Because K-Kids advisors and members completed end-of-year surveys last April and May, we learned nine things from each group about K-Kids clubs:
- Advisor experience: Twenty-eight percent of advisors were serving in the role for the first time; 23% had served for two to three years.
- Club size: Forty percent of advisors reported their clubs had 21-35 members; 32% had clubs of 11-20 members.
- Meeting frequency: Nearly 34% of clubs met monthly; 32% met twice a month. Only 24% of K-Kids clubs met weekly.
- Number of service projects: Almost 52% of clubs completed five or more projects; 30% completed three to four projects.
- Improving clubs: When asked what would improve their K-Kids club, the top three responses by advisors were: money for projects or meetings (34%); resources to teach members about needs/issues (32%); and club resources and more effective club functions (27%).
- Leadership opportunities: The top three leadership opportunities advisors reported incorporating into their clubs were: elected club officer positions (79%); inviting members to do specific tasks based on their skills/talents (65%); and adding special roles for members (41%).
- Topics: Advisors reported that members learned the most about three topics: needs of community or world (79%); how to help other members during activities (74%); how to plan service projects (65%); themselves (under 63%); and places in the community (58%).
- Skills: The top skills advisors said members gained in K-Kids were teamwork (92%), caring (86%) and communication and listening (81%).
- Community needs: Advisors reported that these community needs or social issues were most important to members: kindness (89%); hunger and homelessness (73%); the environment (67%); animal care (53%); and bullying (50%).
Here are nine things we learned from the member surveys:
- Describing K-Kids: In an open-response question, the words most frequently used by members to describe their K-Kids clubs were “fun,” “helping,” “leadership” and “helping the community.”
- Member tenure: The greatest number of members completing the survey (nearly 68%) were in their first year as a member; while just over 30% reported being in the club for two to three years.
- Club officers: Over 97% of members reported their clubs had officers; less than 3% said their clubs did not have officers.
- Number of service projects: Almost 67% of members reported their clubs completed five or more projects. Nearly equal numbers reported completing one to two projects (16%) or three to four projects (15%).
- Improving clubs: When asked what would improve their K-Kids club, the top three responses were: none, the club runs well (55%); doing more projects to help needs that kids care about (19%); and more money for projects and activities (19%).
- Challenges to joining: When asked what would improve their K-Kids club, the top three responses chosen by members were time (42%), none (31%) and transportation to get to meetings (23%).
- Topics: Members reported learning the most about these topics: needs in community or world (75%); how to help other members (69%); and how to plan service projects (57%).
- Skills: The top skills members said they gained in K-Kids clubs were teamwork (77%), communication and listening (66%) and problem solving (65%).
- Community needs: Members reported these top community needs or social issues were most important to them: animal care (82%); kindness (80%); the environment (80%); hunger and homelessness (79%); and care of the elderly (74%).