By Eileen Zhuge | @eileenzhuge | Winston Churchill DECA, MD
Whether you're starting a brand-new DECA chapter or looking to strengthen your existing one, here are a few strategies that have made the biggest difference for ours. Growing your chapter is important, but retaining those members is just as crucial!
1. Make Your Meetings Interactive and Memorable
If your first few meetings consist of only rules and information, it's incredibly easy for new members to lose interest. Instead, think about ways to make meetings memorable.
One of my favorite examples was an "Introduction to Roleplays" workshop I hosted for our new members, where we walked through an entire roleplay as a group. I brought in leftover Halloween candy and told everyone that every time they raised their hand to contribute an idea, they'd earn a piece of candy. There were no wrong answers, just a chance to think through the roleplay together. Members who were initially hesitant to participate started raising their hands to contribute their thoughts and asking questions.
You don't need candy to make meetings memorable. Kahoots, team challenges, mock roleplays, small prizes, and interactive games all help transform meetings into something members genuinely look forward to.
2. Make Marketing and Social Media a Priority
Think of your social media as your chapter's first impression. If your feed is filled with nothing but meeting reminders and informational graphics, you're missing an opportunity to show prospective members what your chapter is actually like.
Of course, it's important to post competition updates, deadlines, and chapter announcements but don't forget to post the fun moments too. Share the candid photos, the inside jokes, and the memories that make your chapter unique. Those are often the posts that make students think they want to be part of that.
One of my favorite traditions in our chapter is posting funny officer photos leading up to States and ICDC. Every year, our Instagram becomes a countdown filled with embarrassing pictures: our president asleep with his mouth open on the bus, our officer team eating Taco Bell after a long day of competition, or one of our officers still wearing her hair curlers while getting ready in the hotel.
Students don't just want to join a successful chapter, they want to join one where they'll make friends and create lifelong memories. Your social media should reflect that.
3. Strengthen Your Chapter from the Inside Out
Lastly (and perhaps most importantly), if you want to build a strong chapter externally, you have to strengthen it internally first. Where does that start? Your officer team!
A successful chapter isn't built by just one great president or one hardworking advisor, it's built by a leadership team that genuinely enjoys working together. You can't have a strong chapter without strong people leading it, and leadership is impossible without teamwork.
Our officer team intentionally makes time to build those relationships outside of meetings. We've gone laser tagging, Topgolfing, hosted movie nights, grabbed late-night food after competitions, celebrated birthdays, and had simple study sessions together. Some of our funniest memories and inside jokes came from these times, not from chapter meetings themselves.
The same idea applies to your members. Host game nights, holiday parties, pumpkin carving, escape rooms, bowling nights, potlucks, study sessions before exams, or casual dinners after competitions. The possibilities are truly endless.
At the end of the day, students stay in DECA because of the people. Trophies might bring members through the door, but the relationships they build are what keep them coming back.
