Re: Keep Working at it.
 

I couldn't agree with this more.

Some very amazing women I know went through the SAME situation you are going through (starting local, wanting to go national)! When it came time for Recruitment, they had 9 members. They used tactics like these to help them grow! They got 10 awesome new members, and had over 30 show up to their COB events!

They haven't officially colonized yet, but this is just an example, that it CAN be done! They are set to colonize in mid October, and I couldn't be more proud of them!

Best of luck to you, and I hope it all works out!!!

Corina,
I am sure one of the difficulties in finding new members is that you go to a school where greek life isn't well received by the rest of the student body. I can relate! We have the same problem here. We have all nationals here at CofC, and come August we are still worrying about whether we're going to get enough girls to rush. And the fraternities here have an even harder time.

The best way to overcome this is to show your campus that NBO is not full of your typical "sorority girls." Host events that are more than just social events (this will help with the alcohol stereotype). Host events that are open to the entire campus (this will help the the exclusivity stereotype). One thing we like to do right before a COB event is to host a crush party, which is like a date party, but each sister can invite 2 or 3 people. Ideally, you are supposed to invite your "crush," but often we will bring along girls that we know are interested in Zeta or who we want to be interested in Zeta. This shows people that you don't have to be greek to hang out with NBO, and the potential members are more laid back and comfortable b/c they get the feeling that this is just a social function, not a rush function. And they get to see how fun NBO is, the sisterhood, etc AND you can invite boyfriends and guyfriends and just have FUN!!! Destress! You sound like you need it!:D Also, when you are planning COB events, plan it down to the tiniest detail. Allow a lot of time and money for COB. Right now, this has got to be NBO's main focus. But PR is a big part of that, too - wearing letters all over campus, eating at the cafeteria as a group (wearing letters), crush party, service events, attending functions sponsored by other organizations on campus (greek and non-greek).

But hang in there! You CAN do this! Rome wasn't built in a day! ;)

This has me wondering too....
 

I too am perplexed by what AEPHI alum has pointed out above....can anyone from AXiD enlighten us here? Seems as if they did a complete 180...

Just a guess
 

Corina has told us a few times that the Greek life at UCSC isn't very big. That may have become very clear during AZD's visit to the school.

I'm in a similar situation as Corina at a similar school. I'm in a local sorority that petitioned a National Organization and we got the same sort of letter back.... great group, not truly competitive with the other two groups, bring your membership numbers up and well colonize. Through the process, I found out a lot about the "business" side of sororities.

Basically, Nationals can colonize in three ways:

(1) From scratch... completely from the ground up. This usually happens when many women aren't placed during RUSH or when all chapters are at total and the campus is ready for expansion. In this case, there must be women "WAITING" to be greek.

(2) Colonize a local in total (or just about in total). This usually happens when a local is large enough and stable enough to compete with the other groups on campus. Many time these groups have been a local for a few years and have proven their staying power.

(3) Combination of the two. This usually happens with a local that is fairly new or isn't quite competitive with the other groups. "My" national refers to groups like this as an "interest group" versus a local sorority for these purposes. While this sort of colonization doesn't require as much work (RUSH wise) as #1, it is a bigger challenge than #2. For this to happen, the National needs to see that there are, again, women waiting to be Greek - which there really aren't at my school, or at Corina's would be my guess.

My local was put in the "interest group" category. And I'm okay with that... but there aren't a lot of women waiting to be greek - we are having to find them - and it's not easy but it can be done - it will be done. My national wants us to fall into the category 2 - a strong local - because that will show our "staying power" and they will be more confident of our success.

I realize that their are no guarantees of success however when a national colonizes, they need to be pretty darn sure that they will be successful. When I heard how much money goes into starting a new National Chapter - I about flipped. If it were my money and my decision, I'd be darn sure that it was a good business decision - and that's what it is - just business. You can't take it personally. In my case, it's just about my National wanting to make sure that our colonization is successful and that we are a strong competitive chapter on our campus - I can't fault them for that.

Corina, you can do this!!! We've been COBing for about three weeks and we have 7 new members - really good members - we aren't "just taking anyone". Only 11 more to go - and I know that we can do it. You have to sell it! Talk about how cool it will be to start something new. Talk about the excitment of signing the charter at your installation. Talk about getting to make this sorority what they want it to be - unlike the others!

Good luck. :)

Another thing to, is that at a school you may want to think about is that a lot of girls at your school do not know what it is to be in a sorority. Nothing, Nada, Zilch. They have all of the sterotypes and that is it. I have to explain a lot of things to potential members, before I go on and on about Pi Kappa Phi. My school is a lot like your school, not a lot of greeks. People really do not understand Greek life and that is the first thing that needs to be sold at your school, then NBO. I would think about how you guys will get through all of that, next time you are preparing for rush. We did that last Spring and saw our numbers increase by about %150. Also, it is getting easier and easier to get really good guys who are going to be leaders with that approach. This semester we had a guy who thought at first he could not join because he did not drink that much.

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for all of your support and kindness. I feel soooo much better now, and my confidence has been somewhat renewed. At our meeting I outlined a seriously intense plan to revamp NBO into the direction that we want to go- we're trying to use the suggestions from AZD as inspiration for what we always wanted to accomplish- and as motivation to get our butts in gear. After I broke down every thing we needed to work on, a lot became clear to me regarding where we were faltering and how we could improve. We're forming committess as opposed to chairs, so that each aspect will be more managable. We all have goals of recruiting at least 2 women per quarter, which is also manageable. We're going to give this a good try and see where it goes, and of course, I'll keep you all updated. Suggestions are always appreciated. Thanks again!
love, Corina

That sounds more like the Corina I am used to hearing from !!! Good luck!! I know you can do this cuz you can do anything you put your mind to!!!

Good luck sweetie! I'm so proud of your determination and strength :)

Good luck with your "revamping" :)

Good luck with revamping NBO. Maybe next semester you will become an AZD colony.
Positive attitude + hard work= success! :D :cool:

Ahhhhh...doesn't it feel good to have a plan? Best of luck!!

Yay!! NBO rocks!

Corina--

Working in teams is a fantastic idea!! It gives everyone a responsibility and helps foster leadership. In 1996, D Phi E moved from an executive board form of leadership to a Team Structure, and while there is a Leadership Team with the president, etc., things run in teams now. I wish you the best of luck. If you need anything, do not hesitate to contact me.

Good luck!
Heather

Bump!!! hey how's it going now?

Just wanted to check and see how things are going and see if NBO ever got its website off the ground. If you did, we'd love it if you'd post a link!