Initial Planning
You may want to get a small group of people together to help you plan and do publicity for a kick-off meeting. Use word of mouth and small-scale advertising to find out who might be interested in helping.

It is important not to let this planning group become the “in clique.” Also, be sure not to set anything in stone until an entire group can vote on it. Otherwise, it may become very difficult to get other people to join and to be active in your group.

Outreach
Outreach is one of the most basic tasks in organizing. You should always be trying to bring new people into the group. Remember, how and where you reach out to people will determine the kind of group you will create. If you only talk to white students, or if all of the people in the planning group are men, the group will lack diversity. Below is a simple plan for outreach

1) Answer the Question: Why would someone want to join this group? (It may be different for different people, but the answer should be a part of all the outreach you do.)

2) General Publicity: You want to broadcast far and wide that a group is forming or reforming. There are a thousand different ways to do general publicity. They include emails to individuals and email lists, posters, leaflets, table tents (folded leaflets on cafeteria tables), chalking the sidewalk or blackboards, banners, ads or articles in the campus newspaper, Public Service Announcements on the campus radio, putting notices in a daily bulletin, bathroom graffiti, skywriting, word of mouth, street theater, ESP, blaring it over a bull horn at lunch, etc. The more people hear about you, the more likely they are to attend. Remember to put the time and place of your kick-off meeting on everything, as well as contact info.

3) Lists: Develop a list of interested people. Only about 1/3 of the list will probably attend meetings, but it’s a base with which to work. You may want to set up a table in the student union, cafeteria or other places where people gather. Have pens and paper out for people to sign up with contact information. Hint: put your name on the list - no one likes to be “first.” You may also want to give 2-5 minute presentations to amenable classes. Don’t forget to mention the time and place of the meeting. After the presentation, pass around a sign up sheet for “people who want more information.”