DEI: Applying a DEI Lens on Membership

One of the ways in which we can be a more inclusive organization is by recruiting diverse members as well as putting into place procedures that help retain them. Recruiting members is about building relationships and making the League easily accessible. Retention is about helping new members feel comfortable, welcome, connected, and not overwhelmed. The following are some questions to ask yourself:

Outreach:

    • Do you regularly partner with diverse organizations or groups (academic, youth, religious, social, etc.)? 
    • Do you send a representative to your partners’ meetings? Keeping up these relationships can help others outside of the League become familiar with your League and its work.
    • Sometimes it can take a while for someone to feel ready to join. Are you staying in touch with prospective members, answering their questions, and  inviting them to events without being too pushy?

Recruiting Materials:

    • Do your recruiting materials need to be updated? Do they look outdated or overly wordy? You should have something you can hand people to invite them to join.
    • Is the website easy to navigate? Can folks pay online? Are you asking for their interests in the membership application?
    • Is it time to upgrade your membership system?
    • Are you using social media to recruit new members?

Accessibility:

    • Fees:
    • Are you offering free student memberships?
    • Is there a sliding scale option or a way for people to join at a reduced fee?
    • Is your League membership fee a barrier for those who may not have the discretionary resources to join?
    • Are there other options your League can provide to encourage participation from outside the “usual” League sphere?Are the places where you have your events wheelchair accessible? Are there ramps, elevators, lifts, etc?
    • If you’re holding events at night, have you considered organizing carpools for those who are uncomfortable driving at night?
    • Do you offer childcare, a babysitter share, or activities for young children at the event or meeting?
    • Can you provide an interpreter for deaf or non-English speaking participants?

Onboarding members:

    • Do you send a welcome email or call new members?
    • Is there an orientation session (virtual, pre-recorded or in person) that helps new members get acclimated?
    • Do you have any materials that explain the structure of your League, issues you focus on, calendar of events, or other materials that will acclimate new members?

Micro-tasks:

    • Do you have easier, bite-sized tasks that are well defined so that new members can feel comfortable joining in without getting too overwhelmed? Too often we throw new members into the deep end and ask them to join the board or take on a leadership position before they feel ready.
    • Do your tasks/roles have written position descriptions?
    • Are you letting the members determine their own capacity? Be careful about assuming that someone may be too busy or unable to complete a certain type of task.
    • Are you making assumptions about the type of tasks your new members want to/are able to do? (e.g. giving younger members tech-related jobs)

Membership team:

    • Do you have a membership team that helps with recruitment and retention?
    • Do you have a buddy system or something that allows new members to connect to the organization?
    • What tools do you have in place to support your team's work? Do you have a spreadsheet with new members to keep track of them?

Support new/different ideas:

    • Are you too focused on maintaining the “League Way”? Old systems, old ways of thinking and performing -- let’s toss some of those away and be truly transformative in our work, opening up ourselves to new ideas and thinking about HOW we do our work. Don’t be afraid of trying something new. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, readjust and try again or move on and learn from that experience.
    • Even if the idea is different from what we usually do, maybe the rules need to change.
    • If you need to disagree with an idea, are you clear about why the idea won’t work? Are you still supportive of the person who shared the idea?
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