Organizing Home Meetings

Home meetings are a great way to build your organization or campaign.  Home meetings are informal educational events that occur in a volunteer’s home or apartment.  Home meeting hosts can invite friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be active in their organization or issue.  Finally, home meetings are an easy and enjoyable way to develop the skills of new volunteers.

Invite a Speaker

• Make sure you have a knowledgeable speaker willing to participate; the speaker could be a staff person or an expert on the issue.
• Encourage the use of videos or slide shows if available or appropriate.

Choose a Date and Time

• Plan a date and time for your meeting which will be convenient for your invitees.  A good time for many people is week nights (except Friday) at 7:00 or 8:00 pm.

Invite Attendees

• Invite your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives to attend – anyone who maybe sympathetic to your issue.
• Invite about 30-40 people if you want 10-12 to attend.
• Follow up with a phone call if you do not get a response in about a week.

Make Reminder Calls

• Call everyone who has said they will attend a few days before your meeting. Even if someone has made a commitment to attend your meeting, remind them anyway.
• Call to confirm your speaker. 

Plan for your meeting

• Be as creative as you like- barbecue, potluck dinner, costume party, or coffee hour.
• Provide fact sheets, letter writing materials, and membership forms.

Host your meeting

• Delegate all tasks for the meeting, so you can be available for questions and attendees comforts.
• If preparation is done right, the meeting should be fun.

Sample Agenda

• Introductions
• Background on your organization
• Discussion of the issue- problem & solution
• Letter writing or other action
• Commitments for future actions