Kelly almost didn't get a bid, and then she did (I think the Thetas? Don't ask why I remember this). Regina would totally get a bid, as heinous as she was.

This is as much a chapter operations issue as a recruitment issue. I think it's important for the chapter who has a history of weak recruiting to assess their goals. Too often, they just go into recruitment with the idea that they will get "top girls." They spend their effort trying to be a "top sorority." You need to have an overall plan for the chapter and incorporate that into your recruitment plan and goals. It doesn't work to try to compete on all fronts at the same time, especially if you have been weak on most of them. You will spread your efforts out too much. Pick 1 or 2 areas to improve in your chapter and target those areas. It doesn't matter which one you pick, but pick one and target PNMs who can help you in that area. Ie. We want to have the most varsity letter athletes or we want to have the top grades or we want to have the most science majors or we want to win Greek Week or we want to win the philanthropy award or whatever. It will work best if you already have some relative strength in that area, because you can build on it. Look for the PNMs who can help you target those areas because they are interested in it or have strength in it. Pick them out before recruitment and assign your best recruiters to them to sell the idea to them. Once you have them, put them in positions to work on that area.

Once you have some wins in those areas, your self-confidence will improve and your reputation will improve. You can then pick another area to target, while being careful to maintain your gains in that one particular area.

Panhellenic Council at Washington University writes out 5 year plans for Panhel. You can do the same for your chapter.