Ideas on Recruitment?
 

We pledge in Feb. 2nd and our quota is five guys, its like pulling teeth to get people to join fraternities up here and I don't know why, any suggestions?

If you make yourselves respectable first, the pledges will come.

Oh and not attending ISU

I know there's an Iowa State DU who posts on here semi-regularly. I've been out of school 8 years now, and have mainly sorority experience.

Bottom line, you have to be able to offer guys something different than all the other chapters on campus. Not everyone wants to be a Delt or AGR or Pi Kapp or FarmHouser. You have to show guys the benefit of being a Kappa Sig. You can (and should be) rushing guys all year long. It's very rare that guys will seek you out, so you have to do what you can to promote yourself. Despite trying a few different times, IFC formal rush will never fly at Iowa State, but does IFC have a list of interested guys that they give to chapters? I know Panhel has a continually updated list of girls who are interested in informal rush, but I can't remember if IFC did the same.

You guys have a pretty sweet house. Has your House Corp done any updates lately? Even small things (new paint, cosmetic redo in some common areas) can help.

There's a huge range of fraternity sizes at Iowa State, and, IMO, that's a good thing. You don't want to take anyone just to build up your size. Make sure you're getting quality guys. It's better to have 5 good pledges than 25 idiots who will just bring the chapter down.

Here at St. Johns University, we get group of sorority girls and do the "dorm storm" to get our name out. Basically, they just bang every dorm room's door, and talk to them. It was a really good turn out, last semester, we got like 40 interested men.

...yea..where are you from..because pledges don't just come at ISU

And to Kappa.. DU shut down this past semester they had like 4 guys in house...

I'll chime in because my school is sorta the same. Spring usually has more people who are friends of the new guys that join rather than random people. It also might have people who got a bid in the fall but decided not to join. I would turn to your new guys first and have them get their friends out at your rush events as a start.

Edit: All though if your reputation on campus is bad/shady, that could be affecting people that join as well. Which in that case there's not much you can do about that.

EW just doesn't want to say exactly where he is..full of advice, but who knows where?

Who are you? I go to Arkansas.

8 of our chapters bring in over 50 man pledge classes each fall. Some push 60's. It's not a matter of getting people to rush, but a matter of getting the ones you want.

Damn, that sucks. They were never a huge house on campus, but they usually had some solid guys. Plus their house is awesome. I hope their house corp holds on to it.

There are chapters at Iowa State that have 70+ members, so there are guys who want to be in fraternities. You just have to do the work to show rushees that Kappa Sig can be a great place for them. What can you offer them that no other fraternity on campus can?

Yea your in the south, I'm not sure if you know this or not but as you go farther south the recruitment goes way up. I don't exactly know the reason but if you don't believe me you can look for yourself its all in the numbers.

Kappa
Well I'm kinda new at this and I don't know exactly how to show them this, we don't really have the funding which might be kind of a big problem. The problem is these kids love the dorms and the ones that don't are already lining up apartments...its hard to find those middle lyers

Ugh. I think it's completely ridiculous that apartment housing in Ames is only at, like, 65 percent capacity, yet the city continues to grant approvals to build more. It was just starting to get bad when I was in school and, from my understanding, it's only gotten worse.

I think that's why summer rush is so important - you have to get the guys even before they get their dorm assignments. I know the suite-style dorms like Eaton is what more freshman are drawn to, but there are still benefits to living in a chapter facility. Do any of your new pledges or new initiates have friends that are seniors in high school? Invite them to go to Greek Getaway. Get their names on the list for summer rush events. It's not going to be easy, but if you don't want the chapter to die like DU or D-Chi you have to put some effort into it.

Why do you think the Delts or AGRs are such big chapters? Friends bring their friends in. Granted, AGRs are slightly different because they only/mostly take Ag majors and most guys know if they're in Ag and want to be in a fraternity, they'll be AGRs - they have a huge legacy and hometown pull. But that doesn't mean that type of networking won't work for other chapters. And maybe you guys are doing those sorts of things, I don't know.

