Idea's For VERY Small Chapters
 

Can anyone offer advice???

I advise at a small, technical school that has less than 700 women on it. There are two sororities each with under 10 people.....yes, 10! I actually think there are 14 girls total. Panhellenic is not yet organized and recruiting is difficult. The chapter I advise is enthusiastic and the advisors (not sure of the chapter members) for the other are as well. We all know that we must build the numbers to be successful....the problem is the CAMPUS!

We have tried many things: info sessions, COR's, one-on-one's, campus philanthropy events, open cookouts, etc. I have chalked it up to underdeveloped PR. Can anyone offer ANY advice whatsoever on how to build these chapters????

Thanks ahead of time!!!!!!

My chapter used to be a local waaay back in the 40s and 50s, and some of the old secretary logs are laying around. I remember one thing they did, that I always thought would be cooler for a smaller campus, is that they recieved a list of all the Freshman women, each sister got a list of names, and it was their "job" to meet these women, invite them to events, and generally become friends with them. I always thought that was so cute, granted it was the 40s but you could maybe do something similar. Good luck!

I come from a chapter that after initiating our fall pledges is at 20 girls. For us I find the best thing to do is approach people individually, girls your sisters know from classes and other campus activities. Plus with only 14 Panhel members a lot of people probably don't know your campus has greek life. Have your sisters wear letters as often as possible, try to advertise in the school paper or see if you can even get someone to write a feature on Greek Life (I know ours has a free event calendar) and try to have sisters to get involved with the larger campus activities. We also try to advertise on my campus with palm cards and we put them everywhere from the cafeteria to the ladies rooms (it might sound a bit tasteless but its the one place you know every woman on campus eventually goes).

I would suggest that the two groups REALLY need to work together on this one. I ditto the point of wearing letters, and even non-letter-go-greek shirts. Maybe instead of pushing to get panhell organized, get the rush chairs to work together, and pair up groups. Panhell being fully organized may only burn the women out. I mean, you figure that most of the chapter is in exec, then asking them to take on these other positions.

Do a lot of positive events on campus. If the philanthropy can be done in the middle of a quad, do it there. Try and support brining fun events to campus. And really have the women get involved in other groups.

I would also try a search, I know there are threads about similar situations on here.

There are no real plans for a Panhellenic right now, we are just members of the current InterGreek Council. There is a wee bit of animosity because one group is an old, established group and the other is a new chapter, so getting the two to work together has been a little challenging.

Other thoughts????

Are both groups NPC? or are they local? some other affiliation?

I'm just curious why the campus expanded when the older group was so small.

still hard to grasp
 

it is hard for me to understand why groups retain their charter
when their numbers go below the requirements FOR a charter.
I'd be a real embarrassment to be, say, under 30 when it takes
that many to even get a charter.
And, operating a house is totally out of the question.
HOWEVER...consider this:
This is where locals might thrive. But as a national, this group is
a drag, cost ineffective, regardless of sisterhood or brotherhood,
where is the pride, the due diligence?
It is not a sin to be a small chapter but it is unconscionable to remain one....perhaps you should go local...

Both groups are NPC. The campus has a history of large chapters, but one left and due to zero healthy competition, the remaining shrank. The school is trying to market themselves to women and they have a pro-Greek administration so I think this made sense to them. There is definitely the potential out there. There are plenty of women to have chapters of 20-30, it's just a matter of getting them in the door of both groups.

The larger group is the newly installed. There is no number requirement to get a charter, at least for my sorority. Truthfully, in my opinion, the addition of a new group is saving the other NPC group....slowly, I will admit. Neither sororities nor fraternities have houses, just offices in the student center. The pride is there, the desire is there...it's just a matter of recruiting using the right PR and tactics, I believe.

No offense, but going local is NOT an option.....

Re: still hard to grasp
 

It's not "cost ineffective" if there are no housing costs. It doesn't sound like they are asking their national (either chapter) to continually send consultants or other support - they are taking the initiative to do it on their own. If the women are still having fun and not feeling pressured or burnt out, and are still running the chapter in an effective manner, who cares how many members there are?

There is no magic number for brotherhood or sisterhood.

Re: still hard to grasp
 

What is it they say about those who live in glass houses?

Anyways, back to the topic at hand...

What about getting the Panhellenic (I know it's non-existent, but I'm using the term generally) to send out advertisements for Greek life to incoming freshmen women during the summer. Also, what about ice cream socials, pajama parties, movie nights, "The OC" nights, roller skating parties, etc. When each NPC's Founder's Day rolls around, throw birthday parties for each other and invite the campus women. Make most of your social events open to spark more of an interest. They need to see a Greek presence and see the benefits of going Greek before they'll be convinced to go Greek.

