Spring, Summer, and Fall Strategies

We have listed below the strategies you could implement in your fellowships based on each season of the year.

Spring:

There are 2 Key internal tasks for Leadership Teams:
- Bond as a Team (consider a leadership retreat at the end of this resource).
- Discern a Common Vision.
In addition, there are two key goals for Fellowships:
- Gather Rising 2nd Years.
- Develop Fall Kickoff plans.

A second-year send-off or year-end celebration is a great way to thank graduating leaders, commission everyone for their work, share your new vision, and welcome rising 2nd-year students.

Summer:

Summer is potentially the most spiritually dangerous time of an MBA program due to the isolation and high pressure to get an offer.
Stay in contact with 1st years of the internship with as simple as an email saying you are praying for them.
Ask an incoming student to help ID other incoming believers, e.g., on the class Slack.

Fall:

Your fellowship will need multiple points of entry for new members. Explore past strategies for new student recruitment, along with supplementary pages featuring examples and key takeaways from other MBA Fellowships.
- Two goals: Connect first years to church and to fellowship/with each other. A bonus idea is to have a shared spreadsheet listing where second years go and who can give rides.
Please note that you only have about three weeks to get a weekly event on first-year students' calendars.
Vital New Member Recruitment Tool: The Sample Fall Outreach Tracker will help your team be responsive and accountable for good follow-up.
Consider including part-timers and significant others in your programming, e.g., have events in the evening or online.
Uniform and Clear Messaging When Recruiting: You can see other Fellowships' Vision Statements on the list of MBA Fellowships' websites.

General Planning Advice

Your team doesn't need to do everything your team members are passionate about as a club; you can still pursue your passions as individuals. Keep the fellowship focused on the four elements of a thriving fellowship: community + spiritual formation + outreach + faith/work integration. Use these categories as monthly assessment goals for your team. See examples.
Consider what motivates first-year students to connect with your fellowship. Base your strategy on meeting their needs and casting a vision for how they can make a difference by joining your fellowship. See the Critical Junctures outline to consider the needs at each stage of the lifecycle. More on recruiting incoming students here.
Lots of resources, small group studies, networks, and more in the Ministry Leaders Resource Page found on our website!