Step 2: Survey Club Members, Leaders and Parents
Related Forms & Examples
If the 4-H Club program is to serve the purpose of 4-H "to provide opportunities for the personal growth and development of youth and adults," then every member, leader and parent must be considered in planning the program. Members, leaders, and parents have ideas about what they would like to do and need a chance to express them. Surveying members gives them a chance to share their ideas and feel an important part of the group. It also gives the planning committee a list of things people in the club would like to do.
Listed below are a few ways to survey members, leaders and parents. (These ideas could be used at any time during the year.)
Suggestion Box: Decorate a box and explain its purpose at a meeting early in the year. Members, leaders and adults should be asked to put suggestions for the coming year in the box.
Sharing Ideas: Tape a large piece of paper to the wall (shelf paper, brown paper, anything large) before your meeting. As people arrive, ask them to write on the paper at least one thing they would like to do in the 4-H Club next year. Using magic markers or crayons in many colors might add to the fun.
Collages: Attach pictures and other items suggesting activities to large sheet of paper. Be creative! Making collages gets members involved while giving the planning committee suggestions. Have members explain what their collages mean. Necessary materials would include magazines, newspapers, construction paper, crayons, glue, scissors, etc.
Roll Call: Ask members to answer roll call with a suggestion for an activity, club goal, etc. No response should be repeated.
Fish Bowl: A few people (about six) sit in a circle of chairs in the middle of the room and talk about the things they would like to do or to have done in 4-H. The rest of the members listen to what is being said. Only the people in the circle talk. Any other member who wants to participate in the conversation must tap the shoulder of one of the people in the circle and take that person's place in the "fishbowl." Appoint someone to record what is being said for the planning committee.
Brainstorming: Divide the club into groups of five or six in which all members, leaders and parents make suggestions for club activities, events or goals. Allow 10 minutes to write down ideas for everybody to see. All ideas should be encouraged; do not evaluate or criticize at this time. Groups should be creative! The purpose is to generate as many different ideas as possible. Sitting on the floor and listing ideas on large sheets of paper may be fun. Discuss the possibilities and eliminate the ones that do not meet the group needs right now. Vote on the remaining alternatives. Those receiving the most votes become useful ideas for the planning committee. Be sure someone records these ideas for future use.
Rank Order: This is a variation of brainstorming. All members of the group sit in a circle. One volunteer acts as recorder and writes down all ideas. You may need to "start the wheels turning" by offering several ideas; then encourage members to add to the list. All ideas are good ideas at this stage of the game. When all the possible ideas are recorded, look over the list and discuss the pros and cons of each one. Each member then privately rank-orders (numbering in order of choice - 1, 2, 3, 4...) his/her choices of goals. Tally the results; discuss those selected and then record them.
Written Survey: A paper and pencil survey can be written to be filled out by 4-H families in your club. Be sure that the paper survey allows for all ideas to be expressed.
Consensus: Consensus help 100% of the group take part in the collection of ideas and helps in decision-making. In using consensus, the group is given a situation or question. Everyone in the group then takes a turn giving suggestions. No one else in the group is allowed to comment on the suggestion. All ideas should be written on newsprint. After everyone has had a turn giving suggestions, there is general discussion. Following the discussion, members are given pieces of paper numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. They write the idea they like best on paper 1, second best on paper 2, and so forth. The suggestion receiving the most numbers one, two, three and four should be considered by the committee for planning. Consensus, by giving everyone a chance to give ideas without comments or discussion from others, encourages participation and creativity and avoids wasting time with needless defense of ideas or discussion on unrelated subjects.
Buzz Group: The buzz group is an informal, quick method to collect information on ideas by breaking a large group into small groups. People can put their heads together and buzz ideas. Break the large group into groups of three to five people. Each group selects a discussion leader and reporter. Each group is assigned a topic to discuss. Topics for all groups could be the same or all could vary. Give each group 10 - 20 minutes for discussion. The reporter then reports the buzz group ideas to the entire club. After all buzz groups have reported, the club can then discuss the ideas listed. After discussion, votes may be taken to decide the most important or priority ideas.
Resources for club program ideas can come from the 4-H family newsletters; county and area leader training and forums; ideas from leaders in other clubs and/or counties; youth magazines and countless other "youth group" oriented books from your public or school libraries.
See the sample survey Member Interest Club Planning Form (PDF) included on this website.