Like someone else said, unless your groups are willing to work together, they probably won't be as successful. Have them talk out their differences in an open forum, and then put them aside and work together. If both groups are NPC, then by rule, there should be a Panhellenic Council.

no requirements...okay
 

If your group has no size requirements for a charter, then they
are essentially saying "each in his/her own way."
Most national/international groups do have a minimum number or
a sliding scale, numerically, for chartering plus a few other things
expected. But if your does not, okay. With risk management &
other expenditures, it might be hard to remain small. But if your
outfit abides this, okay. A matter of preference.
Wonder how the larger fraternities feel? SAE, Sig, Sig Ep, Pike,
Lambda Chi, Kappa Sig, Beta, ATO, Phi Delt, etc...do they allow
or encourage small chapters? I think not, but it has been a long
time since I was on the road...
And, some GLOs are comfortable with a pared-down offering.
To each his own. That is why some locals remain locals.
I would think, though, that if a GLO falls below minimum standards there might be cause for alarm--don't you?

Re: no requirements...okay
 

I'm not sure if this can be done in NPC sororities, but can you create a "city-wide" or regional chapter with other schools in your area?

If not, can some sisters from neighboring chapters come to your school to help with your events and activities? Perhaps if ladies on your campus see the support you have from your sister chapters, they might be inclined to ask for more information.

I think that most NPCs have something in their bylaws along the lines of to be active in a chapter, you have to be a fully matriculated full-time student, and the chapter has to be tied to one school. The nearby sisters could definitely come and help though.

And Jocelyn is right - as long as all the sororities are around the same size, a national will rarely pull a chapter, even if they're one of the bigger sororities. The maintaining similar size is the main thing.

My chapter has been and is consistently under 30 members. At one point and time, there were only 6 girls. But slowly, we controlled our growth to bring in 1) quality members 2) only as many girls as we could handle. It's easy to invite a ton of people and pledge a ton of people, but if they all go by the wayside in the next year, it was just a bunch of wasted money. Also, having a gigantic freshman class gives them a lot of pull in the org...and while freshmen are wonderful resources and bring a lot of energy...having too many people unseasoned in the ways/traditions/reputation upkeep of the chapter can cause a lot of problems.

So I guess what i'm advising is to grow slowly. Don't sacrifice the quality of members just for numbers. Take as many girls as can reasonably be handled.

What i've noticed over the past quarter is a lot more pre-rush events (this is one of the benefits of having a deferred rush!). Groups had movie nights, cookies and milk handouts, service tables, service projects, etc. IFC threw a pizza/wings/football party in the campus center and invited everyone on campus and signed a lot of guys up at that. Panhel had a ice cream social to which girls wore letters and met/talked to a lot of freshmen girls. Basically, free food is a motivator for all.

one other considerattion
 

if a group gets a charter and for some reason the system seems
to "implode" then the HQ may indeed try to help the chapter out
of the quandary.
However, it is folly for a group hell-bent to stay small to seek a
charter from one of the major greek outfits. So, the small group
can, indeed, stay small. But better it be local.
And some schools are better set up for locals and less receptive
to the intrusion of the large organization.
But the once-60 now 15 member chapters are usually there due to the unwillingness to demonstrate what a good experience a
chapter can offer with the additional benefit of being national in
scope.
And, if the quality is really there, folks will come a-knockin' at the
door to get in...and then everybody wins.

Think outside the box...
 

Let's think of this situation like a founder would (waaayyy back when...)

What do the women on this campus need? (Obviously the founders of our orgs looked around on their campus and saw something missing...so they created it).

I think the two groups, along with the advisors and either some college officials or alums gather around and assess the campus. What type of women come to this college? What are they looking for? Are there a lot of transfers? Why? Are they getting what they want outside of the classroom? Has anyone asked them what they want? (This is where the school might be interested in a survey to gauge student wants/needs/ideas/etc. on all student activites topics).

I think that in situations like this you really need to have a good grasp on what the campus is like for the students, and you need it from more than one point of view. Once you have that background information, then you can begin to brainstorm ideas on addressing those needs.

Aside from that, I would make sure Greek life is being advertised by the school. Talk with the media relations department...next time they need to take pictures to update the school brochure/website/catalog/etc. make sure they ask a few Greek students to be in the pictures wearing letters. Get an even representation from each group. You don't necessarily have to have a Greek Life brochure...but if women see that picture it will prompt them to ask more questions.

