GIVE Student Group Resources
Student Group resource center!
where like-minded students lead the way, inspiring the next generation of global citizens back home.
Welcome to the GIVE Student Group Resource Center! We’re thrilled to have you as a passionate, engaged, and active global citizen dedicated to inspiring global mindsets locally at your own university, college, or high school! Whether you’re starting a student group, well-established, or a new president taking over, this page is your one-stop shop for all things student groups.
1. Connect with other GIVE Student Groups!
To start, let’s all get connected! First, make sure to join our SG Leadership GroupMe below, where you can connect with other leadership, share ideas, receive updates, and have hands-on support from our GIVE HQ team!
Student Group President GroupMe
Join our GroupMe to connect with SG leadership from universities across the country, share creative ideas & advice, post updates & events, and meet virtually to help improve your campus experience!
2. See What Helpful Student Group Resources You Have
a. So, what IS a GIVE Student Group?
GIVE Student Groups are clubs on campus individually organized and run by students that inspire fellow students to take part in sustainable initiatives that give back to the local community. GIVE student groups empower global citizenship by engaging locally and thinking globally. It’s important to represent your student group as a “global citizenship organization” versus a “travel organization” since you’re not actively organizing responsible travel trips (refer to page 4 of the student group manual to expand on this.) Click below for an example description and feel free to put it into your own words.
Example Description
EXAMPLE: “GIVE Student Groups are global citizenship groups promoting sustainable volunteer efforts, globally-minded initiatives, environmentally-conscious lifestyles, and expanding comfort zones through adventures. Groups actively raise money and awareness for humanitarian initiatives, volunteer in their communities, hold monthly events and meet-ups to stay connected with their GIVE family, encourage fellow students to get involved globally, and so much more. This collective grassroots movement increases awareness of GIVE’s impact around the world & directly helps us fulfill our mission to empower global citizens and ignite sustainable change worldwide. We want to create a safe space for students to discuss global issues at our meetings and we will do everything in our power to create positive change in the world, starting at our University!”
You have a dedicated GIVE HQ rep to support your group’s efforts, answer questions, provide guidance, and engage all GIVE student groups across the globe on impact campaigns, global citizenship discussions, and more!
You have a dedicated GIVE HQ rep to support your group’s efforts, answer questions, provide guidance, and engage all GIVE student groups across the globe on impact campaigns, global citizenship discussions, and more!
b. Student Group Handbook
The Student Group Handbook has the ins and outs of starting and running a successful GIVE student group! It’s highly recommended you read the entire handbook if you’re going to be leading the group.
This manual will be your guide, however, you are the best resource to bring these tools to campus! As GIVE family, we also have your back and are here to provide the resources & guidance to start strong & maintain engagement, the rest is up to you to continue the momentum & have fun! Download your Student Group Handbook below.
Having this student group on our campus has given me and so many others a community and a sense of family. It also allows for purpose. We are able to step out of our campus bubble, and truly support the community that welcomes so many students every year… This student group changes a college experience for the better.
– Logan Falk, President, James Madison University GIVE
c. Student Group Constitution
Your university or school will require a constitution that describes your student group’s purpose & mission. We have provided a sample constitution below you can use as a guide to draft your own with your university-relevant info and guidelines. This is an important piece that’s required before you become legit at your school or university.
Important Notes
Take your time creating your constitution, proofread it, and make sure it’s polished before sending it off to your Student Activities Office. You can even take it to your campus’ writing center if you need an extra set of eyes (or your GIVE rep is happy to review it as well!)! If there are errors or misleading info, your school or university may contact you for follow-up questions, which will delay the process. Here’s your sample constitution link.
NOTE: EXEC BOARD: Some Universities require you to have a leadership team before starting a group. This isn’t always the case, but if it is just appoint a few friends or past volunteers to take the leadership roles because you can always change this later or run official elections
d. Fundraising Workshop Manual
When you’re representing epic responsible travel opportunities, some members will want to go on a GIVE trip to have the same transformational experience you did! It’s important (and awesome) to have a fundraising chair appointed to help students raise money if they can’t pay for a trip out of pocket. We’ve created a manual that you can provide your fundraising chair with to help mentor students interested in a GIVE trip! Learn more below and here’s a link to your Fundraising Workshop Manual!
Learn More
This manual is an awesome resource for your fundraising chair and it will provide them with resources to host fundraising workshops for students interested in international trips. Like the student group manual, this is a foundation that will offer the best practices. However, every group is different and you can make these workshops fit your group best.
e. Marketing Materials
Marketing your events & meetings on campus will be your best friend to help increase your enrollment and engagement! Remember, they don’t know what they don’t know. Everyone is going to want to know about the incredible mission & community you bring to campus!
Send in a request for marketing materials & your GIVE HQ rep will collaborate with you on design & the information you need to reach the most people for engagement or any one-time event!
f. Sample Powerpoint (Refer to pg.13-14 in handbook for more info)
One of the best parts of a GIVE student group is having a collaborative space to have meaningful discussions, plan events over yummy snacks, and share good vibes!
