Starting a successful coop?

Question

Okay I have a group I started. I've advertised it. I have members on it. I have classes that I have listed (all FREE mind you!). I am posting things to the group. I just cannot get people to commit to anything. They aren't posting (even intros).

How can I get these people motivated to post and sign up for activities?

Answer 1

For coops to be successfull they have to offer something tangible and then you either charge $$$ or make people work for credits to participate and get benefits.

Answer 2

We have a coop and it seemed to start the same way that yours is- not much happening.  We are now an active coop and it took a few new people that were more motivated to get it off the ground.  Apparently, some people sign up for the coops and then aren't active with them.  Others sign up and have more motivation to make sure that things happen.  I don't think that anything we could have offered or done would have changed how it started.

Just be patient, as hard as that is, and give it time.  Hopefully some more motivated members will join and before you know it, it will be up and going!  Best wishes.

Answer 3

Reading between the lines of your question it seems that you are perhaps relying too heavily on the Internet to get the word out.

Plus, it is not clear if what you offer is all online or a more traditional coop teaching approach.  If it is all online, you will find that you have very heavy competition.

Assuming that you have started a face-to-face teaching cooperative:

Word of mouth in a local homeschool group is the most important tool you have and that takes time and it takes success.

Plus, your timing might not be ideal.  This is the middle of the school year for most folks.  We plan our classes and materials out well in advance - as much as a year but definitely over the summer we have the next year planned and most if not all of our materials purchased.

So... think in terms of building up positive word of mouth through face-to-face activities such as presenting to your local homeschool board (if you have one), mom's night out and such.  And... very important... listen to the feedback you get.  Ask: What classes would be very helpful to the homeschool students?  Fill the need.

We started a homeschool student newspaper this year and it has taken a full semester to really get solid participation.