The other thing to consider is that the groups have to be consistent with their messages. If they are telling PNMs that membership offers this and this and this....they better actually be doing this and this and this. Women on campus can quickly see if a group is being "fake" or misrepresenting itself just to pull in members. Advise them to not make false promises.

Let us know how things are going.

PsychTau

Fabulous idea!

I absolutely recommend surveying your current female students and doing a separate survey with your current female Greeks. What do female college students want out of their extracurricular experience? What is missing? How visible are the Greeks on campus?

I attended a 2-day marketing seminar last week, and when we talked about surveys, they told us that if you are surveying someone:
1) Offer them an incentive to take the survey (in your case, food is a great motivator; maybe you can give out candy that has your Greek Life website URL attached to it somehow)
2) Make sure you give no more than 5-6 questions. (Make sure you find out their year in school and capture their email addresses. Note their gender, too.)
3) Email them the results of the survey. You might also submit a letter to the editor with the results of the all-student (Non Greek) survey.

I also agree that in order to be successful, relations need to develop between the two exisiting chapters. Try planning a sisterhood social with the two, or a four way social with the fraternities.

Re: still hard to grasp
 

Erik save your commentary for when you actually know what you're talking about.

I am in a chapter of under 30 members which was founded with less than 30 members and we are by no means an embarassment to our organization. We are small because we are at a commuter campus with 8 sororities to provide a place for all members of our very diverse student population (good luck finding a school more diverse than Brooklyn College!) We are definitely not cost ineffective either. We are unhoused and have never asked for any extra resources from our national. We have never struggled financially and our national has never even hinted that we are drain on their finances. Our chapter GPA is over a 3.0, at least half our members have academic scholarships and/or in one of the campus honor programs.

I would have to question what your greek experience is really about if you can say "regardless of sisterhood or brotherhood". Sisterhood is what my organization is all about. Since my chapter is small I have been afforded the opportunity to be close with every sister who has been active at the same time as me and have met many who were active before my time. I have been through births, weddings and deaths with my sisters because they are my second family. I would not want to be a part of an organization that would dump my chapter simply because we were not at some insignicant number that was arbitrarily decided as the number required for sufficient sisterhood.

What is unconscionable to me is how someone can be so pompous about matters they know so little about.

While I am a typically a proponent of larger chapters, I agree whole-heartedly with AEPhiSierra. If nationals is satisfied and if a chapter is in the black, its membership is happy and they are excelling with GPA and campus leadership/participation, then there's no cause for concern.

You have to take a step back, too, and realize that the original poster's campus is very small. Greek Life only makes up a small percentage of a college campus to start.

Let's try to assist the original poster with her question and avoid talking about things like that are neither here nor there. It is simply irrelevant, and doesn't help anyone.

Re: Re: still hard to grasp
 

I totally agree with AEPhiSierra.
I am from a small, under 30 chapter. We are not cost ineffective. We also have a house, but still are not a burden to our organization. Small groups have a lot to offer. I could not/would not have been part of a 200 person chapter. It just would not have been the right feel to me (I make that statement without having ever been part of an org that size, so who knows, maybe it is better than my image) Yes, National GLOs are a business. But size is not the only factor that is to be looked at.

Websites and surveys are a great idea. Maybe the adviors can get together and chat then get the execs to sit down and really talk face to face and work out the drama. There will always be some, but an open discussion with the two groups about the issues they face TOGETHER might help them overcome some of the pettiness.

Re: Re: still hard to grasp
 

When AEPhi decides to target
community colleges and to
get big - real big - big I am then
you will understand him better.
Today I will have a Mozza e Pom
sandwich with tomato basil soup I think.
Wouldn't it be better if the world
was made of hot dogs? Maybe
not for me since I am a vegetarian
and hate tofu dogs. Green eggs
and ham.

Not to play devil's advocate here, because I come from a chapter of 50, but if you do an honest assessment of how much $$ it takes to run a chapter in terms of the HQs, and then how much each chapter brings in revenue wise, I'd be willing to bet that the # of women or men it takes to break even is somewhere around 40.

The OP didn't ask for us to be judgemental and criticize her chapter, she asked for advice, so I'm going to cosign the other ideas. Food = good idea. And the survey is a FANTASTIC idea.

You ran the numbers in your head to get 40?

-Rudey

now I understand...
 

