Getting Youth Involved

• Put up posters around school to inform other students about Speak Out & Make NOYS.
• Visit homeroom classes and present information about your project. 
• Host a special informational meeting just for people interested in finding out more about Speak Out & Make NOYS. � Write an article for your school newspaper.
• Invite people personally to join your project. 
• Make a presentation to other school organizations and clubs with similar interests or commitments such as SADD, FCCLA, Student Council, 4H, RADD, etc.

Look for youth with�

• Special interest in your project. 
• Speaking skills. 
• Leadership skills. 
• Special talents, skills and abilities that support your project goals.

Getting Adults Involved

• Teachers, counselors, school nurses, or administrators 
• Parents 
• Representatives from youth serving agencies (Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA, etc.) 
• Sponsors from clubs or volunteer organizations 
• Law enforcement staff � Government officials 
• Community leaders � Business & industry professionals 
• Health-care professionals 
• Faith community leaders 
• Media 
• Celebrity spokespersons
• Experts or consultants

Recruiting Techniques

Using The Phone

1. Send a brief fact sheet about your project to introduce yourself and your projects goals. Let them know you will be contacting them by phone to answer any of their questions. 
2. Write out a script. A short paragraph that introduces you, gives the reason for your call, provides a brief overview of your project, makes a request for an appointment, and estimates the length of the appointment. Use your own words; make your script comfortable yet professional. You�ll find a sample script below. 
3. Keep the call brief. Respect your contact�s time. 
4. Know the name and title of the person you want to speak with. 
5. Know your desired outcome. Appointment? Information? 
6. Identify the benefits to their organization. 
7. Be friendly and courteous. 
8. Have your calendar and appointment book available to schedule the appointment. 
9. Be prepared to answer questions. 
10. Before you hang up confirm the appointment time, get directions if you need them, and thank them for their time. 
11. Make notes in your project organizer of what is said and date all your notes. 

Using Letters

Letters of endorsement (written by your mentors, teachers, employers, sponsors or corporate supporters) are powerful recruiting tools. They provide a statement of confidence about you and your project and encourage the reader to support your project. These letters can be used when you approach business and community leaders to discuss their participation in your project.

Here are some Tips for obtaining these letters. 

• Ask adult team members to write letters of introduction or endorsement that you can use when approaching other business and community leaders. 
• The letter should be on his or her business letterhead. 
• Ask them to include a brief description of the project and close with a request for action and or involvement. 
• The request can be to agree to meet with youth members, to participate in the project, to serve on the project team, or to provide financial support.

Working with Adults

Here are some additional tips for working effectively with adult team members. 

Tips for Adults Working with Youth Team Members

Turning Your Project Group Into a Team

Now that you have recruited both the youth leaders and adult members for your project, you must turn this group into a TEAM. Big projects can only be accomplished when people work cooperatively together. Just because you have a committee doesn�t mean you are acting as a team. Teams work as a unit to accomplish a specific goal. However, you should always remember that teams are made up of people, and people participate in projects for a variety of reasons. The key to creating positive teamwork is to make sure that everyone wins. Here are some important tips to working with teams and encouraging teamwork.

Tips for Creating Strong Teams

• Create a team vision. When all members of your team participate in the creation of the project�s vision, they feel more ownership and commitment to see the project through to the end.
• Define teams roles and expectations. People want to know what is expected of them.
• Information is power. Empower your team by sharing information. 
• Provide strong leadership, but don�t monopolize the team effort. Team members who don�t feel needed will not stick around. Leadership is shared and can be shifted from time to time as appropriate. 
• Discover each team member�s assets, and design a plan to utilize those assets for the good of the project. Everyone has something special to offer. 
• Get commitments for specific behavior. 
• Celebrate and acknowledge team successes.
• Discover what motivates each team member�s participation in the project. This is where you will find the win-win equation. You might have some youth who feel that this project will look good on a resume, or adults who believe it will improve their community image. There are many people who just want to make a difference or who have strong feelings about youth health and safety. Finally, there are those who may be involved because your project looks like a lot of fun. You need them all. You can help individuals have a positive experience by understanding up front what motivates their participation. 
• Keep it fun. People will do extraordinary things if the process is enjoyable.
• Celebrate diversity by accepting different points of view. 
• Encourage creative thinking and problem solving. 
• Keep your team an appropriate size. You need enough people to share the workload but not so many that they feel unneeded. 
• Decide as a group how you will make decisions. Will you vote? Majority rules? Consensus?