are essential to student
organizations. It is important to know how to keep
members interested and working for the good of the
organization. By using these suggestions your
organization should have little difficulty
attracting new members and retaining the ones it
already has.
Four Basic Motivations for Involvement
Security
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Acceptance into groups that they consider to be
important to their well being
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Routine/regular operations and activities
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Not thrust into new situations rapidly and
without warning
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Acceptance by the group
New Experience
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Seeking contact with new people
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Creating new social situations in which to
become involved
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Learning and accepting new and different
responsibilities
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Learning to play new and different roles
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Desire for challenge
Recognition
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The need to feel important
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Viewing ourselves in relationship to how we feel
others view us
Response
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Satisfaction with recognition and empathy from
others
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Understanding and acceptance from others
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Sense of belonging with and to other people
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Confidence in ourselves and in others
Keys to Maintaining Members and their Momentum
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Effective training
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Meeting personal interests and needs
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Allowing members to design and implement their
own ideas and objectives
How to Maintain Momentum
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Explain the purpose of the group clearly
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Have a positive "we can" attitude
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Develop clear expectations of assignments (What
needs to be done? By when?)
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Allow for personal growth (What does the member
want to learn?)
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Offer feedback
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Organize an effective training program
(Remember, people learn in various ways)
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Provide a sense of unity
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Compliment good work
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Reward good effort
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Help members set achievable goals
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Initiate recognition
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Initiate social interaction
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Recognize individual achievement
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Conduct exit interviews with those who leave the
organization to find out why they left the group
– this will provide important information on how
things can be changed to make the environment
more satisfying for everyone
Adapted from Cornell University (http://www.sao.cornell.edu/SO/Policies/advisors2.html)
and Frostburg University (http://involvement.frostburg.edu/studentactivities/pdf/handbook.pdf).
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