THE PROBLEM: We have a list of say 100 students on the mailing list,
either a postal mailing list or an e-mailing list.
But only about half or a third come to any meeting.
(Maybe you get only 10%; that is not unheard of.)

    Every UU campus ministry has similar problems of attracting students
---both students who have had some contact with the campus group in the past and students who have never been to a UU meeting.
 

    SOLUTIONS PROPOSED AND TRIED:

James Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Because there are always other interesting and important things to do,
the UU campus group needs to present programs that are
more interesting and important then the competing activities.

    One way this might be done is
presenting a list of proposed programs to everyone on the e-mailing list
and asking them to VOTE on which programs
would be most interesting to them.
(My own list of suggestions
will appear on your screen if you click the next line:)
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CM-PROGU.html

    When you offer the list of proposed programs,
ask for additional suggestions.
Perhaps someone who has not come to any of the planning meetings
will have something to suggest that will bring not only him or her
to the meetings but also some others who have been waiting
for something of compelling interest to be offered.
Students not only have good ideas,
but some of them have contacts that the planners know nothing about.

2. A WEEKLY E-MAIL REMINDER AND REPORT

James Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Make sure students remember what is going to happen this week
or this month (however often the meetings take place).

        E-mail may be the best way to do this.
(At one time the University Unitarian Universalists
at the University of Minnesota
sent a weekly POSTCARD to everyone on the mailing list,
giving a brief description of the upcoming program.)
The timing of this communication may be quite important.
Perhaps it should arrive in the mail box (of either type)
one or two days before the meeting.

    This assumes that there has been advance notice of the meeting
some weeks ahead of time, for instance,
a schedule for the whole semester that was published in advance.

    Besides reminding students of the upcoming program,
this weekly message could also review
what happened in the program just past
---both for people who were there and for those who missed it.
When I was staff person for the UUU,
I wrote a brief report on each meeting.
This took 20 minutes for each event.
(It was also a way of thinking about what went right and what went wrong.)
This was before the days of e-mail,
but now I think I would send a brief message to everyone on the mailing list,
saying how many people attended the meeting
and possibly some highlights of what happened.

        If your group has a home page,
that could be a place to collect these brief reports of past gatherings.
In my reading of home pages of UU groups on campus,
none has tried to do this.
But it would be a useful addition to the brief descriptions of programs.

    In my view, it is also a good idea
to keep past programs listed on your home page,
so that new people can see the whole scope of what you do.
But adding some comments about the success (or failure)
of each scheduled program after it is past
may add a dimension that will entice more students
to participate in the upcoming programs.

    Do we need to remind ourselves that
attending UU programs on or near campus
is a completely voluntary activity for each individual who participates?
I think of these decisions to attend or not to attend as threshold decisions:
There are lots of people aware of the program before it happens.
And many of these are almost ready to make the effort.
So what slight additional encouragement will tip the decision
in the direction of attending?

    I would concentrate on these people on the verge of attending
rather than spending lots of money advertising to strangers
who may have no knowledge of UUism
and/or who may be hostile to anything that seem religious.

    If you would like to read a report of a typical meeting of the
University Unitarian Universalists at the University of Minnesota,
click here:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/UUU-REP.html

    This report took only a few minutes to write.
And besides putting it on my home page
with some other UU campus ministry resources,
I sent copies to all of the local UU congregations,
which are the only sources of financial support for
the Minnnesota Unitarian Universalist Campus Ministries.

    So if you are going to write a report of an campus ministry event,
you might as well send it to the governing board
that funds your organization,
if you think that could help to keep the money coming
to make such events possible.
(There may be a danger of too much information.
Do not overburden the Board of Directors or Board of Trustees.)

    And while you are at it,
you might as well share your program report with this whole list: UUCM-L.
If we are too busy to read it, we can always skip it.
But I think that most of us would like to read
what is happening on other campuses.

(I welcome further comments on these suggestions.
Write to me, James Park, e-mail: <PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU>.)

3. INDIVIDUAL E-MAIL AND PHONE CALL FROM THE CAMPUS MINISTER

Todd Strickland
Intern Minister, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church
Campus Minister, Virginia UU Students (VUUS), Charlottesville, VA

    I would like to share a success that we had recently
at the University of Virginia.
At the Student Activities Fair,
incoming students move from table to table
signing their name and email address and phone numbers to
any group that seems half interesting to them.
After the Fair, we had a list of 60 new students.
As I understand it, we had a similar number of names
last year after the fair but only a couple ever came to meetings.
In politics, we used to say that a list like the one generated at the Fair
was broad but shallow commitment.
The question is how to deepen their sense
of the significance that the UU community could be for them.

    Of course, we sent out a mass emailing to everyone on the list
plus the old members from the previous year.
But, as wonderful as email is for improving communication,
mass email can also be as useless as junk snail mail.
Everyone knows that they are just another name on a list
in some giant server.

