SIETAR welcomes new members

Intercultural creators We actively support and encourage the creation of SIETAR organisations in new locations. The SIETAR Global Council assists in the formation of new national or regional SIETARs in areas where there is currently no SIETAR organisation. If you want to start a national SIETAR in your country, or a regional SIETAR that cuts across several countries, we advise you to contact SIETAR Global and ask for help. Below is a list of basic requirements and a list of best practices in starting a national or regional SIETAR.

Cross-border SIETARians You can join almost any SIETAR if no SIETAR organisation exists where you live. When no SIETAR exists for your area, you can contact any SIETAR to apply for membership. Many SIETARs accept members from outside their borders. If your application is successful you will have full membership status so appear on membership lists and be entitled to participation in SIETAR events at the member rate. This category of membership was introduced in 2006 and replaces the previous category of "Associate Member". See our policy on cross-border SIETARians.

Active members The SIETAR organisation in your area is ready to welcome you as a new member. SIETAR organisations are stimulating and lively communities of people working in the intercultural field. You may be in research, teaching, training, consultancy or simply interested in culture: everyone committed to the goals of SIETAR is welcome to join. There are many benefits to membership including seminars and social events, networking and information. To join a SIETAR organisation near you, visit our contact page.

POLICY ON JOINING A SIETAR WHEN NONE EXISTS IN YOUR LOCAL AREA

Statement issued November 2006

SIETAR GLOBAL COUNCIL has reviewed the question of how individuals interested in the SIETAR mission who live in an area which does not fall within the boundaries of a national or regional SIETAR can best participate in our ongoing work. The Council believes that in our virtual age, there is no barrier to accepting members who happen to reside beyond the national or regional boundaries of any individual SIETAR association. SIETAR-USA and SIETAR Europa already enroll members who reside beyond the borders of the United States of America and Europe and welcome others who might wish to join in these endeavors. SIETAR organizations will do their best to offer virtual services and, of course, welcome all members whenever they are able to attend our annual conferences.

Council members do not believe that a structure offering a floating “affiliated membership,” at a reduced rate without links to a particular association, is beneficial. While recognizing the concerns that generated such arrangements in the past, the cost in volunteer time to administer this system is substantial. In addition, a two-tier structure of membership fees could have the effect of lessening the value of national memberships and adversely impacting existing organizations. Such arrangements also run the risk of implying that those who take them up are in some way “second-class citizens.” Finally, and most telling, insofar as individuals become “affiliates,” they may be less energized to band together and create their own SIETAR

For all these reasons SIETAR Global Council cannot support an “affiliate” structure and recommends that its sister organizations provide services by enrolling members from all areas of the globe.

STARTING A NEW NATIONAL OR REGIONAL SIETAR ORGANIZATION

The SIETAR Global Council serves as the international hub for SIETAR information and services for people living in a country or region where there is no SIETAR. SIETAR Global Council assists in the formation of new national or regional SIETARs in these areas.

If you want to start a national SIETAR in your country or a regional SIETAR that cuts across several countries, we advise you to contact the Council and request assistance. Below is a list of basic requirements and a list of best practices in starting a national or regional SIETAR

BASIC REQUIREMENTS
To start a new national or regional SIETAR, you need to:

1. Assemble a group of interculturally active and interested people who subscribe to the SIETAR mission, aims and purposes. (the group needs to consist of at least 10 people).
2. Notify the SIETAR Global Council of your intention to form a new national SIETAR. Someone from the closest SIETAR board will be your liaison, to support you and to be your contact with the SIETAR Global Council.
3. Create statutes and by-laws, in accordance with local legal requirements for non-profit organisations. You can begin with an informal group as you create these more formal procedures and documents.
4. Form a clear organisational structure:
   
   • A clear financial plan
   • A clear fee structure
   • A membership-list (in correspondence with the membership categories currently prevalent in various SIETARs around the world.
5. Formulate an action plan (short term – 1 year -and long term -5 years-).
6. Elect members a national board including a president, secretary and treasurer.
7. Present your Basic documents as mentioned in 4 – 6 to the SIETAR Global Council (statutes, bylaws, fee-structure, membership-list, constellation of the board and election procedure, financial plan and action plan).
8. Form an agreement with SIETAR Global Council for official acknowledgement and participation in the global network of SIETAR organizations.
9. To use the name of SIETAR and to be affiliated, your group must be established and approved by the SIETAR Global Council.

