Running a recruitment stall

You can follow the below checklist to get the most out of your stall.

Before the event

• Find a good place to engage your target audience - a supermarket, school, empty shop, university, community club, hospital or business.
• Decide on a good time of year to run your stall - for example in January when people have made new year's resolutions.
• Book your stall in plenty of time and understand any rules for the event or venue.
• Pick a fun theme that showcases who we are and what we do. Try girls in science, the great outdoors, taking action or adventure.
• Plan programme activities such as parachute games, discussion boards or science experiments to engage stall visitors.
• Make sure you have enough people to help. Draw up a plan for who will do what when - and don’t forget to include our brilliant young members.
• Get together all the resources and equipment you need in advance.
• Think about what you will wear on the day - such as uniform, Girls Can t-shirts or branded neckers.
• Collect information that you might find helpful on the day - for example volunteers roles needed in your area, where units have spaces, basic unit information.
• Try some pre-event publicity - a letter to local parents, social media or posters.
• Plan what you need to do after the event. For example, a follow up taster event to keep people engaged.
• If you're going to be outdoors, check the weather forecast and plan appropriate shelter and equipment.
• Don’t forget about refreshments and expenses.

Anyone attending a Girlguiding event, including recruitment event supporters and prospective members, are covered by Girlguiding's insurance as long as they follow our policies.

At the event

Keep these things in mind when you're interacting with people on your stall.

• Confident – we offer amazing opportunities for girls and volunteers so there's plenty to talk about. If you're not sure about something don't be afraid to say you'll look into it and get back to them
• Professional – keep the stall tidy and follow our promotion stall guidance
• Passionate – your passion for helping girls and young women reach their potential is our biggest recruitment tool. Practice your 'Girlguiding is...' pitch beforehand.
• Inclusive – it's important to share that we're for all girls and that we welcome a range of volunteers and supporters.
• Flexible – find out what the stall visitor is looking for and think flexibly about how they or their child could support or join guiding.
• Welcoming – remember to smile, make eye contact and think about your body language. Be active and engaging. It's useful to have something small to give away as a reminder for visitors.
• Prepared – pre-plan questions to engage people looking at your stand. For example, what sort of volunteer role are you looking for?

Try to register people on the day online through Join Us or collect basic information so that you can follow up on enquiries. Alternatively you could have something to give people with the Join Us address and freephone number on it.

Remember that your stall is a great opportunity to meet other organisations and make connections in your local community too.

Make a grab and go recruitment box

A recruitment box full of all the recruitment resources you need is a handy tool to have in your local area. You could include: 

• A branded tablecloth 
• Bunting and balloons
• Activity cards and equipment 
• Local map
• DVD with Girlguiding videos
• Cards with your contact details
• Event risk assessment template

After it's over

• Celebrate what you have achieved and thank everyone involved.
• Follow up with any prospective members as quickly as possible. Then shred or delete any personal data that you collected from them when you no longer need it for recruitment. Have a plan in place for dealing with enquiries and placing new girls and volunteers.
• Contact the event or venue to let them know how it went. They might be able to support future recruitment.
• Think about what worked well and what you might do differently next time