    So, in addition to the mass emailing,
I sent what was basically the same letter to everyone on the list.
But, I made a few modifications and I addressed everyone individually
and sent them out to their own individual email address, not the list server.
I followed that email up with a phone call
to each new person on the list.
I invited them to the first meeting,
told them what would happen at the first meeting,
let them briefly know that I was available to them as their campus minister,
and how they could reach me if they had questions.

    Is that trickery or manipulation?
Some might think so.
But, I think it demonstrated that they are more than just a name on the list
and that someone considered them to be important enough
to take some extra time to reach out to them.
And apparently they got the message.
20 of the 60 students showed up for the first meeting.

Todd Strickland
Intern Minister, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church
Campus Minister, Virginia UU Students (VUUS)
e-mail: <UUTodd@aol.com>

4. SEVERAL METHODS TRIED AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON

by Kelly Banz, Madison Wisconsin

Campus Outreach at UW-Madison

Background
Methods:
1. Chalking the Sidewalks.
2. Posters around Campus.
3. Advertising in Newspapers.
4. Tabling in the Student Union.
5. Personal Invitations to Other Students.

Background

    When our campus/young adult ministry group
was revitalized at the beginning of this academic year,
we decided we needed to both
deepen our group as well as widen it.
Because of my contact with other religious groups
I have seen the importance of outreach to the public,
not just as “recruitment” but also education.
So I chose to be our group’s advertising coordinator.

    UW-Madison is extremely large,
and in a community that is generally supportive of UU
(witness our famous Frank Lloyd Wright
designed First Unitarian Meeting House).
Though we as a campus/young adult group
have been fortunate to have a large population to work with,
as anyone who’s ever said to a stranger that they are Unitarian knows,
hardly anyone knows what it is or what it means to us.
So we had two goals in mind:
to increase awareness and to increase attendance at functions.
Our approach was 5-fold:
(1) chalkings, (2) posters, (3) newspaper advertisements,
(4) tabling, and (5) personal outreach.

1. Chalking the Sidewalks.

    The first has proved the most successful.
At our campus, student groups use sidewalk chalk
to advertise events on the ground.
I have only ever seen this done in Madison;
I would check tradition and regulations before doing this in your city.
Because of our cold winters this is really only effective during fall and spring! Everyone looks at the ground, and kiosks are saturated with posters
that are covered by other posters almost daily.
Using colorful chalk like bright blue or yellow grabs people’s attention.
We chalked in front of popular buildings and heavily used walkways,
like the union or Bascom Hill which has a lot of classroom buildings on it.
Because of traffic, the advertisements get rubbed out within a day or so,
so we have to keep writing it every week.
Our worships are on Thursdays;
I discovered the best time to chalk was late Tuesday night.
There is usually enough ambient light to chalk effectively.
Also, surprisingly, I recommend
writing out any difficult words on a sheet of paper;
I was surprised to discover, while chalking a few times,
that I could not remember how to spell “Buddhist” or “religious”
—things don’t look the same in large letters on the ground.
I used several different types.
At first the chalkings were long and elaborate;
I’d write, “Thomas Jefferson. Susan B. Anthony. P. T. Barnum.
What do these people have in common?
They’re all Unitarian Universalists!
6 PM Thursday St Francis House corner of University and Brooks.”
That was FAR too long.
Sometimes I’d say something provocative:
“Unitarian Universalism:
Happily pissing off the religious right for centuries.”
Or, “Fight religious fanaticism! Join the Unitarian Universalists.”
Since most people who come already know about UU,
sometimes just writing,
“Campus Unitarian Universalists. 6 PM… etc” was sufficient.
Often I would appeal to interfaith:
“So you’re a Buddhist-neo-pagan? So are we! Unitarian… etc”
Usually I stuck to:
“Susan B. Anthony (if I were in front of a humanities building,
or Linus Pauling  if I were in front of Physics, etc)
was a Unitarian! 6 PM, etc”,
I got a list of famous UU s from the UUA website.
Chalking has brought in quite a few people;
usually, students or others who have grown up Unitarian
but, as is so common at the campus/young adult ministry level,
fell through the cracks and had no idea there was a group nearby.
We advertised using the names of famous UUs to get people’s attention;
this actually caused some confusion
as a few individual thought it was a seminar or talk about them!

