When your Aktion Club is involved in a service activity, it’s always a great idea to partner with the sponsoring Kiwanis club. More volunteers mean more impact — and more fun for both Kiwanians and Aktion Club members. Use these tips as a guide to help with successful collaboration:
- Make sure everyone feels comfortable. Educate Aktion Club members about Kiwanis. For example, the Kiwanis advisor can share similarities of the two clubs. Also encourage Aktion Club members to visit kiwanis.org to learn about the organization. And during a Kiwanis club meeting, encourage members to visit aktionclub.org. For Kiwanians who haven’t worked with adults with disabilities, it might help to read and use the guidelines for working with Aktion club members (provided in the Aktion Club Advisor Guide).
- Volunteer for Kiwanis club service. Ask your Kiwanis advisor which of the Kiwanis club’s service activities would be a good fit for Aktion Club members. Ask the Kiwanis advisor to share information about those opportunities at an Aktion Club meeting. Have Akton Club members vote for the service they’re most interested in supporting. Add the dates of the winning service activities to the Aktion Club calendar. Coordinate the Aktion Club members’ participation through the Kiwanis advisor.
- Invite Kiwanis members to participate. Now it’s Aktion Club members’ turn! After they have decided on their club’s service activities for the year, create an invitation email or card for one or more activities. Include dates, times and locations of each event if the club already knows these details. Give the email or card to the Kiwanis advisor to send or take back to the Kiwanis club.
- Make volunteering easy. Ask your sponsoring Kiwanis club to create an Aktion Club page on its website. Contact the Kiwanis club’s webmaster and ask for one page where the Aktion Club’s schedule of service events can be posted — with an invitation for the Kiwanians to participate. Share your Aktion Club advisor’s contact information so people can reach out to sign up for an event.
Partnerships build relationships. For all clubs, that’s a great thing — and healthy for the Kiwanis family!