Throughout the semester, SODA chapters work hard to educate students about organ donation and register students as organ donors. There are several ways to ensure that a SODA chapter has an impactful semester.
Foster a relationship with your Organ Procurement Organization (OPO): Every SODA chapter is paired with its local OPO. Maintaining a relationship with the local OPO helps chapters to become trained volunteers, connect with speakers, receive promotional information, and obtain valuable advice.
Ensure your Leadership Team members have clear roles: To become a SODA chapter, students are required to have a three-person Leadership Team at a minimum. Once this team is established, it is important to clearly define each team member’s role.
Interested in starting a SODA Chapter? See if you're eligible by taking the quiz here.
Schedule meetings at specific intervals: The Leadership Team is encouraged to meet once or twice per month to plan events and discuss upcoming initiatives. Consider meeting at the same time to develop a consistent schedule for your team.
Begin brainstorming events and registration drive dates early on: This helps to ensure that programs do not conflict with any major university events. Once a topic and date are chosen, the Leadership Team can work to coordinate a speaker (if necessary) and location. Approximately two weeks in advance, the Leadership Team can finalize details such as whether food will be served and decide if they should apply for funding from SODA National (students can apply for reimbursement by clicking here). A few days before and the day of the event, final details such as a sign-in sheet and set-up arrangements can be made.
Create and/or update social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can all be used to market a SODA chapter’s events as well as to stay up to date with other SODA chapters and SODA National. Chapters can also gain publicity on campus by reaching out to professors who can market the SODA chapter or student government to publish spotlight articles about the chapter. Make sure to follow SODA's National Facebook , here and Instagram and Twitter and LinkedIn.
Leading a SODA chapter requires hard work and passion. Chapters that are proactive and communicative are likely to be prepared for the semester and most effective in helping to save lives!
Are you a SODA chapter with questions? Contact chapters@sodanational.org
Other inquiries?
Contact soda@sodanational.org