• Fill out and submit the interest form. A regional leader or mentor will contact you to help you get your chapter launched.
• Be sure to pay your $50 chapter registration fee. You will be prompted to pay this when you select “register a new chapter” on the interest form.
• Complete the online training course for new leaders and submit the course evaluation.
• Talk with a Dining for Women representative before your first meeting.

Here are all the ways chapter leaders and presenters can educate themselves on the Featured Grantee in preparation for inspiring your chapter members. We encourage you to review as many of the materials as you can. Even if you don’t present all the content, reviewing it will prepare you to answer questions that may arise.

• Read the monthly educational materials about the grantee/project. Each featured grantee has a Program Fact Sheet, which is a detailed description of the project, of the issues it addresses and how DFW funding will be used and Food for Thought, which offers an in-depth look at the issue worldwide.
• Read the chapter leader newsletter, which is emailed to you on the third Thursday of each month.
• Download the program flyer for the first half of 2016.
• NEW! Download the program flyer for the last half of 2016.
• Review the Chapter Leader Talking Points, which includes national DFW news to share, meeting ideas and best practices from other chapter leaders and information on funding.
• Review the project video. It can be played from the grantee page, YouTube or the DVD you received in the mail. If you need a replacement DVD, you can request one. 
• Read the Recipes, Customs and Cuisine from the featured country available from the grantee page. Many chapters make recipes from the featured country for their meetings.
• Remind members and guests to use the links in Shop! Read! Watch! Listen!, which spotlights Fair trade items, books, films and music from and about the country featured this month.
• Read the blog post on presenting with our educational materials.
• After the meeting, remember to complete the meeting evaluation form so others can learn from your great ideas.

At our heart, we are a fundraising organization and efficient and timely collection and handling of donations is an important part of chapter management. These resources can help keep you on track.

• Donation Handling Instructions – please complete within five days of each meeting
• Returned Check Policy – please print and display by donation collection basket
• Program Donation Checks Transmittal Form
• Non Program Revenue Form
• DFW New Member Information Form
• In Kind Donation Form (DOC) or In Kind Donation Form (PDF)
• Auto Withdrawal
• Chapter Fundraising Guidelines
• Complete the Fundraiser Approval Form online.
• Use the Chapter Fundraiser Proceeds Form when submitting checks.

• Dinner Affirmation — Use this affirmation to emphasize the connection between dining together and Dining for Women, members share this affirmation when they gather. The leader may read it or invite another member to read, or it can be read in unison by the group.

• Best Practices to Keep Your Chapter Vibrant – Great ideas for keeping your members (and yourself) engaged and inspired – from a presentation at the 10th Anniversary Celebration.

Dining for Women chapters often need materials to promote special events or publicize their chapter or the organization. We have several available and also a guide to helping you create your own.

• Branding guidelines explain the acceptable uses of our logo and the specifics of our branded colors. Chapter Branding Guidelines
• DFW logos. These can also be provided to any media requesting a logo.
  CMYK Logo (for print) | RGB logo (for web) | Tagline | Plate Only favicon
• Get the whole package: This compressed file (zip) contains all the logos, all formats, the chapter branding book and a letterhead template. Download DFW logos, double-click on the zip file to extract to a folder and save the file. All the individual files will be in the folder called DFWLogos and available on your computer whenever you need them. This file also contains an EPS file necessary for high quality printing. This file can only be provided in a compressed file for security reasons.

Here are some templates and documents to help you plan and organize a meeting. The download includes:

• Easy Steps to Hosting a Meeting 3-14
• Sample invitations and follow-up note 4-12
• Sample Checklist
• Sample First Meeting Agenda
• Sample Regular Meeting Agenda
• Name tags (avery labels 5095 or 5395)
• Hostess and Presenter Sign-up

• Do you know your local media? Help DFW develop a centralized database. Fill out the media contact information form.
• Keys to Writing a Good Press Release
• Video Library – DFW’s YouTube Collection
• DFW Events on YouTube – This is where you’ll find the monthly program hangouts
• Video Walkthrough of the new website

To send us photos for publication, please submit the Chapter Milestone Submission form.