HOW SIETAR GLOBAL COUNCIL CAN HELP YOU
When you make your intention to form a SIETAR group known to the SIETAR Global Council, a liaison from the SIETAR Global Network will be appointed to assist you and will be your liaison with the larger organisation.

You can become a member of the SIETAR organization closest to you until your organization takes shape. This provides you with online workspace until you have your own website, and notifies others of the formation of your organization.

SIETAR Global Council can provide you with models and tools for creating the structure and agreements required to become part of the global network.

New SIETAR groups are excused from the payment of the first year's participation fees in the SIETAR Global Council, in order for them to better use and benefit form their full financial resources. This fee is used to support the services provided by the Global Council, including a SIETAR web site and is kept at a reasonable level.

BECOMING ESTABLISHED IN YOUR AREA

Generally, national or regional groups are unable to meet frequently but can encourage small groups of their members who live in close proximity to each other to meet on a regular basis. The best practices guidelines for local SEITAR organisations would be useful for those groups although their level of formality may differ from place to place.

Plan meetings of the entire membership at least annually, perhaps electronically, to maintain contact and provide for professional development of members. If it is difficult to conduct annual meetings, work with a larger SIETAR that is geographically close to combine your meeting with theirs.

Survey members yearly to find out what kinds of programs are of most interest and how the organization can best serve members.

Encourage members to bring colleagues into the organization and develop a brochure that will assist in recruitment.

There are a number of suggestions for local organizations that may be useful at a national or regional level. They are included for your information. In the interest of keeping this document as short as possible, we will not repeat those suggestions here.

LOCAL GROUP DEVELOPMENT

TIPS & BEST PRACTICES

The following tips have been adapted from those developed by SIETAR Houston for city or other local area groups.

Organization

• Start to hold meetings and educational events.
• Find and involve other people in your network, draw in other people who may be interested in the aims of SIETAR.
• Look for and involve people who may be in your area who already belong to a neighboring SIETAR.
• Have a regular and public meeting place, and try not to move the meeting from month to month): universities, civic centers and churches are good places to start. It is suggested that refreshments be provided at these meetings.
• Have a regular meeting time.
• If your meetings are to be virtual, create the structure that supports this kind of meeting venue.
• Create a long term mailing address which will not change (ex: an office of a member)
• When you are well established, look into how a new organisation could become legally registered as a non-profit or benevolent society with governing bodies in your local and national area.
• Keep records and archives for future reference

Leadership

• Choose a president or chairperson with a vision, a passion for intercultural work, and some formal intercultural education
• Choose a vice president who has few defined responsibilities, but is versatile and flexible
• Create a mission statement that reflects the mission of SIETAR. Create a vision statement which excites the imagination of the members. (Creating these statements is extremely important and time consuming.)
• Adhere to mission of SIETAR in all that is proposed
• Hold annual elections
• Maintain a strong Steering Committee, Board of Directors, or other governing body:
  
  • Balance the composition of the governing body to include people from all the following groups: organizational, marketing, financial, creative, educational, research, and intercultural. A governing body restricted to one kind of intercultural endeavor will not have all the skills necessary to grow.
  • Invite people to become part of the governing body only after they have been chapter members for one year. Invite local members to governing body meetings. Use team building activities within the governing body as often as possible.
  • Clearly define well the roles and responsibilities of members of the governing body.
  • Meet as often as possible, once a month is preferable.
  • Maintain minutes of the governing body meetings for your records
  • Create clear goals, short and long term (ours are one, three and five year goals
  • Foster slow and steady growth. (many opportunities will arise tempting the group to overextend the capabilities of the organization)
  • Cultivate volunteers
  • Maintain correspondence with other SIETAR groups
  • Develop a clear idea of your target audience