I know sorority rush is totally different, I'm just going on my experience of talking to the guys on IFC when I was on Panhel and having friends in different fraternities.

If its not a big frat school then you have to sell your organization as a new wave in fraternities that doesn't cling to the old meathead ways of old fraternal recruitment.

I know the sounds like an awesome Idea but college is a way for people to start a new life and most people don't want to drag their past back into their new life. I would be happier if I did not see any other kids from my high school here. I only brought in two other guys from my high school into the frat, and they are like my really good buddies.

Thats the whole reason I posted on here haha..I need some ideas!

See that seems weird to me. What the hell is in anyone's past that they just want to start over completely in college? It's higher education, not witness protection. I'm not like great friends with a whole lot of people from my high school anymore aside from some guys I played football with, but that is how fraternities get the regional pull and stock up on guys is that people who have already pledged bring their buddies by for rush. You're always going to have trouble with numbers (and finding normal kids since they will all have friends trying to get them to other houses) if you are just hoping enough guys that no one knows but seem cool show up for rush.

Dude. I'm not saying pledge your entire high school, but if every guy in your pledge class brought in one guy that they knew from high school or class or work or whatever, you would basically double your pledge class. You said you brought in two good friends, that's what I'm talking about.

True. I remember reading here somewhere that some high schools in certain towns are known as "feeders" to some fraternity chapters because guys just happen to pledge there and invite the younger guys who graduate from there to come to events.

You definitely don't have to pledge them all, but it seems to provide a good PNM pool from which you can choose.

It's absolutely true. In fact, if you rush a certain school pretty hard you're guaranteed to keep pulling them. Rush in the SEC is very town/school based. All the SAE's are from Catholic/Episcopal in Little Rock, Jesuit in Dallas, and the Hot Springs area. Sigma Chi tends to pull them from some elite Dallas private schools as well as all of Southeastern Arkansas. It goes on. Rush hard on a couple specific schools that y'all have guys from. Those guys will give your fraternity identity (hopefully a good one) and y'all will have a solid base to come from.

That's the thing though, he isn't in the SEC. At some colleges keeping too much of any kind of connection with high school is looked at as lame. I mean one or two guys from the same hometown yeah, a whole fraternity of guys from the same town, either really lame or part of the Mafia.

It doesn't have to be the whole fraternity. But if numbers are the problem that is the easiest/most obvious solution, assuming everyone has at least some friends from high school, have everybody bring one or two of them by.

Plus it's Iowa, there's only like 3 towns to start with so it's going to end up like that anyways haha.

First of all that was pretty ignorant.

In Iowa Fraternities are not as appealing to everyone, most people hate fraternities and the guys in it. Just a really different environment and its hard to recruit people here.

You'd be surprised at how many people don't want to be associated with high school at all once they graduate. I'm one of them. I went to college 600 miles away from home for a reason. It's not that I didn't like high school, or that I had an awful time there. In fact, I had a lot of friends and it was one of the best times of my life. But at the same time, that part of my life was over, and I knew it was time to move on to the next big thing. I didn't want to go to Keene State or UNH (referred to in southern New Hampshire as the University of Nashua High), because I wanted to meet new people outside of that high school.

At the same time, some people like that familiarity. They like bringing in their best friends, whom they've known since they were 3 years old, and that's fine. Allow those guys to bring their friends along. You don't know them anyway, so what's the difference? It's probably one of the best ways to recruit.

On the other hand... if you have too many people coming in from the same high school, then yes, it might make it seem like you're back where you were before graduation. For some, that might be less than appealing. It's one thing to have a good buddy, or an acquaintance, there with you. It's another to have half of your graduating class pledging with you.

Chill. He's just being facetious.

I think it's easier to recruit at Iowa State than it is at Iowa. At least some of the houses are still wet and they can have parties at Iowa State; they can't at Iowa due to University regulations.

It's not that guys hate fraternities (at least not when I was in school) it's that most of them are uninformed. The percentage of students in Greek Life has hovered around 10-12% for the past 10 years, but almost ALL of the leadership roles on campus (Homecoming Exec, VEISHEA, even some of GSB) are held by members in Fraternities and Sororities.

If you go into it with the attitude that everyone hates you and no one wants to join, you're going to have a hard time recruiting. Again, you have to show guys what your fraternity can offer them that they can't get elsewhere. Why did you join Kappa Sig?

In Iowa City they can go to the bars at 19 and don't say that you cant drink in there because you can haha.. i have done it. So they dont really need to be wet. Plus their are house parties haha..trust me kids are not having trouble getting alcohol or finding parties

Oh I know they don't have any trouble finding alcohol or parties, but at Iowa State fraternities still serve somewhat as a social outlet. Not so much anymore at Iowa.

Seriously, it's college. Some kids are going to drink no matter what. But there's also more to that where the fraternities are concerned. Friendship. Brotherhood. Leadership. Networking. Those are all benefits.

Are you the new rush chair or just a regular member? Are you gaining any insight here? I mean, it's all well and good to come on GC and ask questions, but if you're not going to apply the suggestions people give, then what's the point?

ETA: nevermind, I see you're the recruitment chair.

I would suggest you contact your AA and see if you can set up a rush event with your alums and prospects. Make this a multi media event with music, powerpoint and get some of the Rush videos from National. Have lots of food and drinks and invite the sororities to help. they love doing that kind of stuff. Do this on campus where the Freshmen can attend easily and get a sorority to help you dorm storm. Plan an after event for those interested and go do go-karts, lazer tag, paint ball or something where you can meet prospects and interact. Let the alumni sell what the fraternity means to them and what it was like as a member during their time. Let them tell war stories and make a great event out of it. You have to organize, advertise, wear your letters, market the fraternity and get your name out there. I was the alumni rush advisor for a Kappa Sig chapter that went from 8 members in 2005 to 75+ today. This is how we started. You have to build the momentum and follow up with everyone you meet as prospects. This isn't easy but it is fun.

Ghostwriter speaks the truth. Take his advice with a grain of salt though, and remember that not all campuses are the same.

Remember though. There is the one really basic recruitment tool that I think is absolutely brilliant and under-utilized

The 5 Step NIC Recruitment Model
1. Meet them
2. Become their friend
3. Introduce them to your friends
4. Introduce them to the Fraternity concept
5. Ask them to join

It really is THAT simple. A lot of people think they can convince people to join in one day. It's not that easy, if it were, we would all have 100 men chapters.

Take some time to stop "recruiting" and start meeting people. Think of all of the people you have in now, and think of why they joined. A lot of your best members I'm sure joined because they wanted friendship

Don't even talk to them about joining until you can consider them your friend and you have introduced them to several of your friends. Take this message and spread it to everyone in your chapter. Motivate all of them to try this model on 5 new guys from the incoming freshman class, and I guarantee you most, if not all, will end up joining

Also, remember that you cannot do these five steps in one day. Becoming their friend does not mean friending them on Facebook. You may know someone who would make a great member, but that it will take a year to get them to join. If you think they're worth it, don't give up - just be consistent.

I hate this excuse so much

I have never really been that big of a fan of excuses to begin with. I don't want to seem like I'm picking on you, but man, it really upsets me when people in my own chapter make this excuse

If you operate under the mentality that you are somehow disadvantaged from the very beginning, then you are going to end up writing your own destiny.

I go to a school where 80% of the school commutes, the University itself is less than 50 years old, about 30% of the school's male population is international (the type that almost never joins a Fraternity) and the leading major is in the school of engineering and computer science.

The perfect recipe for failure in Fraternity recruitment, and there are still chapters that get 20 man pledge classes

The reason why we are successful is because we try and learn everything we can. We read books, we go to conferences, and we analyze our mistakes.

The first step to fixing your recruitment problem is to stop thinking the way you are. Start fresh, and motivate your brothers to recruit.

Kill the negativity, and I guarantee you will start seeing success