H = greek letter "Eta"

Their sorority is Eta Omega Tau.

Eta.

Eta Omega Tau = HWT

This is an excellent basis to start the discussion with your members on how to approach marketing and recruitment.

Some of my suggestions have been said already, but that's okay :D

1) Definatley redo the website. Which you said you are looking into. It needs a face lift and an update. I would suggest getting rid of the HOT pun (which you have already agreed that it probably shouldn't be there). I also noticed that your national site and the Gamma site were very nicely designed. Both including more facts about the founding of Eta Omega Tau and the national site also listed facts about the sorority (colors, flower, motto, etc...). You will want to sell yourselves through the website.

2) Now I don't know much about locals (being in a national myself) but do you have a main philanthropy? If there is a main philanthropy that y'all devote a majority of the time to, list it. Talk about it. Some women are not only looking for the sisterhood experiences but they are also looking for the volunteer and philanthropic activities. All the websites kind of seemed non-committial to philanthropies. Like I said, not knowing about locals, I'm not sure if your national has adopted one for y'all. I'm not sure if locals do that in general. If they do, I would think adopting one (or two) might help.

3) Do a philanthropic activity on campus. The great thing is you are raising money for a specific cause but you will also get your name and letters out there. You could chose a fraternity that could work with you on raising money. If you have a mall (or in front of your student union) set up a table specifically about the philanthropy and how you are raising money and then set up another table about the chapter. If people stop for one they might stop for the second, especially if it is a cause that they are incredibly interested in.

Do you have alums in the area? Maybe they could help y'all out at some rush events.

Being a local do you have to participate in FR?

Every suggestion that has been listed I totally agree with. I looked at your website, and it most DEFINITELY needs a makeover! Get rid of any pictures that were taken in bars or has alcoholic bevarages in them, and put up more pictures of your sisters doing things in the community. Wear your letters proudly and watch what you say or do while you're wearing your letters. Also, think of more attractive names for your events: "Meeting Market" doesn't sound like an event that I would want to go to, much less any PNMs. Try participating in formal recruitment, and maybe try informal. Also get in touch with some alumnae that might be able to help you out. This is going to take more than a day, so stick with it and maybe you'll get the results you want! Good luck!

We are a tight knit group and have been and also not to say the other sororities are not multicultural but we are the more diverse of the groups at Pace.

Thanks
 

Again I want to thank everyone for their input, it is very helpful for us and hopefully if we stick with it things will get better for us :)

We have never had joined with another sorority to do recruitment, I am not too sure how that works. But we have tried informal like little outings where we can talk etc.

how do you advertise recruitment? is it word of mouth or do you use flyers ,e-vites or facebook?

does your school hold a formal recruitment? would you be eligible to participate in formal recruitment?

One of my really close friends as an undergrad was extremely involved in a very small local multicultural sorority. Even though their numbers were extremely small, they managed to get their name out everywhere on campus. While my school did regular formal recruitment in August, their sorority waited until January to recruit. When January came, I swear those few girls put posters on every bulletin board and in pretty much every bathroom stall on campus. (For a campus that covers 360 acres, that's pretty impressive!) It was a great recruitment effort.

Other things they did that were very effective:

1. Make friends with other orgs, especially a local frat. Having a "brother frat" to back you up, bolster your image, and help you with events is really nice. All organizations serve as potential recruitment pools, as well as potential opportunities for publicity. If anyone on campus is asking for help with an event, get involved.

2. EVENTS. Philanthropy, entertainment, etc. Having a philanthropy is key! Try to do other events, as well. Coordinate a fashion show, take part in a talent show, organize something random in your school's main meeting area. Whatever you do, make sure it's done well and make sure it gets your sorority's name out to a lot of people and in the best possible light. As small as your sorority is right now, again, you probably want to work with other organizations.

3. Letters, letters everywhere. Have them on ALL THE TIME. Travel in packs and make sure everyone sees that you are an Eta Omega Tau. You should eat, sleep and breathe your letters. Come up with lots of adorable t-shirt ideas and wear a different one every day of the week. (I have so many sorority shirts that I can go two weeks wearing only my letters.) Try talking with your local sorority shop about bringing in new products with your letters and colors. Put your letters on more than just shirts.

Really in the case of a burgeoning sorority, image is everything, and the great thing about being a local sorority is that you pretty much get to define who you are. Once you know what you want your organization to be, make sure everyone else knows about it. To increase your numbers, it will really take a big effort on the part of all your girls, so you should be meeting with them and discussing where all of you see the organization going. I agree with others that your website does you no justice. It lacks polish. You girls look totally adorable in your pics though, and like you're having a ton of fun! Pictures are a great marketing tool. At least one of you needs a good camera, and it needs to be at every single event, snapping non-stop. And all of those pictures need to be plastered all over your site. Showcase what beautiful, fun girls you are, because a picture is worth a thousand words. :)

I think the best thing about being in a small sorority is that you get to know all the members really well and you have the potential to form a very close-knit group. It also gives everyone an opportunity to be a leader and to be an influential part of the sorority. Every girl matters. Whatever image you girls choose to project for your sorority, emphasizing this sort of closeness and the importance of every girl will be a big draw for a girl who are critical of the larger organizations. The biggest thing now is getting your name out. I can't emphasize the importance of your letters, even though I agree that the HOT thing is going to be a drawback for a lot of girls. They are your greatest tool, though.

At Pace
 

Hello,
My name is Stephanie. I attend Pace University. I'm in a group of 12 girls here who are intrested in bringing a multicultural sorority on campus. We have looked at the Eta Omega tau website, and noticed it was outdated. However, we are trying to bring something new to the campus..Maybe joining a local organization who is still trying to find there ground, isn't a great idea, but something about is applealing. Could be casue I like to create change. However, I was wondering if your organization is a Latina based sorority. In my group we are from all over the place. So we don't want to join an all latina org..
Well any feed back from anyone would help us alot..
Stephanie

have you looked at multicultural greek organizations? there are many out there, and there are people on this board who are members of them - i know of lambda psi delta, theta nu xi, etc. run a few searches, do some research on google, and explore this site. you may well find what you're looking for. good luck :)

Yeah, we are sort of new to this....thanks..I will look them up...we also looked up SLG and MSU (but didn't know if they were latina). All the defintions of latina-multicultural is confusing, cause I don't know if I can ask certain question?

stephanie, there is a local forum on gc that might be really helpful to you. we npcers can only answer in very broad terms, as the majority of us are not very familiar with locals and how they operate.

latino and multicultural greek organizations have their own governing councils. if you go to their websites, you can look at the different sororities that are members of each. for latino/latina greek organizations, check out www.nalfo.org

for multicultural greek organizations, check out www.nationalmgc.org
just keep in mind that not all national glo are members of these councils. but it's a good place to get started! for local sororities, check www.localsororities.org you can look at local sororities by name or by state. hope this helps you in your search!