2013 Honorable Mention: New Member Campaign

Program Goal

The Junior League of Atlanta received an Honorable Mention for its New Member Campaign. The initiative aimed to recruit women from minority groups who were not traditionally represented in the League’s membership in original and unconventional ways.

Program Description

In 2009, the League formed a Membership Recruitment Committee, which included a Director, a Diversity Champion, a Community Relations Chair, and a Recruitment Event Coordinator.

Charged with engaging new members of all races, national origins, occupations, social backgrounds, ages, and religions—a goal central to The Junior League’s Reaching Out Statement—the Committee developed a New Member Campaign that became known as “The Journey of a Lifetime” in 2010 and continued with momentum through 2011.

On a limited budget for advertising, public relations, catering and supplies, the Committee managed to reach out to sororities, professional associations, and rising seniors at the city’s universities with events such as retail mixers at popular shops that offered discounts.

Evaluation

The results of the campaign are many:  an unprecedented Provisional class of 319 for the 2011-2012 year; stronger ties with the community due to alliances forged during the campaign; and improved visibility as the primary organization for leadership training and voluntarism for women in Atlanta. Plus it taught League members the many meanings of diversity and the importance, and benefits, of inclusion on all fronts.