Is your group stumped for new ideas about fundraising, educational programs or reaching out to the community? Do you do the same activities the same old way year after year? Do the leaders and maybe just a few others seem to do all the talking?

Brainstorming may be just the technique to rejuvenate your group and get everyone excited and involved. The purpose of this method is to get out as many ideas as possible - the more you have to choose from, the better your final choice will be! You can use brainstorming for almost anything: attracting new participants, event themes, publicity, group goals and problem solving.

The rules for brainstorming are deceptively simple - be sure the group understands them and someone has the job of making sure they're followed.

Step One - Getting Prepared

• Set a time limit - 10 to 20 minutes, depending upon the size of your group and the complexity of the issue.
  
• The best group size is 3 to 15 people. If you have more, break into two or more groups and brainstorm simultaneously.
  
• The question or issue must be one to which all participants can speak. Focus on only one issue.
  
• Record all responses on a blackboard or big sheets of newsprint so everyone can see them; don't record the name of the person suggesting. Record only key words and phrases, not word for word.

Step Two - Generating Ideas

• List all ideas as they are offered
• Don't criticize, praise, or judge anyone's ideas
• Be spontaneous - no hand-raising, just call out
• Repetitions are okay
• Quantity counts
• Build on each other's ideas
• Enjoy the silences - often the best ideas come out of them
• It's okay to be outrageous, even silly

Step Three - Making Meaning

• If several groups brainstormed the same idea, put the lists on the wall and let everyone read each other's work
  
• Group ideas into related categories for review
  
• Decide which ideas are most promising and which can be eliminated (can be done by group putting pluses and minuses by items)
  
• Rank in order of the most promising
  
• Select those with greatest potential and high-ranking priority for either implementation or refinement by a committee.
  
• Be sure to utilize as many ideas as possible. It's extremely demoralizing for a group to invest its time, energy and creativity and have its ideas disappear. Seeing your idea come to fruition, however, is extremely rewarding.