Membership Officer - First Steps
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
- ☐ Review your role page (e.g., Membership Officer) and its Role Overview
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
- Membership Officer - Working with Area Coordinators
- ☐ If your Local Group has Area Coordinators, send an email introducing yourself to each one
- 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 other communication contacts in your Local Group to discuss NEED TO COMPLETE THIS
- National Office Membership Staff
- ☐ Understand who to contact at the National Office
- ☐ Read the initial emails sent by the American Mensa, Ltd (AML) to new members
Access the Membership Tools Available on the National Website
- Ensure your credentials allow you to access:
- ☐ Local Group Reports
- ☐ Email My Members Tool
- ☐ Mensa Connect Membership Officer Community
- ☐ Ensure you can search the Member Directory
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:
- How new members are welcomed and communicated with
- Who is responsible for what locally
- What tools and systems are used
- What recurring tasks exist
- Who your key points of contact are
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: