Half the battle of student organizing can be establishing a strong presence for your club so potential members can know about your club and the existing campus community is reminded of your presence. Paper fliers may seem obsolete in an age when new university buildings are built with TV screens instead of bulletin boards and Facebook is a more efficient communication tool than snail mail, but visuals still matter. Print out any of the blank fliers below and legibly write in your club information, or convert the files here to type in the information. Include your organization’s contact email, weekly meeting times or dates, website address, and motto.
If you are inspired to design your own, remember that it is not enough to simply write out your organization’s name. A lot of leaders within the SFL network say that sometimes students on their campuses are friendly to pro liberty ideas and just don’t know what “libertarianism” or the fight for liberty really means. Use words sparingly so they have lots of effect, and powerful images that can provoke thoughts.
Remember who your audience is: in a more apathetic campus, focus on fliers that explain what kind of work your organization does or provocative fliers that list out facts or images that grab attention such as the number of casualties of a robust drone program abroad. In a more conservative campus putting out a flier that publicly calls for an end to the drug war, while perfectly fine on principle, can turn off potential new recruits off the bat. On a more leftist campus, the same thing can happen if there is a flier calling for an end to all social safety net programs. Sometimes controversial topics are good because they allow you to target the students who already think differently than most of the student body, but chances are your organization will have a bad reputation with most students. Discuss with other club leaders what branding strategies worked with them and figure out what works best for you.
Double check the signage policies on your campus, get permission if needed, and make a club bonding activity out of it so one person isn’t working the whole campus.
Below are some fliers to kickstart your club’s recruitment activities. Click the links to download the PDF files.
PJ O’Rourke Quote
Keynes vs. Hayek
Questioning Government is Patriotic
Dorothy’s Climate of Fear
Think About Objectivism
ImmiGREAT
HL Mencken Quote
Prohibition = Thugs
Police Brutality
Big Government <3s Big Business
Left Libertarianism
Mark Twain Hates Congress