Yep, after havin' read some replies and havin' assessed the
profile of this site, it is not hard at all to figure why so many
of the chapters are small. Yep, even a blind hog'll pick up
an acorn or two ever' once 'n a while.
Yep, now it is clear. Thanks for elucidating, er, making it more
understandable for us (pompous) rustics out here in the hinterlands. Sometimes one has to live a long time to clear the
smoke screens. Have fun, winners! Potrzebie.

When I was but a boy
my mother said whatever
will be, will be. I love the
movie The Heathers but I
do not like thee who went
to community college if
they write like this...see?

Re: no requirements...okay
 

I think you may have missed some key points. AXiDTrish said, "I advise at a small, technical school that has less than 700 women on it."

- It's a small school
- The school centers around a technology theme
- There are only 700 women on campus

The women at this campus are somewhat slim pickin's as opposed to 30,000 person major university. I'm certainly not surprised that there are so few members in the chapters.

.....Kelly :)

Re: Think outside the box...
 

PsychTau makes some excellent points. What came to mind for me is catering to the students you have available. For example, if the college really is heavy on the technology side, maybe the chapters could sponsor special guest speakers to address "Careers for Women in XYZ industry" etc. That makes the activity relevant to the women you are trying to attract. Everyone wins - the students learn some great info and the chapters get good PR.


.....Kelly :)

the matter is moot
 

all this about tiny chapters and those who remain tiny. The
matter is moot, my ladies, and while I generally address the
men, it is unlikely that any organization, national in scope, would
take a group of 15 or less, whether in the much heralded Brooklyn College or Dropsie University, as experience shows that
there is not a lot of promise.
There have been a few sororities, in my time, who chartered with
twenty or less, but they had a huge alum backing and were at a
prestigious campus with a plan to grow considerably. They had
no intentions of remaining small, and being good, they would not
deny a good candidate a chance to join. And, again, if the quality
is there, the growth will come.
Naw, better off stayin' local.

Re: the matter is moot
 

When are you going to understand that you are a GUY and you have no real authority when discussing Panhellenic GLO's? :rolleyes:

dear miss manners
 

I never had any intention of wedging in on the tiny female groups
and I certainly shall not in the future.
But I did not know that this site was divvied up into identifiable
groups...will keep that in mind.
I am sure my good Tri Sigma pals in Kansas (where they have no
rinky-dink chapters...all are good and large) would be right proud
of you. I shall depart and never darken your stoop again. And
thank you kindly for your heartfelt input. Potrzebie

I don't think size matters (When it comes to this stuff!!)

This isn't a small vs. large debate. I enjoy my small (not AS small, but still small) chapter.

I don't see the point in canning a sisterhood that's not causing any problems. Being small isn't a crime.

Re: the matter is moot
 

They're not trying to charter. They're already a chapter. She's asking how to bring more women into the system as a whole. It would be quite difficult for them to stay a local, as they are an NPC. You have no clue what you are talking about.

you missed the point entirely
 

you are still making excuses for having a weenie chapter, and
you do not grasp, even grasp, what is being said.
Go to your room.

Re: you missed the point entirely
 

Once again, Erik= TKE, TKE=fraternity, fraternity=IFC/NIC. It does NOT equal NPC. Therefore Erik's expertise on the subject=0.

You make way too many narrowminded GENERALIZATIONS.

You've stated in the past that sororities without housing are an insult to the organization, that any group without a house isn't a fraternity, and that NPHC's multiculturals are not "real" fraternites/sororities. NOW, small chapters are all "weenie" chapters that should not be allowed to remain a part of the national even when it's been previously stated that said org is IDENTICAL in size to all others? That is insulting. Futhermore, NPC operations and TKE's are NOTHING alike, so please offer no more of your lofty comments on OUR business. You irritate me and everyone else when you attempt to discuss sororities and offer your UNSUPPORTED conjecture which comes from no where.

I don't care how many years of TKE you have under your belt. You have never been in an NPC sorority or had experience with a Panhellenic so your opinions and generalizations on them are PULLED FROM NOWHERE!!!!!!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. :)

Re: you missed the point entirely
 

Erik, STFU, you don't know what you're talking about, sorority life is very different from fraternity life.

Not only that, but your own fraternity has some "weenie" chapters of it's own, if by weenie you mean small in size. TKE at Pitt has been one of the smallest for years (if they're even still there), and they didn't have a real house. What does that make them?

As has been said, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!

What kind of representative are you of your fraternity for constantly insulting small chapters, the women of GC, etc? How is that living up to your fraternity's ideals?