American Evaluation Association - Local Affiliates Collaborative

Tip Sheet #1

Strategies to Recruit, Develop, and Sustain Affiliate Leaders

One of the challenges for local affiliates is maintaining leadership of their organizations.

Local affiliates offer these ideas of activities that have worked for them:

  • Have affiliate leaders brainstorm people and networks to cultivate.
  • Recruit leaders from a broad base, such as state and federal agencies, corporations, public school systems, universities, and city and county governments.
  • Make a concerted effort through local colleges and universities to bring young evaluators into your organization and leadership.
  • Use your membership application form to lists ways that people can be involved and ask applicants to check the activities in which they are interested.
  • Ask attendees at your meetings and events to volunteer on programming, membership, and other activities. Once volunteers have become familiar with the organization and gotten to know other members, ask them to lead committees and join the board.
  • Create teams to work on programs and projects. Provide opportunities for team leadership.
  • Acknowledge the work of volunteers: give verbal thanks to committee members, written thanks to program presenters, and certificates of appreciation to board members. Mention them all in your affiliate’s annual report.
  • Maintain a mix of older and newer members on the board to spread out turnover.
  • For recruitment and training, tap into existing networks of professionals and provide professional development that centers on their interests.
  • Organize training sessions with local evaluation experts and nationally known evaluators who are in town for other events. Co-sponsor events and build relationships with other organizations.
  • Conduct interesting and efficient board meetings. Involve board members in significant decision making and strategic planning for the organization. Consider easy-to-reach and affordable sites, including libraries and nice restaurants,as places for board meetings.

Case Study
The Minnesota Evaluation Association has a nine-member board that meets monthly. Aside from the Student Representative, who serves a one-year appointment, all board members are elected to staggered three-year positions. One-third of the board is elected every year. The President serves one year as President Elect, learning and observing, a second year as President, leading the board, and a third year as Past President, providing organizational memory. All other positions are specified, as well: Secretary, Treasurer, Program Chair, Communications Chair, and Member at Large (Membership). Board members often serve first on standing and ad hoc committees.

The Local Affiliates Collaborative Steering Committee wrote these tips based on the real-life experiencesof local affiliates across the country that were gathered in the Collaborative’s 2009 survey.

Contact us () with additional topics you would like to see covered in Tip Sheets.

AEA Affiliates Tip Sheets, Page 1 of 2