“The Onboarding Blueprint for EA University Groups” by guneyulasturker 🔸

TL;DR 

I founded an EA university group by myself in a country where only a handful of people had heard about EA. In just one year, the group grew from a single person into a close-knit community led by a 9-person organizing team and volunteers who host a multitude of programs.

The key to this was a strong onboarding process that helped members take ownership, build connections, and grow the group. Here are some actions that helped me to have a better onboarding process:

• Actively look for people who could be Highly Engaged EAs (HEAs) in your events.
• Have 1-1s with potential HEAs and make them think about group organizing.
• Offer a low-barrier entry to the group organizing with “Trial Board Membership” or something similar.
• Set the norms, values, and responsibilities of the group clearly from the very start.
• Give real ownership.
• Actively mentor the new organizers.
• [...]

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Outline:

(01:37) Intro

(02:47) Scouting

(04:05) 1-1s

(04:24) 1-1s help you develop personal relationships:

(04:55) 1-1s create an opportunity to appreciate the most engaged members.

(05:47) 1-1s create an opportunity for potential HEAs to start thinking about group organizing.

(07:06) Trial Board Membership

(10:08) 1-1s - For Trial Board Membership

(10:45) Good norms and practices at the very start

(10:59) Board Member Responsibilities:

(11:21) Group Norms:

(12:20) Sustainable Group Organizing Norms:

(15:18) Ownership

(17:43) Mentorship

(19:19) Board Meetings

(21:37) In-Depth EA Program

(22:25) Bonuses

(22:32) Make new organizers read EA CB resources

(23:24) Whatsapp Groups

(24:35) Board Special Casual Events

(25:11) Resources

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:

April 4th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/WEBnMBmgKbJqKiy6u/untitled-draft-uuk5

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.