How to Start a Jewish Club for Girls
Visitors to the Holocaust Museums in Washington, D.C. and Illinois are often surprised to learn that children's clubs were a big part of life within the confines of World War II ghettos. Not much has changed over the past 60 years. Faith-based clubs for kids are everywhere, so if you are planning to start a contemporary one just for Jewish girls, you will be following in some deep footprints. Read the story of Leah Larson of Massachusetts (link below) to find out why she has made forming a Jewish girl's club a personal priority and then set about starting yours using the tips in this article.
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Things You'll Need
- Mission statement
- Robert's Rules of Order
- Membership flyer
- Membership application form
- Dues structure
- Members
- Officers
- Adult advisor
- Activities
Instructions
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Draft a mission statement outlining the objective of the organization, establish age parameters for members and list goals you hope to achieve by launching your Jewish girl's club .Learn Jewish crafts and folk dances, find pen pals in Israel, and make Jewish friends, for example.
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Set up a governing and advisory structure. Use the mission statement to write by-laws and membership guidelines, including membership recruitment and a membership fee structure. Decide how to conduct meetings and, if appropriate, use Robert's Rules of Order as your etiquette guide. Determine who will be the club's adult advisor if you do not plan to assume that role.
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3
Design recruiting tools targeted at young girls. Create a fun flyer with a short, information-packed message to announce the launch of your Jewish girl's club. Make the flyer into a PDF so that you can circulate it via the Internet. Obtain lists of Jewish girls from religious schools, synagogues, Bat Mitzvah class rosters, Hebrew school programs, and similar sources.
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Appoint a temporary club leader to call the first meeting to order at a pre-selected venue and time. Explain the club's mission, goals, objectives, and activities to invitees. Ask attendees to join the club and pass out application forms. Open the meeting to nominees willing to serve as officers during the club's premier year of operation. Elect a president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary.
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Ask the new officers to set up a one-year meeting schedule so members can mark their calendars. Organize a planning committee to come up with ideas for events, projects, and activities in keeping with the club's mission. Leave some wiggle room in the agenda and activity schedule for summer vacations and make certain not to schedule meetings during the High Holy Days in the spring and fall.
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Expect leaders to emerge from the membership as a whole. Encourage healthy discourse to help shape the organization's future. Whether the mission of your Jewish girl's club is to support a cause or simply to provide a structured environment for socializing, allow members to have a voice in the club's direction and it will thrive.
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