Engaging our members

During Union Week and Heart Unions week we share ideas for different ways to talk about the great work you are doing as a union. One way is to encourage members to get involved and ask them to submit a positive quote about their union. This is a strategy that you don’t need to save for Union Week, it could work at any time of the year and is something you could link in to other activities you are engaging in as a branch. 

As well as being a fun way to engage your members, this has the benefit of alerting non-members to the great work that you are doing. In Union Week 2021, I ran a raffle across all branches covered by my team. Any member who submitted a positive quote or reason for joining the union, got entered into a raffle to win Afternoon Tea for Two.

Here is Moa Taylor Hodin, from the Museum of London branch, who won the raffle. Her prize was an afternoon treat for two and the picture shows Moa, enjoying the prize with her Mum.

Moa submitted this quote about why she loves being part of Prospect: “I joined Prospect to feel more secure whilst on a temporary contract but since then it’s helped me meet new people from across my organisation, access great discounts and secure better pay for myself and my colleagues!”

If you do this, then it’s also important to find ways you can use the quotes to reach non-members. You could use them to create posters to put up in your workplace, include them in a company wide newsletter or via graphics on social media.

Another way to engage non-members is to talk to them directly about joining. It is particularly effective if the person you are talking to already knows and trusts you, that’s why reps and members have the best success when encouraging non-members to join.

And it’s not just about joining, branches flourish best when members are active and engaged. We know that some new reps may not feel totally confident in having these conversations and so we have shared some resources that you may find useful.  

We have added some updated resources on how to have joining conversations. If you and your fellow reps would benefit from some training on these conversations then please contact your organiser – If you are not sure who that is, you can find them here.