We are rapidly approaching the busy holiday season and don’t always have the chance to get together in person with our members before the start of the new year. However, we still want to keep our chapters at the forefront of our members’ minds and continue to engage with them outside of meetings and other formal chapter events. The holidays give us the opportunity to have some fun, relax and enjoy each other’s company in a different setting and without pressure and expectations. Consider a virtual meet-up or exchange in the next couple months to show appreciation for you members and keep them engaged.
Toast to Your Members – Invite members to a virtual ‘Toast to Members’ event to recognize your members’ accomplishments from this year as well as what is ahead for the new year. It’s a great opportunity to show gratitude for your chapter leaders as well as hearing about your members victories.
Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest - Many facilities or organizations hold an ugly holiday sweater contest, try this with your members as well. They can either post their photos to your preferred social media account or send them via email between set dates. Then, let your members vote to choose the member with the ugliest sweater. This is activity is always fun and gets a lot of laughs!
Recipe Swap – Another virtual event that does not take up much time, is a virtual recipe swap. This can be done at your members leisure or can be included as part of your ‘Toast to Members’ event. Ask members to submit their favorite recipe along with the reasons it’s their favorite (does it remind them of a loved one? Is it a tradition in their family, etc.). Once you have collected all the recipes, these can be combined into one document and sent out to all your members to use. No doubt you’ll get some great recipes along with some unique stories from members.
Member Check-In – While it would be ideal to meet face to face with all our members, there are many reasons we cannot, but we can reach out via phone, which is often the next best thing. Think about taking some time to reach out to your members individually via phone to say hello, see how they are doing and wish them a happy holiday season. Divide and conquer by separating the member roster by the number of chapter leaders on your board, and each one calling a portion of your members. If you have a large number, think about using your micro-volunteers for this job or sending emails or texts as well.
Reasons of Gratitude – We can all find at least one thing we are grateful for and often the holiday season is the time we think about this. Ask your members to post what they are grateful on your social media account. Then create a word cloud and post for all members to see, or in your next newsletter. You can also ask this of your members in your virtual holiday events.