Reaching out

Communication is key to maintaining a successful society. Ex-president of award-winning society Aston Women in Business Cheyenne Chauman gives Hype the lowdown on reaching out to members and sponsors. This is part three of her blog. Check out parts one and two.

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Here are a few tips on maintaining great relationships:

SEEKING SPONSORS/EXTERNALS/THIRD PARTIES/CLIENTS

Create a PDF document to attach to emails explaining your society to sponsors and externals. It shouldn’t take long and will look super professional. You can add how you started, what you do, how many students are normally apart a member, and your vision for the future. If you’re reaching out for funding, this will go the extra mile too.
When emailing, introduce who you are, and how you managed to get their contact – this will make it a bit more personal, and they’re less likely to ignore you.
Round up the email asking for phone call. You can express how passionate you are, and how much you’d like their help.
Stuck on who to approach for sponsorship? Reach out to Hype Collective (cheeky plug ?). The Hype Collective team helped Aston Women in Business with funding for the Women’s Ball with Co-Op Food. They’re a friendly team, and always happy to help – just drop them an email! P.S. They’ve got some wicked brands, who may even offer to give you some freebie merchandise.

2. MAINTAINING A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Social media – do we even remember the time without it? The main channels my team and I used were Facebook and Instagram.

Try and set a schedule each month, on what you’d like to share. Also, don’t just post for the sake of it, the idea is to get likes and shares, not just a long list of unengaged followers.
Don’t always post about you! Post what will benefit your followers. Often, we may post about free events, exciting job role, a relevant news story.
BE FUN! Organise social challenges or competitions e.g. “first 5 to share and tag 3 friends wins…..”
Don’t be afraid to utilise other clubs and societies accounts to help you. If you have an event coming up, ask another club or soc to promote it for you on their channels, or even with emails!
Have variety! Don’t just post words, use videos, Facebook Live, photos… ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. We often used FB Live, and this worked a treat for us!

3. ASK FOR HELP!

Running a society can be hard, so remember to give yourself a pat on the back now and then. Don’t be afraid to ask for help… There is no shame in that! I would always ask the previous presidents for little words of wisdom, and you know what, that’s what makes it enjoyable as you become a part of a wider alumni.

Lastly, enjoy your year, this should be a fun experience! X

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