Regular meetings are an essential component to keep your group organized, interested, informed, and engaged. It’s recommended to have bi-weekly meetings set at the beginning of the semester. Here is a sample PowerPoint for a visual aid/example and brainstorming tool. Create your own specific to your school with your awesome ideas, goals, etc!
3. Take Part in GIVE Student Group Campaigns
GIVE has two campaigns every year for our student groups across the globe! Our annual campaigns are: Students4students and GoGreen with GIVE! Past student groups love these campaigns because they’re not only fun and inspiring but also a great way to support our local communities you can family around the globe. Learn more about each campaign below, and if you have ideas for additional campaigns, we’re all ears!
Students4Students
Students4Students (S4S) is our worldwide fundraiser campaign to support educational initiatives, which takes place in the Fall! GIVE Student groups across the nation band together to contribute to our annual goal to raise funds for our education programs across the world. Funds for this project go towards teacher salaries, scholarships, and materials to ensure adequate educational resources. S4S directly supports our education programs year-round when volunteers are not on the ground!
Our S4S awareness week will be spread across social media for all groups to take part in! However, you can have your group’s individual Students4Students fundraising campaign anytime during the Fall semester. Education is the world’s greatest equalizer on the global scale of inequality, so what better cause for students to be involved in!?
Go Green with GIVE
Go Green with GIVE is our worldwide global awareness campaign that takes place in the Spring! All GIVE Student groups across the world will host events on campus to promote a more environmentally-conscious lifestyle. This will encourage fellow members, along with campus communities, to be more conscious about their footprint! This is a super fun week of taking action and bonding as a group through environmentalism.
GIVE will have a week-long campaign with materials, themes, and social media posts that all student groups can share. It’s totally up to you and your group on how to engage people throughout the week!
Common FAQs When Registering a Student Group
You can always ask us questions if you’re unsure how to answer and we are always happy to review materials for you!
Example Questions and Answers
What is the purpose of your student group?
The purpose of a GIVE student group is to create a community of global citizens by having discussions and conscious events about global issues and how we can make a positive, sustainable impact as students. GIVE at [school name] will focus on environmental stewardship, social entrepreneurship, English education access for rural communities abroad, and so much more. We will host educational and interactive meetings, community events, and fundraisers for the locally-led sustainable projects all over the world. Some other goals include raising awareness regarding environmental and social issues in an inclusive environment. GIVE is all about understanding that we are all humans living in this big world and if we are part of the world’s problems, we have to be part of the solution as well.
What type of student organization is this?
Service, recreational, global citizenship, etc. (Choose all or what best fits your group!)
What are your membership requirements?
Membership requirements are up to you. When starting off, try not to go overboard with hefty requirements. Make it easy for people to join. For example, have $5 dues for snacks at meetings or to buy group t-shirts. As your group grows you can decide as an exec team what the necessary requirements should be based on the vibe of the group.
What will we do at our meetings?
You can make your own rendition of what you plan on doing at your meetings, but here is an example of a fun meeting flow that you can use. Follow a similar structure each meeting & have fun with it!
- Open up with announcements about upcoming volunteer and social events. Each exec member can speak on their area-related updates.
- It’s always fun to start off with an Ice-breaker game then you can plan a global citizenship topic to discuss. TED Talks can be a great lead into discussions.
- There are also a lot of fun activities to do as a group, like hand-making sustainable eco-friendly items (i.e. t-shirt bags, zero-waste toothpaste, planting seeds in plastic bottles, painting with natural dyes, etc.)
- Close out with some good vibes or inspirational quotes of the week!
What can we do together outside of meetings?
- Plan volunteer activities to give back to your local community such as food banks, community gardens, reading/education/mentorship opportunities at underprivileged schools, nature clean-ups, and other environmental stewardship opportunities.
- Plan fun social events such as family dinners, hikes, sports days, camping, concerts, game nights, mindfulness activities, etc.
- The possibilities are endless, so get creative with your exec team and adapt to your style! Feel free to occasionally have the group go on a hike, yoga class, etc. in replacement to a traditional meeting to keep things interesting!
How do I keep people engaged?
Consistency is key! If members know that you are always meeting twice a month, same spot, same time, they will mark it in their calendars.
- Use GIVE’s marketing materials we’ve provided and make it well-known you are on campus!
- Collab with other established groups that align with your mission (eco-clubs/other outdoor groups)
- Make announcements in class
- Post about your group in other on-campus platforms
Thank you for GIVE-ing On and bringing give’s mission to your community back home!
With this Resource Center, supportive materials, and your GIVE HQ rep, you are well-equipped to run a successful and impactful GIVE Student Group at your school! Our Student Groups are an essential part of this GIVE movement, inspiring global mindsets locally. This is an incredible opportunity for you to expand your leadership, but remember, we’re here for you! Contact your student group rep at info@givevolunteers.org if you need support or have any questions. Good vibes to your GIVE student group and our fellow global citizens around the world!
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