Attracting and retaining Aspiring Educator members is crucial to NEA's mission for advancing the education profession. NEA members who join as college students are more likely to continue their active participation in the profession as committed members throughout their careers.
Websites, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and an ever growing list of communication channels to engage Aspiring Educators all work together to provide information to persons who browse the web, allow leaders to send information directly to Aspiring Educators, and provide a platform for AE members to dialogue and network.
Here are a few keys to a successful web and social media presence:
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Be in multiple places – be where your Aspiring Educators and community audience can find you (it's not a choice of web page versus Facebook group, etc. Think “and” rather than “or”).
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On web pages, include a prominent link to the NEA Aspiring Educators web page, Facebook group, and Instagram page in the main navigation. (From these pages, visitors can also sign up for information through other social media channels.)
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Include an overview of the Aspiring Educators Program (what it is, what is it on your campus).
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Use a presence like Instagram to graphically display the fun, engaging, and valuable experiences your members have in the AE program. Graphically recruit for upcoming events.
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Share the benefits of membership (why join, and what you get). Consider testimonial quotes and photos.
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Provide a link to join immediately (Join now!).
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On the website, include local contacts for chapter advisor, officers, etc.
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Link to information about state leaders and programs.
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Include a calendar of events (state and local).
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Provide your own resource links or connect to other sources (such as NEA’s website).
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Include job listings and/or a résumé bank.
1. Use clean design and clear navigation.
You don't have to be a professional web designer to create an attractive website. There are many tools and templates available that you can easily customize for your chapter. Also, many designers offer great advice for both websites and social media platforms. For web pages, here are a few common pieces of advice:
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Use a light background and dark text color for easy readability.
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Use clear, consistent navigation on every page.
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Keep it short – minimize scrolling.
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Make it direct. Don’t require people to click through a half dozen links to find what they want.
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Consider what your info will look like on a computer screen, tablet, and phone browser.
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Keep the formatting straightforward. Just because you can change fonts and styles with every word doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Stick with two or three fonts and use them strategically.
2. Useful information – better than bells and whistles.
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First, decide who your audience is and what message you want to convey (e.g., prospective and current members, members of the campus community and general public.) Let audience drive message.
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Put your most important message up front. Make sure your highest priority message is on the landing page (possibly with links to more info).
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Tell visitors what action to take – join now, be part of our upcoming event, help us advocate, etc.
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Include essential contact information (chapter name, leader info, links to NEA, etc.).
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Show what a great program you have – photos of recent events, testimonials.
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Avoid acronyms and jargon only experienced members will understand. Double check spelling and grammar, and eliminate bad links.
3. Keep it fresh.
Update your social media presence weekly, and websites at least monthly. Include upcoming events, highlights of past events (with engaging graphics), community outreach, recent award or scholarship winners, newly elected officers, “member of the month” (or other strategy to highlight many members), education news, etc.
4. Assign accountability.
For consistency, make one person or committee responsible for maintaining your virtual presence. Websites are a form of official public communication, so follow some procedure for approving and proofreading new content before it is posted. Also, make sure webmasters or web committee members share password access to all web accounts, email list management, etc., with leadership and new/incoming webmasters.
5. Connect the dots.
Ask your university, state association, and NEA Aspiring Educators Program to link to your site, and you should link back to them as well. Find out about any NEA chapters in area school districts so you can link to their pages and vice versa. Use the web as a tool to build partnerships between NEA active members in locals and Aspiring Ed members in your chapter.
6. A photo is worth a thousand words.
"Action" photos showing members doing community service, a guest speaker giving a lecture, or a student teacher leading a class are more impactful than chapter members posing in front of the campus student center. Add a caption telling who's in the photo and what they're doing. Make sure the photos load quickly for users with slower Internet connections. When posting photos, make sure persons in the picture are OK with their image being displayed, make sure each person is displayed in a positive way (so when a future employer googles their name, they will see them as professional and active), and tag individuals so they will want to highlight your site for you.
7. Do your homework!
Before you begin, try networking with other state and chapter leaders to learn what they are doing online, take a look at the virtual presence of other organizations on your campus, and see what NEA locals are doing, too. Do some research to find free and inexpensive tools for web/social media plus guidance on great design and communication strategy. For example:
Following links to any of the 10 tools mentioned in the second link above will take you to additional advice about how to build the page (with their particular tool in mind) plus information about how to obtain your web address either for a cost or through the site builder for free. Consider also the possibility of using Facebook to establish your web presence. In addition to searching the web, Facebook also offers supporting information for nonprofit organizations wishing to have a page: https://www.facebook.com/nonprofits.
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