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Membership Officer - First Steps: Difference between revisions

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m Initial Goal: Clarity: Made consistent with workshop changes
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* [[Membership Officer - Working with Area Coordinators]]  
* [[Membership Officer - Working with Area Coordinators]]  
** ☐ If your Local Group has Area Coordinators, send an email introducing yourself to each one
** ☐ If your Local Group has Area Coordinators, send an email introducing yourself to each one
* [[Membership Officer - Working with the Editor]]
* [[Membership Officer - Working with Local Group Communications]]
** ☐ Contact the Newsletter Editor to clarify submission deadlines and the preferred method and format for content submission
** ☐ Contact the Newsletter Editor to clarify submission deadlines and the preferred method and format for content submission
** ☐ Contact other communication contacts in your Local Group '''to discuss NEED TO COMPLETE THIS'''
* National Office Membership Staff
* National Office Membership Staff
** ☐ Understand [[National Office Staff Contacts|who to contact]] at the National Office
** ☐ Understand [[National Office Staff Contacts|who to contact]] at the National Office
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* ☐ Learn how to access the Local Group file repository, if the Local Group uses one
* ☐ Learn how to access the Local Group file repository, if the Local Group uses one


== Initial Goal: Clarity ==
== What Success Looks Like ==
You should have a basic understanding of:
You should have a basic understanding of:


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* What [[Membership Officer - Recurring tasks|recurring tasks]] exist   
* What [[Membership Officer - Recurring tasks|recurring tasks]] exist   
* Who your key points of contact are  
* Who your key points of contact are  
** See: [[Membership Officer - Working with Other Roles]]


== What is Not Part of First Steps ==
== What is Not Part of First Steps ==

Revision as of 02:58, 31 May 2026

  New to the role? Start here. You don’t need to do everything at once.

Purpose

Your first days are about understanding how things work — not fixing everything.

Focus

The initial goal is to get oriented, build connections, and identify essential tasks.

  Success in this phase means you feel oriented, not overwhelmed.

First Steps

Understand Your Role

Connect with Key People

  • ☐ Schedule a Membership Officer - Handoff, if the previous Membership Office is available
    • ☐ If there isn't a handoff, find out if and how new members are initially contacted
  • Membership Officer - Working with Local Leadership
    • ☐ Ask the LocSec to have membership@localgroup.us.mensa.org redirected to your email address
    • ☐ Understand the geographic area of your Local Group
    • ☐ Attend your first ExComm meeting
    • ☐ Ask how what type and how often local leadership would like new member events to occur
    • ☐ Ask if local leadership reaches out to new members as well as the Membership Officer doing so

Access the Membership Tools Available on the National Website

Access Chapter Tools

  • ☐ Ensure you can access chapter communication channels (e.g., Facebook, Meetup, Discord)
  • ☐ Learn how to access the Local Group file repository, if the Local Group uses one

What Success Looks Like

You should have a basic understanding of:

What is Not Part of First Steps

  • Redesigning systems
  • Launching new programs
  • Fixing long-standing issues

Common Pitfalls

  • Trying to fix everything immediately
  • Assuming previous volunteers did things “wrong”
  • Overcommitting early
  • Not asking questions

If You Feel Overwhelmed

That’s normal.

Focus on:

  • One task at a time
  • Asking for help
  • Keeping things simple

Next Step

Once you feel oriented, move to: