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Maintain Momentum

atlanta-ga from Atlanta, Georgia June 12, 2014

Hi there! I am wondering if you have faced problems keeping your committee motivated in the midst of busy schedules, etc? How do you maintain momentum without overwhelming people or becoming overwhelmed yourself?

Community Answers

  1. If your team suffers from event fatigue, focus on organizing just one or two major events per year, and maybe join in one or two more events that someone else is organizing in your community – for example, our campaign marches in a Holiday parade laid on by the town, which gives us visibility but doesn’t require too much time commitment. And try to tap into your team’s interests, talents and connections, so that what you ask them to do feels more like fun than a burden.

    Anna McMahon from Bethlehem, New York - 10 years ago
  2. Anna, being involved with a parade is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

    Stephanie - 10 years ago
  3. Some other ideas could be:
    – bring in a guest speaker to your next meeting like a coffee roaster, human trafficking organization, or a chocolatier. These campaigns are of course about getting things done but people love to have FUN! You can do this by learning about the issues that Fair Trade addresses or the yummy products.
    – Sample new products at your meeting
    – Host a potluck for the committee and watch a documentary to get people inspired again. Try Dark Side of Chocolate or Stand with Me!

    Courtney Lang from School - 10 years ago
  4. Invite interested people to do a specific task, rather than just asking them to attend meetings or be on a committee. We have great responses when we ask people to make snacks with FT ingredients for our events. Recently we asked someone who is just getting involved to sit at the door and collect tickets for an event and that was a good way to begin to get her involved and build on her enthusiasm. Like Anna, we get involved with a local parade each year and it’s become a big event. People now recognize our float and look for us in the parade.

    mdruschel from Mankato Area Fair Trade Town Initiative (MAFTTI) - 10 years ago
  5. Thank you! These are all great ideas- I think they will help a lot!

    Tirzah Brown from Atlanta, Georgia - 10 years ago

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