OFTW University of Queensland kickoff 2022

A One for the World chapter Kickoff Event is the first public event that a new chapter holds and acts as both an introduction to OFTW for the general student body and as an initial recruiting event for potential team members.

A kickoff event typically happens in the very first week of classes, and preferably just after the clubs fair. This way, you can invite everyone you spoke to at the club fair to this introductory event, where they can learn more. 

The goals of a kickoff event:

• Provide an opportunity for students to learn about your chapter and One for the World for the first time
• Convince or inspire new students to apply for positions on your team
• Attract altruistically-minded students who can then be added to your potential pledge tracker and will form the basis of your journey of engagement!

Contents:

1. Identifying A Speaker
2. Sample Agenda
3. Kickoff event checklist

Identifying a Speaker

Kick-off Events involve someone talking about the basics behind One for the World - extreme poverty and effective giving. There are several straightforward options for a speaker:       

• You or your co-president! 
  • You provide the perfect messaging and are able to relate to your fellow students in a way that no other speaker can. Also, there are almost no logistical issues to consider! 
• Professor involved with Effective Giving or working in a similar field
  
  • Well-known professors can be a big draw on campus and will often advertise the event in their classes.
  • Be sure to align with them on content ahead of the event.
  • Remember that the point of this event is to introduce students to One for the World for the first time, so we want to ensure that they leave with a decent understanding of what we do.

Sample Agenda

Introduction (~5 minutes, Chapter Leader)

• Welcome & thank everyone for coming
• Provide a brief agenda and state how long the evening will run for
• Mention the sign-in sheets where they should enter their email 
• Share your personal story and why you’re excited to bring OFTW to your school. 
• (Introduce speaker)

Speaker (~15 minutes)

Option A: Guest Speaker / Professor (~15 minutes):

• Content will be created by the speaker. They should emphasize the power / responsibility students have - positive change (usually) comes from passionate young people eager to make the world a better place.
• Optional: It’s great if the call to action can also come from the guest speaker or professor (evidence suggests that ‘third party asks’ have a higher success rate than direct asks)
  • • Eg. "Before I finish, I’d like to encourage you to consider joining the OFTW chapter at X and to think about the 1% pledge so we can make effective giving the norm here at X.”

Option B: Chapter Leader (~15 minutes):

• Develop content based on the Intro to OFTW Deck or Giving Lunch deck as a reference point 

• Deliver your call to action at the end of your remarks:

• • • Apply to be a member of the team
  • Follow our chapter on social media
  • Consider taking the 1% pledge! 

Brief Q & A (~5 minutes)

• Speaker and/or chapter leaders will answer questions about the presentation and OFTW
• Have some planted questions in case people are hesitant
  
  • “What about other causes like climate change, animal welfare, etc.”
  • “How do you define ‘most effective’?”

Closing statement / call to action (~2 minutes)

• Explain why you got involved - should be brief, inspirational, and personal 
  • See slide 6 of this deck for an example of this!
• Introduce the positions available (i.e. executive board and student ambassador) and explain that they’ll receive an email with information and an application if they put their email down 
  • Read more about positions and applications on the recruitment page!
• Announce when/where/what your next event will be, and encourage everyone to attend. 
• End with a direct call to action - “If any of this resonates with you please talk to me afterwards, submit your email and apply for a position! Also, think about taking the 1% pledge!” 
• Invite people to stay after to chat more!

Socializing and networking (~30 minutes)

• Chat with students who'd like to get involved and answer questions.  Build relationships by having great conversations with people, but also be mindful of your calls to action 
  • Get the phone numbers of interested attendees and offer to get coffee and talk more about available positions, effective giving, etc. Note: important to schedule it then and there, as some folks will be hard to reach after the event
• Don’t be shy about asking people to pledge after the event. Making the ask can be an awkward part of the OFTW process, but it’s also the most important one! 
• Make sure you have multiple laptops with private / incognito tabs open with the chapter’s Donational page ready
  • Enthusiastic folks should pledge at the event and take pics with the 'I took the 1% pledge' sign

Kickoff Event checklist

1. Decide who will be the speaker for the event and confirm their availability
2. Find a venue for the event (book a space with your university, host it in a cafe or outside if the weather is nice!)
3. Start advertising the event on your OFTW social media pages, your personal page, any class facebook groups or group chats, etc.
4. At the Clubs fair, invite everyone who approaches your table to the kickoff event! You could hand out physical invitations, and/or send out an email to everyone who joins your mailing list at the fair.
5. Prepare the content for the event. If you are presenting, make sure you review the OFTW Intro deck and adapt it as you see fit 
   1. You should adjust the agenda, add a slide announcing the application process and list of the available positions, add your email address at the end, etc. 
6. Send out a reminder the day of the event.
7. Organize your materials:
   1. Prepare a sign up sheet for people to add their name and email to at the event. 
   2. Make sure you have your 'I give 1%' sign, fliers,  and any other physical marketing materials ready
   3. Have multiple laptops ready to go with the donational page and sign up sheets
   4. If you want to have food at your event (pizza, cookies) make sure you order this in advance. You can be reimbursed for this here!
8. Run the event! Remember to socialize with as many people as possible and take down contact information for everyone that attends.
9. Follow up with all attendees and encourage them to either apply for a position, sign up for a coffee chat, or come to your next event.