Financial

• Choose a treasurer who can give financial advice, as well as maintain account
• Determine fiscal year; set up an account in the way it works best for your organization
• Create and adhere to a budget
• Report regularly to the governing body, in oral and written form, the expenditures and revenues to date as compared to budget
• Give receipts for "donations-in-kind" to encourage members to support the chapter, if this seems appropriate
• Encourage members to donate cash gifts to the chapter, either for specific projects or for general administration
• Do not give donations to any other organization, or pay a member representing the chapter at an event, unless there is an excellent reason for doing so, The tendency is to spend, forgetting the effort it took to gather the funds.
• Charge a guest fee for non-members
• Display a collection jar to accept contributions for refreshments/snacks

Public Relations and Advertising

This lengthy list supplies many suggestions from which you may chose those most appropriate and feasible for your organization.

• Develop a PR list of organizations and institutions which will receive monthly notices of your meetings and activities
• Send monthly meeting announcements to newspapers and radio
• Send monthly meeting announcements to academic institutions and cultural organizations
• Send announcements by fax and email whenever possible; it decreases substantially the cost of postage
• Include two telephone numbers on all PR and advertising materials
• Put up colorful flyers advertising meetings in strategic locations, including university and community college departments, especially ESL, anthropology, sociology, psychology, education, language departments, political science, history, etc.; other civic groups, such as diversity organizations, ethnic clubs
• Record the names and details of callers. Distribute this list to other members of the Steering Committee so that they can acknowledge the visitors when they arrive at the meeting
• Spend considerable effort establishing a relationship with someone who writes for a major newspaper; the most powerful position would be that of someone employed by the newspaper, not someone paid by the piece.
• Respond to columnists in the local newspaper who indicate an interest in any intercultural topic. Offer to give them material to write something of interest to both of you.
• Convincing newspapers to write feature articles about intercultural topics is a difficult and time-consuming job; you need the right contact at the right time; you must be capable of working with them on their timetable.
• Develop liaisons with other organizations for mutual benefit.
• Create a Web site, if possible. Acquire a domain name for your online presence.
• Ensure that correspondence and publications are of "professional" appearance
• Create a brochure
• Consider volunteering as a group to support local social or charitable initiatives. The events can be fun, serve as a good team builder and will often get the name of your chapter before the public.

Programming

• Survey members yearly to find out which programs are of most interest; ask them for names and contact numbers of speakers
• Start contacting prospective speakers in February for programs in autumn
• Publish the schedule of programs at least four months in advance so people can get interested and mark their calendars
• Programming should meet the needs of members and address a variety of interests (education, training, research, country-specific, simulations, etc.)
• Make an effort to get outside speakers. They will tell others about your organization as well as bring new ideas to the group.
• Utilize the members' skills and expertise for presentations
• When you're fairly stable, consider co-sponsoring programs with similar organizations.

Membership

• Charge membership dues and raise when appropriate!
• Respond as quickly as possible when someone inquires or wants to join. Make sure the person in charge of this has the energy, time, and inclination to respond in this manner.
• Have always a supply of membership forms on hand so that anyone expressing a desire to join can do so immediately.
• Value your members
• When the group is stable, offer Institutional memberships
• Send out letters to members who have not renewed their memberships
• Do not give away memberships as gifts

Outreach

• If possible, provide speakers to groups who request a speaker

• Fund-raising
• Network within the university community to identify people who might know of grants available to fund outreach programs
• Be clear for what reason you are fund-raising
• Consider a new book sale at a monthly member meeting.
• Check with Nicholas Brealey, Butterworth Heinemann, Sage, etc.
• Hold a used book sale at a member meeting

Social

• On occasion, organize social occasions to bring members together.
• Select a different restaurant each month where members who want to continue talking can do so in a relaxed atmosphere.