Has anyone tried to start a real-world organization?

[dormouse]

For a little while now I've had it in my head that I should start an animal-rights/veg*n student group at my University (surprisingly there is not one already.) This task is very daunting for a lazy-arse like myself, and I really wouldn't know where to start. I know it would probably be easier to start up a chapter of Peta2, or whatever they call their branch aimed at us kids, but I really don't want to be affiliated with Peta.

Does anyone have any experience with student groups or otherwise? What sort of activities/fundraisers/recruitment methods did you find successful? Any advice really would be helpful.

(mods feel free to move this. wasn't sure where the best location was)

[ve-day]

I started a veg/vegan organization at my university, it's called VERDE.

Before I started the group, I asked veg/vegan people that I knew if they would be interested in having a group like VERDE on campus. I gauged interest and started brainstorming with some veg/vegan friends. So, I think your first step should be finding people who are interested in creating the group with you. You need people who will do more than just help you out if ask for it, you need a little group of people who really want to make your group a reality.

The first concrete thing we did was creating a Facebook group for the organization, that let people know (prior to our first meeting) that the group was a real thing. Through Facebook

When you're trying to establish your group on campus, networking is pretty important. If you know about any groups on campus that might have veg. members (i.e.: an environmental group, a Buddhist group or some kind of a progressive group), you should attend some of their meetings and mention your group. I've got a very enthusiastic response from many groups.

Another good way to spread the word about your group is to set up a table with info on campus. At my school, we have Market Wednesdays, which is a weekly vending and information fair that takes place in our student union. If your school has something similar you should table at that, create some fliers for your group and hand them out to people.

Besides having an information table in the student union, you should also looking into tabling at other student events. Networking with other groups will come in handy here, if you reach out to them they might invite you to table at their events.

Once you've gotten the word out and have a meeting date established, you might want to provide an incentive (other than awesome veg. talk) to come to the meeting. Potlucks usually get the attention of students (free food!).

Hopefully, these suggestions help, good luck with your new group.