2. Posters around Campus.

    I designed posters and advertisements with the group,
and we have been putting up posters not outdoors but indoors,
with the hope that they will be noticed for longer.
We incorporated the chalice into them,
used bright background paper on some,
and differently colored ink on others to stand out.
We pulled quotes from the UU hymnal and from other sources,
usually Unitarian but not always,
that typified one of the UUA’s Principles and Purposes;
for instance, a Fahs quote in the hymnal about divisive beliefs.
The posters were set up as follows:
a chalice sign from a sheet of chalice designs
(can be from any UU document)
was scanned in and used as a background
(very easy to do, any computer consultant can help).
Left justified was a quote. For instance, one said,
“The earth does not belong to us….” from Chief Seattle.
Right justified underneath that
was a phrase tying it to a UU Principle or Source;
“As UU s, we believe in honoring earth centered traditions
and respect for the interdependent web
of all existence of which we are a part.”
In small print below was the “usual” information
—date, time, web address, etc.
At first I used different fonts;
this may or may not be useful,
I thought later perhaps it would be more reinforcing to use all the same.
All the quotes came from the UU hymnal.
I found them literally by paging through the back section
where there are opening, closing, ceremonial, etc quotes.
I chose or edited 4-6 lines that I felt reflected the group or UU well.
Others began:  “Because I cannot do everything…”
Also a Fahs quote and Emerson, and Shakespeare.
Most of these can be found by paging through the hymnal.
Another set used famous UUs;
this was a series of 4,
each with Literature/Arts; Scientists; Political; Humanitarian.

3. Advertising in Newspapers.

    The newspaper advertisements have turned out to be the least effective.
Working with the papers here has been an exercise in tolerance;
it took 3 runs before both papers finally got it right.
They turn out to be extremely expensive
(about $50 for a single run of 4 by 5 inches),
even for student papers,
and we never got much feedback as to whether people have seen them.
The ads posed a series of questions
about what a person wants or believes, such as,
“Do you think your spiritual home
should be made out of many different materials?
Do you believe both science and religion teach us how to live well?
Congratulations! You’re a Unitarian Universalist! Info…”
We have decided not to use newspaper advertising
unless it is for a very special event being put on,
such as our current attempts to get a Billings Fund speaker,
rather than as a vehicle for general awareness-raising.

4. Tabling in the Student Union.

    The tabling has been the most people-intensive,
but consequently, one of the most rewarding.
Unlike the other three methods, which usually just involved me,
a telephone, and some thumbtacks,
the tabling provided a way to get the group involved.
Tabling is the phrase we use for setting up an information table
at the student union for a few hours
to hand out literature and discuss things with passers-by.
We sometimes got people who had never heard of UU ism;
they knew right away from a few sentences
whether it was what they thought it was or not
and whether they would stay!
The best time to table in closer to the beginning of the week
during the lunch hours, 11-3.
We had “A UU book bag”, people could look at:
Bible, Tao Te Ching, Earth Prayers,
100 Questions…” Our Chosen Faith.
We had planned to play Bela Bartok and Edvard Grieg
but that did not work out.
We had flyers from all the congregations, plus UUA brochures:
I do not like the Young Adult brochure,
but we did have out “Welcoming Congregations,”
“What is UU?”, “UU Views on the Bible,”
“UU from Catholic and Jewish Perspectives,”
“The Faith of a Humanist,” and a few others.
We generally tried to give out one card and one brochure,
and always asked if they wanted to be on our email list
(WE only send out one email a  week,
since we know people don’t like
to get a zillion emails a day from a list serve).
We had a large sign that said,
“UU: A Liberal Religious Ministry,”
which brought up interesting questions
from some passers-by as to what “liberal” means.
We have had some surprisingly vehement resistance;
sometimes from people who say
(direct quotes) “you’re just another missionizing Christian sect”
to “you are questioning God’s word
when all you need is to fall to your knees and beg.”
One person who was not a UU but knew about UUism
said he were disappointed we had started advertising
and would disapprove of us from then on.
Partly as a result, we held a conflict management workshop this fall.
We had many positive responses;
one youth UU flew across the room saying,
“Hooray, you’re HERE!”
We are in the process of developing
a campus group brochure for future tabling.
The interactions, however, are always enlightening.

5. Personal Invitations to Other Students.

    But of course our best means of outreach
is the kitchen table variety.
As UUs—and especially young adults—
we can be hesitant to say what we are and believe
when in situations where it is relevant;
the most common reason someone comes in has been
—and always will be—because they knew a Unitarian-Universalist.
After all, that is how I found out and became a UU!
But, outreach to the public is important
because our goal, as a non-creedal or missionizing sect,
is not to swell the ranks but to help others on their spiritual journey;
if coming into contact with UU,
even if just a cursory one, does that, than all effort is worth it.

    For more specific information and examples
of what our group has done, contact Mary Ann Macklin <maryannm@fusmadison.org> or 608.277.9774)
or Kelly Banz <kbbanz@students.wisc.edu> or 608.286.9331).
The UU Campus Ministry has a website under construction:
http://www.fusmadison.org/campus
Kelly is a senior majoring in Zoology.